Agnus Dei (music) Agnus Dei (music) Agnus Dei, referring to the Christian theological concept of the Lamb of God and the associated liturgical text from the Roman Catholic Latin Mass, has been set to music by many composers, as it is normally one of the movements or sections in a sung Mass setting. However, sometimes it stands alone, e.g. it provides the lyrics for Samuel Barber's "Agnus Dei", the choral arrangement of his "Adagio for Strings". The Agnus Dei is a setting of the "Lamb of God" litany, based on John the Baptist's reference in to Jesus ("Behold the Lamb of God that
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