Let’s finish off this week with a dip into relatively recent history. Both born about a decade into the 20th century, Gian Carlo Menotti and Samuel Barber were a kind of gay power couple in the classical music world. Both were composers who pushed boundaries and expanded the universe of orchestral music, opera, and solo works. Menotti experimented with using taped electronic sounds in combination with live orchestra, creating some unique and curious pieces. Barber was obsessed with texture in sound, often re-setting his own compositions for various instruments and ensembles, seemingly just to see how many different textures and sonic secrets he might unlock in a single piece of music.
The piece we’ll hear today is one of those from Barber, a re-setting of what’s probably his most famous work, Adagio for Strings. It’s a lush, slow-moving wash, like a gentle spring right where it feeds into a lake. It’s both soft and strong. Here it is set not for strings, but for a large choir. He chose to use the liturgical Latin “Agnus Dei” text — translated, “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us…bring us peace.” The quiet passion of the music beautifully supports the spirit of the text, weeping with hope.
Barber and Menotti were together for over 40 years before Barber’s death in 1981. It makes me smile to imagine Samuel working on this arrangement at his desk, his beloved in the other room making funny noises with his music machines…a happy couple cohabiting in peace and joy. They were widely out and were miraculously mostly left alone by the press and public, one aspect of classical music culture that has been quite consistent for hundreds of years — gay composers could be out and mostly left alone. However, we rarely get an example of a long-term queer romance, and by all accounts, this was a very romantic couple. Barber and Menotti bring me joy, and it’s with that rosy tint that I hear this somber piece today.
Breathe in and out a few times. Release the tensions in your neck, your shoulders, your arms, your chest, your trunk, your hips, your legs, your feet. Agree with your body that it feels good to do this intentionally. Tell it to enjoy the next few minutes.
Now press play.
Thank you, Spirit of Music, for encapsulating joy, romance, pain, grief, passion, weakness, and hope.