Baroque or Not? The Adagio in G Minor Mystery

I'm not 100% sure but I think the first time I heard Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor was in the late 70's or early 80's watching TV commercials. Back then it was especially popular to use classical music as backdrop for TV ads, at least here in Austria.

Vivaldi's Four Seasons for a coffee brand, some local Bank (ab)used Mozart for their life insurance package  - what the Adagio was supposed to peddle, I don't remember.

I do remember though, that this haunting piece somehow grabbed me and I couldn't get it out of my head and would constantly whistle and hum the melody anytime I had seen the TV spot.

After the ad got canceled, I forgot about the piece, until...

The Swedish Virtuoso

A few years later - enter Yngwie Malmsteen.

Both hailed as a guitar god and condemned as an egomanical, repetitive shredder - the swedish guitar virtuoso is a controversial figure. In his "Icarus Dream Suite Op. 4" I experienced a flashback when I heard the beloved TV commercial melody again.

Thanks to the liner notes, I learned that the melody was a quote and came from the Adagio in G Minor by Italian Baroque composer Tomaso Albinoni.

How come I had never heard of Albinoni before?

Typical for a teenager I thought it unfair that the creator of this great melody remained obscure and unknown in comparison to other Baroque composers like Bach, Vivaldi and Handel. I even tried to find solace in the thought that despite the lack of the composer's fame, the melody still seemed to stay popular.

And isn't the music what matters, anyways?

3 Adagio Versions

Speaking of the music...
Here's 3 renditions that I'd like to share with you.

1) For Organ and Strings

First in the "classical" format for organ and strings:

 

2) Orchestra and Guitar

Dominic Miller, whom most people only know as Sting's guitarist, recorded a superb version on his "Shapes" album.

 

3) Solo Guitar

And finally, a solo guitar transcription by one of my favorite guitarists, YouTube phenomenon Per-Olov Kindgren.

What about the Mystery?

Initially, this blog post was supposed to end here. My original intention was to feature the Adagio and maybe muse about why a certain piece just speaks to you for a paragraph or two.

Imagine my surprise when I came across this during my research:

The Adagio in G minor for strings and organ continuo is a neo-baroque composition by Remo Giazotto first published in 1958. It is usually referred to as "Albinoni's Adagio", or "Adagio in G minor by Albinoni, arranged by Giazotto", but it has been established as an entirely original work by Giazotto.

Source: Wikipedia

Not by Albinoni?
How can Albinoni's Adagio NOT be by Albinoni?
What's going on here?

It was supposedly based on a fragment of a second-movement continuo from a "Sonata in G minor" by Tomaso Albinoni purportedly found among the ruins of the old Saxon State Library, Dresden, after it was firebombed by the Allies during World War II, but since Giazotto's death in 1998 it has emerged that the piece is all his composition, as no such fragment has been found or recorded to have been in possession by the Saxon State Library.

Source: Wikipedia

Adding New Layers

To me this adds a whole new layer to the piece. Not just the emotional feeling of conceived injustice that Albinoni has to suffer. No, now there's all those additional questions like:

Irrelevant questions?

Maybe...

But there's something that I like to call "The Story" playing an important part to art appreciation. "The Story" is something that can change your perception and enrich your life immensely.

How does it work?

I'll let you know in one of my next posts.

How's that for a cliffhanger?

Share Your Thoughts

• In the meantime, please let us know which version of the Adagio you enjoyed the most.
• Any other great renditions you'd like to share?
• What other piece of music had a similar hold on you as the Adagio did for me?

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Tagged with: Adagio in G Minor • Albinoni • appreciation • Baroque • classical music • composer • Handel • Kindgren • Miller • Mozart • Vivaldi • Yngwie Malmsteen

Filed under: Music

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