Have you ever listened to Barber’s Adagio for Strings? If so, what did you experience?
I have never forgotten my first time. I must have been sixteen or seventeen. Still in high school. Sitting in the dark of the living room while the family watched Oliver Stone’s Platoon. Stone’s words delivered by the actors, the cinematographer’s vision executed on screen, the historical context, and that music wrapping it all together. I wish I could better explain the power of that moment and why today that music brings me to tears.
As a writer, I sometimes listen to music to help ground me or to help me tap into an emotional space. Barber’s Adago helps me to pause, to breathe, and be carried away by the lines of music. I have read that it is considered one of the saddest pieces of music ever. Even sadness, perhaps especially sadness, we need to explore on occasion in writing, in music, in words, in pictures. As a friend of my has a penchant for saying, “It’ll make you stronger.”
Words + Images 
personally i think the film version is played too fast. but i prefer my barber’s adagio quite slow.
have you heard the legend that the piece was meant to evoke a sexual experience between forbidden lovers? not sure if this is truth or rumor but i can certainly hear it in the music.
also, if you’re a fan of the string orchestra arrangement, then allow me to recommend the entire string quartet, of which the Adagio was originally the second movement.
I had not heard that legend! Thanks for the tip about the entire string quartet. I look forward to checking it out.