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Noon Edition

Stuck In The Middle Podcast

We're stuck between a rock and a hard place on this episode!

This week on the Ether Game Weekly Music Quiz Podcast, we're exploring scherzos, minuets, adagios, intermezzos, and other interior movements in a show we're calling "Stuck In The Middle"! Can you name this internal tune? (The answer is below) Remember to keep your ears out for a portion of Tuesday night's Teaser selection. And don't forget to tune into the full show on Tuesday, July 24th at 8:00pm for a chance to win a prize!

Samuel Barber (1910–1981), String Quartet, Op. 11: II. Molto Adagio

Emerson String Quartet.

American Originals: Ives & Barber String Quartets (Deutsche Grammophon)



Usually, the opening movement and the finale get most of the attention. But that wasn't the case for Samuel Barber and his one and only string quartet. The opening movement is a fairly standard movement in sonata form, and the finale caused Barber a bit of trouble - the premiere of the work in 1935 was delayed because Barber hadn't finished writing it. It was the adagio second movement that Barber considered to be the crown jewel of this three movement work. Barber liked it so much that he re-orchestrated it for full string orchestra. You may now know it as Barber's Adagio For Strings. This work's elegiac sound has made it a staple of state funerals and other somber events. Barber even re-orchestrated the movement yet again in 1967, turning it into a choral arrangement using the text of the "Agnus Dei."

Music Heard On This Episode

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