Adagio for Strings Adagio for Strings Adagio for Strings is a work by Samuel Barber, arguably his best known, arranged for string orchestra from the second movement of his String Quartet, Op. 11. Barber finished the arrangement in 1936, the same year that he wrote the quartet. It was performed for the first time on November 5, 1938, by Arturo Toscanini conducting the NBC Symphony Orchestra in a radio broadcast from NBC Studio 8H. Toscanini also played the piece on his South American tour with the NBC Symphony in 1940. Its reception was generally positive, with Alexander J. Morin writing that "Adagio for
Fantasia for Strings (Henze) Fantasia for Strings (Henze) Fantasia for Strings () is a composition by German composer Hans Werner Henze. It was finished in 1966, as part of the soundtrack for Volker Schlöndorff's film adaptation of Robert Musil's novel "The Confusions of Young Törless". This composition has been published by Schott Music. "Fantasia for Strings" is an abridged concert version of the full score for "Der junge Törless", which has never been published and has only been performed for the film. Henze finished both the film score and the "Fantasia" in 1966, and he chose specifically Renaissance instruments for the film score recording,