Agnus Dei (Barber) Agnus Dei (Barber) Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) is a choral composition in one movement by Samuel Barber, his own arrangement of his "Adagio for Strings" (1936). In 1967, he set the Latin words of the liturgical Agnus Dei, a part of the Mass, for mixed chorus with optional organ or piano accompaniment. The music, in B-flat minor, has a duration of about eight minutes. Barber's "Adagio for Strings" began as the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11, composed in 1936. At the request of Arturo Toscanini, he arranged it for string orchestra, and in January 1938 sent
Agnus Dei (Barber) the Renaissance by Palestrina and Gabrieli. Violinist Phillip Ying says about the quartet movement: "The score looks so clear, like a counterpoint exercise, and the power of it is in the economy of means." "Agnus Dei" is in B-flat minor, marked "molto adagio" (very slow) and "molto espressivo" (very expressive) and in the beginning "pp" (pianissimo, very soft). The initial time is 4/2, but some measures are expanded to 5/2 and 6/2 throughout the piece of 69 measures. The music is set for soprano, alto, tenor and bass (SATB); all four parts are sometimes divided; measures 12 to 14 call