Albinoni's Adagio
Hauser
Hauser
Elisabeth Fuchs, conductor
Pavao Mašić, organ
Hauser performing Adagio by Albinoni with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra at his classical solo concert at the Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb, October 2017.
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Arrangement by Hauser and Filip Sljivac
Filmed and edited by MedVid production
Sound and mixing by Morris Studio
Adagio in G Minor
Composed by Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni
Tomaso Albinoni is known today for the absolutely gorgeous Adagio in g minor, one of the most popular works from the Italian baroque period. Ironically, though, the adagio was actually composed by Remo Giazotto, in 1945. Giazotto, a musicologist, discovered a fragment of a sonata, which he attributed to Albinoni. Using the theme from that fragment, Giazotto composed the single movement adagio in g minor, scored for organ and strings.
This confusion over composer and date does not diminish the quality of the music, though, as this piece remains very popular and often played and recorded.
Details
The "Adagio in G minor" for Violin, Strings and Organ Continuo is a Neo-Baroque composition popularly attributed to the 18th-century Venetian composer Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751). However, it was written by the 20th-century musicologist and Albinoni biographer Remo Giazotto (1910-1998).
Ralph Sauer, retired Principal Trombonist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic has arranged this beautiful work for four Trombones.
This work is approximately seven minutes in length and can be performed by advanced performers in a large Ensemble or Quartet.
The "Adagio in G minor" for Violin, Strings and Organ Continuo is a Neo-Baroque composition popularly attributed to the 18th-century Venetian composer Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751). However, it was written by the 20th-century musicologist and Albinoni biographer Remo Giazotto (1910-1998).
Ralph Sauer, retired Principal Trombonist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic has arranged this beautiful work for four Trombones.
This work is approximately seven minutes in length and can be performed by advanced performers in a large Ensemble or Quartet.
Historical Note:
In 1945, the Italian academic Remo Giazotto published a book on Albinoni entitled The Violin Music of the Venetian Dilettante. Albinoni was just one area of expertise for Giazotto. Others included the composers Vivaldi and Busoni, as well as the music of the Baroque and Classical periods in Giazotto’s native Genoa. The academic’s expertise on the life and music of Albinoni led him to complete an Albinoni fragment, which he said he had discovered in the Saxon State Library in Dresden, while he was trying to salvage manuscripts after it was bombed in the second World War. This produced what is known as the ‘Albinoni Adagio’, but should surely, at the very least, be called the ‘Albinoni–Giazotto Adagio’. Giazotto’s purported discovery of this tiny manuscript fragment (consisting of a few opening measures of the melody line and basso continuo portion) from a slow second movement of an otherwise unknown trio sonata led to the development of the Adagio, as we know it.
Hauser 🎻Adagio by Albinoni
'Alone, Together' Concert in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
👇 🇭🇷 👇
Adagio in G Minor
'Alone, Together' Concert in Dubrovnik, Croatia.
👇 🇭🇷 👇
Adagio in G Minor
The Adagio in G minor for violin, strings, and organ continuo is a neo-Baroque composition popularly attributed to the 18th-century Venetian master Tomaso Albinoni, but actually composed by 20th-century musicologist and Albinoni biographer Remo Giazotto,
purportedly based on the discovery of a manuscript fragment by Albinoni. There is a continuing scholarly debate about whether the
alleged fragment was real, or a musical hoax perpetrated by Giazotto, but there is no doubt about Giazotto's authorship of the remainder of the work.
Provenance
The composition is often referred to as "Albinoni's Adagio" or "Adagio in G minor by Albinoni, arranged by Giazotto", but the attribution is incorrect. The ascription to Albinoni rests upon Giazotto's purported discovery of a manuscript fragment (consisting of a few opening measures of the melody line and basso continuo portion) from a slow second movement of an otherwise unknown Albinoni trio sonata.
According to Giazotto, he obtained the document shortly after the end of World War II from the Saxon State Library in Dresden which had preserved most of its collection, though its buildings were destroyed in the bombing raids of February and March 1945 by the British and American Air Forces. Giazotto concluded that the manuscript fragment was a portion of a church sonata (sonata da chiesa, one of two standard forms of the trio sonata) in G minor composed by Albinoni, possibly as part of his Op. 4 set, around 1708.
In his account, Giazotto then constructed the balance of the complete single-movement work based on this fragmentary theme. He copyrighted it and published it in 1958 under a title which, translated into English, reads "Adagio in G Minor for Strings and Organ, on Two
Thematic Ideas and on a Figured Bass by Tomaso Albinoni". Giazotto never produced the manuscript fragment, and no official record has been found of its presence in the collection of the Saxon State Library.
The piece is most commonly orchestrated for string ensemble and organ, or string ensemble alone, but with its growing fame has been transcribed for other instruments. Italian conductor Ino Savini (1904–1995) transcribed the Adagio for a large orchestra and conducted
the piece himself in Ostrava in 1967 with the Janáček Philharmonic. The composition has also permeated popular culture, having been used as background music for many films, in television programmes, and in advertisements (see below).
- In the 1981 Peter Weir film Gallipoli
- as background music in the BBC comedy/drama series Butterflies (1978–83)
- Swedish Jazz singer Monica Zetterlund on her album "Monica Monica". Monica Zetterlund - Adagio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tXY6kNFbPc
- Lara Fabian - Adagio (Video) https://youtu.be/NAWQxIq-9-Q
- Adagio - Sarah Brightman https://youtu.be/7VTU8udx98Y
- With Italian Lyrics - https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=adagio+lyrics
Hauser 🎻Adagio by Tomaso Albinoni
London Symphony Orchestra.
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Although the composition is often referred to as "Albinoni's Adagio", or "Adagio in G minor by Albinoni, arranged by Giazotto", the attribution is incorrect. The ascription to Albinoni rests upon Giazotto's purported discovery of a tiny manuscript fragment (consisting of a few opening measures of the melody line and basso continuo portion) from a slow second movement of an otherwise unknown Albinoni trio sonata.
According to Giazotto, he obtained the document shortly after the end of World War II from the Saxon State Library in Dresden, which − though its buildings were destroyed in the bombing raids of February and March 1945 by the British and American Air Forces − had evacuated and preserved most of its collection. Giazotto concluded that the manuscript fragment was a portion of a church sonata (sonata da chiesa, one of two standard forms of the trio sonata) in G minor composed by Albinoni, possibly as part of his Op. 4 set, around 1708.
In his account, Giazotto then constructed the balance of the complete single-movement work based on this fragmentary theme. He copyrighted it and published it in 1958, under a title which, translated into English, reads "Adagio in G Minor for Strings and Organ, on Two Thematic Ideas and on a Figured Bass by Tomaso Albinoni". Giazotto never produced the manuscript fragment, and no official record of its presence in the collection of the Saxon State Library has been found.
The discovery by musicologist Muska Mangano, Giazotto's last assistant, of a modern but independent manuscript transcription of the figured bass portion and six fragmentary bars of the first violin, "bearing in the top right-hand corner a stamp stating unequivocally the Dresden provenance of the original from which it was taken", provides some support for Giazotto's account that a manuscript from Dresden was his source. The scholarly consensus is that the Adagio is Giazotto's composition, whatever source may have inspired him.
The piece is most commonly orchestrated for string ensemble and organ, or string ensemble alone, but with its growing fame has been transcribed for other instruments. The Italian conductor Ino Savini (1904–1995) transcribed the Adagio for a large orchestra and conducted the piece himself in Ostrava in 1967 with the Janáček Philharmonic. The composition has also permeated popular culture, having been used as background music for such films as Gallipoli, in television programmes, and in advertisements.
London Symphony Orchestra.
👇 🎻 👇
The Adagio in G minor for violin, strings and organ continuo, is a neo-Baroque composition popularly attributed to the 18th-century Venetian master Tomaso Albinoni, but actually composed by the 20th-century musicologist and Albinoni biographer Remo Giazotto, purportedly based on the discovery of a manuscript fragment by Albinoni.
Although the composition is often referred to as "Albinoni's Adagio", or "Adagio in G minor by Albinoni, arranged by Giazotto", the attribution is incorrect. The ascription to Albinoni rests upon Giazotto's purported discovery of a tiny manuscript fragment (consisting of a few opening measures of the melody line and basso continuo portion) from a slow second movement of an otherwise unknown Albinoni trio sonata.
According to Giazotto, he obtained the document shortly after the end of World War II from the Saxon State Library in Dresden, which − though its buildings were destroyed in the bombing raids of February and March 1945 by the British and American Air Forces − had evacuated and preserved most of its collection. Giazotto concluded that the manuscript fragment was a portion of a church sonata (sonata da chiesa, one of two standard forms of the trio sonata) in G minor composed by Albinoni, possibly as part of his Op. 4 set, around 1708.
In his account, Giazotto then constructed the balance of the complete single-movement work based on this fragmentary theme. He copyrighted it and published it in 1958, under a title which, translated into English, reads "Adagio in G Minor for Strings and Organ, on Two Thematic Ideas and on a Figured Bass by Tomaso Albinoni". Giazotto never produced the manuscript fragment, and no official record of its presence in the collection of the Saxon State Library has been found.
The discovery by musicologist Muska Mangano, Giazotto's last assistant, of a modern but independent manuscript transcription of the figured bass portion and six fragmentary bars of the first violin, "bearing in the top right-hand corner a stamp stating unequivocally the Dresden provenance of the original from which it was taken", provides some support for Giazotto's account that a manuscript from Dresden was his source. The scholarly consensus is that the Adagio is Giazotto's composition, whatever source may have inspired him.
The piece is most commonly orchestrated for string ensemble and organ, or string ensemble alone, but with its growing fame has been transcribed for other instruments. The Italian conductor Ino Savini (1904–1995) transcribed the Adagio for a large orchestra and conducted the piece himself in Ostrava in 1967 with the Janáček Philharmonic. The composition has also permeated popular culture, having been used as background music for such films as Gallipoli, in television programmes, and in advertisements.
Uses in popular culture
The Adagio has been used in many films, television programmes, advertisements, recordings, and books. Notable occurrences include:
The Adagio has been used in many films, television programmes, advertisements, recordings, and books. Notable occurrences include:
- as the main theme in Last Year at Marienbad (1961) directed by Alain Resnais
- in the original 1975 version of the film Rollerball
- in the 1981 Peter Weir film Gallipoli
- in the 1983 film Flashdance
- Yngwie Malmsteen, in Icarus Dream Suite Op. 4 (1984)
- in the 1991 film The Doors at the Père Lachaise Cemetery scene
- a 1999 crossover song in English and Italian, "Adagio", by Lara Fabian
- in the 2016 film Manchester by the Sea
- Wolf Hoffmann recorded a neo-classical metal version, released in his Headbangers Symphony album (2016)
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