Musical Reflection

Sometimes you don't want your music to come with lyrics, because no matter what the singer says, the words can never really match up with what you're feeling, but the notes themselves do--the sound so accurately reflects the internal state that you feel relieved. Tomaso Albinoni's "Adagio in G Minor" has been, on occasion, one of those songs for me.

Adagios are, by definition, down-tempo (generally around 70 beats per minute), and so they're often somber or sad, but almost always beautiful. While this one might sound a little scary the first two or three times you hear it--like a black-and-white vampire movie waiting to happen--upon further inspection, you begin to hear the minor notes as artful and lovely. And although the authorship is disputed (the piece is generally attributed to Albinoni but believed to have been composed by a man called Remo Giazotto), the music stands up.

For an updated, and quite stunning, rearrangement of this work, you might check out Bond's "Big Love Adagio," which turns it into a soaring love song, which is no small feat in itself--and if you listen to them back to back, you can hear the potential in the "G Minor" for something other than a funereal tone. I highly recommend both versions and hope that you enjoy them.

Buy "Adagio in G Minor" through Amazon for $0.99.

-Cate-