Adagio in G minor

Last updated

Adagio in G minor for strings and organ, also known as Adagio in Sol minore per archi e organo su due spunti tematici e su un basso numerato di Tomaso Albinoni (Mi 26), is a neo-Baroque composition often misattributed to the 18th-century Venetian composer Tomaso Albinoni. In fact the work was composed by a 20th-century musicologist and Albinoni biographer named Remo Giazotto. The piece was purportedly based on the discovery of a bass line by Albinoni in a manuscript fragment.

Contents

Scholarly debate over the existence of the fragment persists, with most seeing the affair as a musical hoax perpetrated by Giazotto. There is no room for doubt when it comes to the source of everything in the Adagio other than the bassline, and Giazotto's authorship of these parts is not disputed. [1] [2]

Provenance

The composition is often referred to as "Albinoni's Adagio" or "Adagio in G minor by Albinoni, arranged by Giazotto". [1] 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, although 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. [1]

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". [3] Giazotto never produced the manuscript fragment, and no official record has been found of its presence in the collection of the Saxon State Library. [4]

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 Adagio has been used in many films, television programmes, advertisements, recordings, and books. Notable occurrences include:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomaso Albinoni</span> Italian composer (1671–1751)

Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. His output includes operas, concertos, sonatas for one to six instruments, sinfonias, and solo cantatas. While famous in his day as an opera composer, he is known today for his instrumental music, especially his concertos. He is best remembered today for a work called "Adagio in G minor", attributed to him but largely written by Remo Giazotto, a 20th century musicologist and composer, who was a cataloger of the works of Albinoni.

The trio sonata is a genre, typically consisting of several movements, with two melody instruments and basso continuo. It originated in the early 17th century and was a favorite chamber ensemble combination in the Baroque era.

Remo Giazotto was an Italian musicologist, music critic, and composer, mostly known through his systematic catalogue of the works of Tomaso Albinoni. He wrote biographies of Albinoni and other composers, including Antonio Vivaldi.

Adagio may refer to:

The year 1716 in music involved some significant events.

<i>Welcome to Sarajevo</i> 1997 film

Welcome to Sarajevo is a 1997 war drama film directed by Michael Winterbottom, written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and is based on the book Natasha's Story by Michael Nicholson. The film stars Stephen Dillane, Woody Harrelson, Marisa Tomei, Emira Nušević, Kerry Fox, Goran Višnjić, James Nesbitt, and Emily Lloyd.

<i>Casanova</i> (2005 film) 2005 American film

Casanova is a 2005 American romance film directed by Lasse Hallström starring Heath Ledger and loosely based on the life of Giacomo Casanova. The film premiered September 3, 2005, at the Venice Film Festival. It received mixed reviews and flopped at the box office.

<i>Parade of the Athletes</i> 2004 compilation album by Tiësto

Parade of the Athletes is a retrospective mix by Dutch DJ Tiësto of his live set performed during the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece on 13 August 2004. This was the first time that a DJ was asked to perform for a ceremony at the Olympics. Recognizing one of their own, the Dutch team came up to the booth while Tiësto was performing this set. All of the songs on this track are original songs composed by Tiësto except for "Adagio for Strings", which is his own remix of Samuel Barber's piece by the same name, and "Athena", which is also a remix of Adagio in G minor, a piece often attributed to Tomaso Albinoni, but actually composed by Remo Giazotto.

Rita Comisi is an Italian singer who became a finalist of the Italian talent TV-show Amici di Maria De Filippi(it.) in 2005–2006, winning the critics awards.

<i>Turn of the Cards</i> 1974 studio album by Renaissance

Turn of the Cards is the fifth studio album by the English progressive rock band Renaissance, released in July 1974. It was the last Renaissance studio album to include excerpts from existing classical pieces. It was also the first album recorded by the group after Michael Dunford, who had written songs for their previous three albums, joined the group as an acoustic guitarist.

A musical hoax is a piece of music composed by an individual who intentionally misattributes it to someone else.

An organ concerto is an orchestral piece of music in which a pipe organ soloist is accompanied by an an orchestra, although some works exist with the name "concerto" which are for organ alone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guido Rimonda</span> Italian violinist and conductor (born 1969)

Guido Rimonda is an Italian violinist and conductor.

Marcel Tyberg was an Austrian composer, conductor and organist. His music is late-Romantic in style.

<i>The 50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music</i> 2009 studio album by the London Philharmonic Orchestra

The 50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music is a compilation of classical works recorded by the London Philharmonic Orchestra with conductor David Parry. Recorded at Abbey Road Studios, Royal Festival Hall and Henry Wood Hall in London, the compilation was released in digital formats in November, 2009 and as a 4-CD set in 2011. The 50 Greatest Pieces of Classical Music has sold over 200,000 copies and spent over three days as one of the top 10 classical albums on iTunes.

<i>Headbangers Symphony</i> 2016 studio album by Wolf Hoffmann

Headbangers Symphony is the second solo album by German guitarist Wolf Hoffmann, released nineteen years after his first solo release, Classical. The album was released on July 1, 2016 via Nuclear Blast. The album is available on limited edition red vinyl, limited edition vinyl, digipack CD and digital album formats.

<i>Gut Feelings</i> (album) 1991 live album by Jack Walrath and Masters of Suspense

Gut Feelings is a live album by trumpeter Jack Walrath which was recorded at the Merkin Concert Hall in 1990 and released on the Muse label in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albinoni vs Star Wars</span> 1989 single by Sigue Sigue Sputnik

"Albinoni vs Star Wars" is a song by British band Sigue Sigue Sputnik released in May 1989 as the third single from their second album Dress for Excess. It was their last single to chart, peaking at number 75 on the UK Singles Chart.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Dekel, Jon (24 February 2017). "Is Albinoni's Adagio the biggest fraud in music history?". CBC Music . Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  2. ↑ "Giazotto, Remo". Grove Music Online. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  3. ↑ Giazotto, Remo; Albinoni, Tomaso (1958). Adagio in sol minore per archi e organo: su due spunti tematici e su un basso numerato di Tomaso Albinoni (Musical score) (in Italian). Milan: Ricordi. OCLC   2408017.
  4. ↑ Letter from the Saxon State Library (consultant Marina Lang), 24 September 1990, reproduced in facsimile by Wulf Dieter Lugert and Volker Schütz, "Adagio à la Albinoni", Praxis des Musikunterrichts53 (February 1998), pp. 13–22, here p. 15. OCLC   1298747922
  5. ↑ Ledrut, Jean (1963). Le Proces (The Trial) Bande originale du film d'Orson Welles (Musical LP). Philips. OCLC   761811030.
  6. ↑ "Dragon's Domain" , IMDb
  7. 1 2 3 Courtney E. Smith (16 February 2018). "Uncovering The Spoilers Buried in the Music Of American Crime Story: Versace". Refinery29 . Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  8. ↑ "Original versions of Anytime, Anywhere written by Frank Peterson, Michael Soltau, Sarah Brightman, Chiara Ferraù | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  9. ↑ Van Horn Jr., Ray (20 August 2016). "Wolf Hoffmann Headbangers Symphony". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  10. ↑ Headbangers Symphony at Discogs
  11. ↑ SHOWTIME (12 July 2017). "Mayweather vs. McGregor: Toronto Press Conference". YouTube .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.