Composition
Adagio for Strings begins softly with a B-flat played by the first violins. The lower strings come in two beats after the violins, which, as Johanna Keller from The New York Times put it, creates "an uneasy, shifting suspension as the melody begins a stepwise motion, like the hesitant climbing of stairs." NPR Music said that "with a tense melodic line and taut harmonies, the composition is considered by many to be the most popular of all 20th-century orchestral works." Many recordings of the piece have a duration of about eight minutes.
Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings is a short instrumental piece for orchestra. The work is a slow, minor-key lament, which evokes a deep sadness in those who hear it… The Adagio has captured the emotions of millions of listeners since Barber first wrote it as the middle movement of a string quartet in September 1936.
—Thomas Larson, on Adagio for Strings.A chordal accompaniment is included for all instruments not playing the melody or counter-melody. The work's contour is melodic and is mostly diatonically stepwise. The rhythm is mainly compressed with sustained notes. Barber uses some unusual time signatures including 4/2, 5/2, 6/4, and 3/2. The piece's melody is made up mostly by violins and violas, while the counter-melody is played by second violins at measures 25 and 40. The dynamics range from pianissimo (very soft) to fortissimo (very loud). A climax occurs from measures 44–50, followed by a resolution and dynamic change as the piece switches tones. After the climax and a long pause the piece recapitulates to the beginning with several hairpins. The end is a fading away on a sustained tone. The piece follows the arch form.
Music critic Olin Downes wrote that the piece is very simple at climaxes, but reasoned that the simple chords create significance for the piece. Downes went on to say: "That is because we have here honest music, by an honest musician, not striving for pretentious effect, not behaving as a writer would who, having a clear, short, popular word handy for his purpose, got the dictionary and fished out a long one."
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