History
Barber's Adagio for Strings began as the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11, composed in 1936. At the request of Arturo Toscanini, he arranged it for string orchestra, and in January 1938 sent that version to the conductor, who premiered it in New York with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. In setting it to the liturgical Agnus Dei, the last part of the Mass, Barber changed the music only a little. As with the other arrangements of Adagio for Strings, it was published by G. Schirmer.
Read more about this topic: Agnus Dei (Barber)
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