26 April 2009

Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings



Leonard Slatkin Conducts the BBC Orchestra on September 15 2001 in honor of those who lost their lives a few days prior. Visuals from BBC's 'Last Night of the Proms' and ABC's 'Report from ground zero'. AUVIEX edit. (1.5 million YouTube views)
Voted by BBC radio listeners in 2004 as the saddest piece of classical music ever. Incorporated as part of the soundtrack of the movies "The Elephant Man," "Platoon," and "Amelie."

I'll use this as an excuse to once again recommend "Gortoz a ran - J'attends" ("I await").

2 comments:

  1. You can probably add Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones, directed by Peter Jackson. Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings figures prominently in the book and will no doubt be added to the soundtrack. It is one of the most moving and deep classical string pieces in existence.

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  2. I have to agree with the BBC listeners: Barber's Adagio is one of the saddest, most moving pieces. However, after hearing it used in Platoon, I have heard it over-used, to underscore everything from real heartache to the heartache of psoriasis. For original (to a film) music with some of the same power, I recommend seeing/ hearing Bleu (http://www.amazon.com/Bleu-Bande-Originale-Du-Film/dp/B000000W4K/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3/177-6557176-8397822?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1241225815&sr=8-3) written by Zbigniew Preisner.

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