It was a bit of fun - I loved what Ferry and Tiesto had done for dance and I wanted to see if I could attempt a similar project- Credit to Samuel Osboe Barber II (March 9, 1910 – January 23, 1981). Barber's Adagio for Strings originated as part of his String Quartet No. 1, Op. 11, composed in 1936. In the original it follows a violently contrasting first movement, and is succeeded by a brief reprise of this music.
In January of 1938 Barber sent the piece to Arturo Toscanini. The conductor retued the score without comment, and Barber was annoyed and avoided the conductor. Consequently Toscanini sent a word through a friend that he was planning to perform the piece and had retued it simply because he had already memorized it.[1] Barber's own arrangement for string orchestra was given its first performance by Arturo Toscanini with the NBC Symphony Orchestra on November 5th, 1938 in New York.
The composer also arranged the piece in 1967 for eight-part choir, as a setting of the Agnus Dei ("Lamb of God").
