# Any pieces like Adagio for Strings?



## Greatus

I'm a new listener actually. Could you recommend pieces like Adagio for Strings or Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis? Thank you.


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## julianoq

You may enjoy this:


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## Weston

Or perhaps this famous adagio from the Gayane ballet suite


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## GreenMamba

Vaughan Williams's 5th Symphony stretches out the Tallis Fantasia for a full-length piece (well, not really, but if you like one, you might like the other).

Ives The Unanswered Question, maybe.


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## maestro57

Samuel Barber's String Quartet Op. 11 (II) Molto adagio ("Adagio for Strings") is quite similar. It has got to be, IMO, the saddest piece of music ever composed. If you find of one sadder, let me know


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## DavidH

I've got one for you. Metamorphosen by Richard Strauss. For 23 solo strings it is believed Strauss intended it to be a memorial to the human and cultural devastation to cities such as Munich and Dresden by bombing during the second world war.

Being Strauss it's longer, ~25 minutes against the Barber's 10, and definitely warrants a full listening.


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## Mesa




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## Guest

I'm not sure what it is that you like specifically about these two works, so it is a little difficult to judge what you might like. But going off the general theme of single-movement orchestral works that seem to convey emotion, in the Romantic period, there are a few I would recommend:

Tchaikovsky Romeo and Juliet Overture
Beethoven's Egmont and Coriolan Overtures (I know, not Romantic period, but still might perk your interest)
Mahler's Adagietto from his 5th Symphony
Mussorgsky A Night on the Bald Mountain
Rachmaninoff Isle of the Dead
Schoenberg Verklarte Nacht (again, not technically in the parameters, but might fit the bill)


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## Selby

Sweeping single movement pieces with lush strings?

Some ideas; some fit the criteria better than others, but it's good to push yourself 

Faure - Pavane for orchestra and choir, Op. 50

Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending

Ravel - Introduction and Allegro for Harp, Flute, Clarinet, and Strings, M. 46

Sibelius - Valse Triste, Op. 44

Schumann - Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 131

Bax - Symphonic Poem, The Garden of Fand

Part - Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten

Strauss - Metamorphosen, for 23 solo strings


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## peeyaj

maestro57 said:


> Samuel Barber's String Quartet Op. 11 (II) Molto adagio ("Adagio for Strings") is quite similar. It has got to be, IMO, the saddest piece of music ever composed. If you find of one sadder, let me know


Here:


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## techniquest

Howard Skempton's 'Lento'. A simple, beautiful, heart-wrenchingly sad piece of similar length to the Barber Adagio.


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## Andreas

I was thinking Sibelius' Andante festivo, but that's more pathos than soul-ache.


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## cjvinthechair

Greatus said:


> I'm a new listener actually. Could you recommend pieces like Adagio for Strings or Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis? Thank you.


Mmm...is Barber's violin concerto 2nd movement cheating ? Other movements are rather good too, of course, but....not like Adagio !


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## drpraetorus

Wagner, Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde 




Tchaikovsky, 6th Symphony esp. 4th movement 



 full Symphony 




Purcell, "When I am Laid in Earth" from dido and Aeneas. 




Shostakovich 5th Symphony 3rd movement 



 full Symphony 




Grieg "Ase's Death" from Peer Gynt 




Puccini "E lucevan e stele" from Tosca 



 or 




Sibelias "The Swan of Tuonella" 




Bach "Air" from orchestral suite #3 AKA Air for the G string 




Bach, "Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor" 




Dowland, "Flow my Tears" 




Welsh folksong "Myfanwy" 




Dvorak "New World" Symphony 2nd Movement 



 full symphony


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## brianvds

Rachmaninov's "Vocalise." Here's a lovely arrangement for cello and string orchestra:






Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony, op. 110. It is basically a reworking of his string quartet no. 8 (if memory serves). It was composed during the siege of Leningrad, and is one of the bleakest and most anguished things Shostakovich ever came up with:






Third movement from Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. Though there are some very huge outbursts in there; the whole thing isn't soft and sad. But Bartok is magnificent and should be listened to by everybody. 






On a far more lyrical and easy-on-the-ear note, the nocturne from Borodin's second string quartet. It is one of the most intoxicatingly beautiful melodies ever conceived, and I always wonder Borodin came up with it himself or whether it was originally a folk song. Anyway, here's an arrangement for orchestra:






Allegretto from Beethoven's seventh symphony:






Bach: Slow movement from violin concerto in E major:


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## millionrainbows

Penderecki's _Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima.

_Boulez:_ Livre pour cordes_


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## JupiterJones

How about Górecki's Symphony No. 3?


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## Forte

The slow movement of Schubert's quintet is sublime, so is Mahler's _Adagietto_ from the 5th Symphony. The 4th movement of Tchaikovsky's 6th is probably the greatest thing he wrote, and very tragic.

Maybe not the best suggestion, but the 3rd movement from Beethoven's 29th Piano Sonata (the _Hammerklavier_) is also pretty long and tragic.


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## Trout

I remember reading that some people have compared Kernis's _Musica Celestis_ to Barber's _Adagio_ as they appear both stylistically and instrumentally similar, although the former, to me, seems more ethereal and transcendental compared to Barber's more lamenting piece.


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## schuberkovich




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## ArtLover

OMG! I just listened to this on iTunes store and had to buy this immediately. Thank you for the awesome recommendation! I felt like I was floating away...listening to this. Amazing.


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## isorhythm

Tallis's second _Lamentations_ is kinda reminiscent of both actually. (Phrygian mode!)


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## Pugg

ArtLover said:


> OMG! I just listened to this on iTunes store and had to buy this immediately. Thank you for the awesome recommendation! I felt like I was floating away...listening to this. Amazing.


Nice to see this site has use, even to new members, welcome to Talk Classical.


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## T Son of Ander

I'm going to go out on a limb here and mention Karl Jenkins' "Passacaglia: In Memoriam Evelyn Mary Hopkins." It's for strings, and is very similar in mood to the Barber Adagio. It's very much worth hearing.


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## wolkaaa

Tchaikovsky's Souvenir d'un lieu cher, Serenade melancolique and Valse sentimentale.


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## hpowders

Try the Adagietto from Mahler's Fifth Symphony. It can easily stand alone and is similar in emotional impact to the Adagio for Strings by Barber.


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## Tallisman

Richard Strauss - Metamorphosen

Wagner - Siegfried's Rhine Journey


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## Omicron9

+1 for Gorecki 3 and the adagietto from Mahler 5.


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## 20centrfuge

IMO Barber's Adagio is one of the great gateway drugs into classical music. I introduce it to people who have never listened to classical, and they just love it. If I were you, from here, I'd start listening to more Barber, try First Essay for Orchestra, as a suggestion.

I also think you would love the romanticism of Rachmaninoff. Try Piano Concerto No.2. Another great gateway drug. From there, join the masses of us who have permanently fallen under the spell of beautiful, emotional music.

As a parting thought, this heart breakingly beautiful piece for choir by Barber, called "Sure on This Shining Night"


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## Omicron9

Also: Finzi's Eclogue.


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## JayBlake

*Thank You*

OH MY GOD. You are absolutely right! Gorecki Symphony No. 3! I've been on a quest (okay, obsession) for the last couple days to find this piece that I heard played by the Minnesota Orchestra in 1994 or 5. I couldn't remember the composer nor what it was called.

Why now? Because I'm going to a concert in a couple weeks with Barber's Adagio For Strings on the program and all of a sudden I remembered this piece that was similar.

So I found a YouTube video of it and bawled my eyes out when the orchestra picks up after the first soprano solo. Thank you! Now I can sleep tonight.

Jay


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## JLi

Bartok: Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta (1st movement)
Bartok: String Quartet No. 6
Beethoven: String Quartet Op. 131 in C# Minor (1st movement)
Gorecki: Symphony No. 3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs"
Mahler: Adagietto
Wagner: Prelude to Tannhauser
Wagner: Prelude to Tristan and Isolde


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## Pugg

JLi said:


> Bartok: Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta (1st movement)
> Bartok: String Quartet No. 6
> Beethoven: String Quartet Op. 131 in C# Minor (1st movement)
> Gorecki: Symphony No. 3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs"
> Mahler: Adagietto
> Wagner: Prelude to Tannhauser
> Wagner: Prelude to Tristan and Isolde


Hardly similar to Adagio for Strings.


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## David Phillips

Elgar: Sospri for strings and harp - short but sublime.


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## Jacck

Adagio, I have know this piece for a long time because of the Platoon soundtrack. Something similar? Because it is an adagio for strings, try exploring some string quartets
*Beethoven string quartets*




Beethoven is far superior to the adagio if you are willing to delve into his quartets (give them multiple listenings). These are the best string quartets ever written. I would place is even above his symphonies in terms of brilliance. 
*Schubert quartets*





but if you are a beginner, it might be easier to try Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending and Pastoral Symphony. They are slow melodic pieces similar to adagio.


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## Tallisman

Adagio from Mahler's 4th
3rd movement of Beethoven's string quartet 15


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## Ras

Barber's Adagio for strings have always reminded me of *Richard Strauss' Metamorphoses* for 23 solo strings. 
I've always loved Karajan's DGG recording of the Richard Strauss piece.


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## 13hm13

I'm assuming anyone curious in OP question has first exhausted all iterations? If not, start with:

https://www.discogs.com/Samuel-Barber-Various-Barbers-Adagio/release/2885381










I also assume anyone curious in the OP question has delved into Barber's repertoire ... esp. slow (adagio/andante) movements.

Finally, look at the playlist of various commercial "Adagio" CD releases ...



















...etc...


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## Simon Moon

Not exactly an adagio, but with very strong emotional content, Samuel Barber's, "Medea's Dance of Vengeance" might be of interest.


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## 13hm13

Some trivia...

2004 BBC Poll on "Saddest Music" :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/today/reports/arts/saddestmusic_vote.shtml

Results page not avail .but I recall Barber got greatest majority of votes.

In 2010 (100th anniv. of Barber's birth), Thomas Larson publ'd book:
"THE SADDEST MUSIC EVER WRITTEN"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/15/AR2010091506165.html

SB interview in 1977 (Adagio by SQ included in video):


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