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
Adagio for Strings radio interview about it with WQXR and said, "They always play that piece. I wish they'd play some of my other pieces." In 2004, listeners of the BBC's "Today" program voted "Adagio for Strings" the "saddest classical" work ever, ahead of "Dido's Lament" from "Dido and Aeneas" by Henry Purcell, the Adagietto from Gustav Mahler's 5th symphony, "Metamorphosen" by Richard Strauss, and "Gloomy Sunday" as sung by Billie Holiday. In 2006 a recorded performance by the London Symphony Orchestra was the highest-selling classical piece on iTunes. The musicologist Bill McGlaughlin compares its role in American music to the role that