Adagio for Strings eye." In 1938, Olin Downes noted that with the piece, Barber "achieved something as perfect in mass and detail as his craftsmanship permits." In an edition of "A Conductor's Analysis of Selected Works", John William Mueller devoted over 20 pages to "Adagio for Strings". Wayne Clifford Wentzel, author of "Samuel Barber: A Research and Information Guide (Composer Resource Manuals)", said that it was a piece usually selected for a closing act because it was moderately famous. Roy Brewer, writer for AllMusic, stated that it was one of the most recognizable pieces of American concert music. G. Schirmer has published several
Fantasia for Strings (Henze) a four-movement composition, because movements one, two, and three all resemble one another, creating thus a tripartite adagio and are used in the movie as the Törless family arrives at the school. According to the score itself, the movement list should be as follows: The composition is scored for violins I, violins II, violas, cellos and double basses. However, Henze uses the divisi a number of times throughout the whole composition, to the point that some of the voices can be divided into more than four staves. A performance takes about 16 minutes. This composition has been very rarely performed,