Samuel Barber - String Quartet in B minor, Op. 11 [w/ score]

00:00 - I Molto allegro e appassionato
08:33 - II Molto adagio [attacca]
17:08 - III Molto allegro (come prima)

From Wikipedia: The String Quartet in B minor, Op. 11 was written in 1935–36 by Samuel Barber. Barber arranged the middle movement for string orchestra as his well-known Adagio for Strings in 1936. Barber continued to revise the piece, particularly the finale, until 1943.

Begun while living in Austria with his partner Gian Carlo Menotti after Barber's Prix de Rome, Barber intended that the quartet be premiered by the Curtis String Quartet, but did not finish the piece in time for their concert tour. On September 19, 1936, Barber wrote their cellist Orlando Cole: "I have just finished the slow movement of my quartet today—it is a knockout! Now for a Finale." Having completed a finale, the string quartet was premiered in its provisional form by the Pro Arte Quartet on December 14, 1936, at the Villa Aurelia in Rome. Afterward Barber withdrew the finale so as to rewrite it, which he did by April 1937. He rewrote it again before it was published. The final form was premiered by the Budapest Quartet on May 28, 1943, at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

The opening movement is in sonata form, the second movement a famous adagio, and the final version of the finale, added to the second movement attacca, is shortened, lasting two-minutes, and revisits themes from the opening movement, thereby creating a cyclic form for the quartet. The opening movement has three theme areas, the first a dramatic motif stated in unison by all four instruments, the second slinky chorale like music, and the third a yearning lyrical melody. The quartet as a whole is in the key of B minor, however the central movement is in B♭ minor. The materials of the second movement consist of "a very slow and extended melody built from stepwise intervals, slightly varied in its numerous repetitions, uncoiling over (or in the midst of) sustained chords that change with note-by-note reluctance, all of it building into a powerful climax at the high end of the instruments' range and then quickly receding to the contemplative quietude that ultimately defines this musical expanse."

Barber accepted a commission for a second string quartet in 1947, but never got past a few pages of sketches.

*the usage of copyrighted content is purely educational. I do not own the content that is borrowed for the making of this video*

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[LKemp-lrky]

I just love the whole thing! The adagio enters so abruptly that it always catches me.

[pnocella]

Thanks for posting! Ostensibly in 3 movements, this work may be considered really only 2 movements: movement 1 ends abruptly midway with the famous movement II "Adagio" spliced in, after which movement I continues on to its conclusion!

[ericrakestraw]

The third movement feels out of proportion in relation to the first two movements, more like a coda than a finale. Barber probably scrapped the longer finale because he couldn't come up with anything to top the beautiful Adagio movement. I don't blame him. Barber was correct to adapt the Adagio movement as a single movement work for string orchestra, but I also enjoy hearing it in its original quartet form.

[anja]

Thank you, this was amazing to read along to!

[sdfghyuiop]

What about the fourth movement: Andante mosso, un poco agitato - allegro molto, alla breve?


Is it from an earlier "incomplete" version?

[zuzannawisniewska]

Great job, fantastic interpretation. Wonderfully! Thanks.

[ishagshafeeg]

Thank you very much for the score and information. Great read and listening. Very helpful for my music study.

[claytonhinton]

very great interpretation of the piece. however, i was wondering if possibly the second violinist made a mistake. it occurs twice in the first movement, and is nearly impossible to detect. at 2:14 the notes written in the 3/4 bar go as follows: b flat, a, c, a, b flat. what was played was nearly the same except the final note was a b natural. transposed in a different key later at 7:41 the same tonality happens again. just curious if this was a purposeful consideration or simply a missed note

[MadMusicologist]

Great work, fantastic interpretation. (15:01 - sigh - !)

[lorerecru]

where can i find the complete sheet of the string quartet? i can only find the adagio score

[itamarbar]

I came for analysis of the adagio. I'm not a fan of very minor tonal, brucknerian sappiness, but in the buildup to the climax, Barber uses deceptively simple writing that is quite impressive.

[Eden_Rubin_Music]

What I still don't understand is why the piece is in B minor and he choosed the adagio to be in Bb minor which it's obvious that it's would be easier to play it in Bm instead because of the open strings of the strings instruments. Probably the colour of Bbm is the one who got him to this.

[egon]

commercial in the middle of a sentence ... fuck!

[remomazzetti]

Perhaps you should give credit to Wikipedia for the essay about the music since you failed to mention it.

[donmcgibbon]

The gawddammed overplayed Adagio For Strings is within this piece. I prefer this version when a quartet plays it, not some bloated orchestra under the baton of an idiot savant trying to outdo all of the other idiot savants for schmaltz and dreck. Barber was a GENIUS!!! We don't have to Top him...