Who was the master of the Adagio?

[Carlos von Kleiber]

You may pick up to three! And of course, saying Adagio, I mean slow movements in general.

Sorry for another poll, but it's just interesting!  0:)

My vote would go to: Brahms (just listened to the one of the first violin sonata, so easy choice...), Strauss and Messiaen.
But that means to exclude Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Bach, Beethoven... crazy thought! 

[some guy]

Well, all of the people on your list wrote masterful slow movements.

And one or two not on your list have also the same and et cetera.

So I guess I'd paraphrase your question as "Which masters were masters?" to which the answer is, "Um, all of them."

[karlhenning]

[Gurn Blanston]

I don't see Henning on the list, so I'm not voting. Or Albinoni either, for that matter...

[Bonehelm]

How about Karajan?

[Kullervo]

Stockhausen Adagios for Lovers

[DavidRoss]

Right up there with Smooth Jazz by Sid Vicious   

[prémont]

Remo Giazotto was the true master of the adagio.

[Keemun]

Bruckner was my first choice, and Mahler my second.  I couldn't decide on a third, so I just voted for those two.  So far Bruckner is in the lead.  Go Bruckner! 

[karlhenning]

I don't see Henning on the list, so I'm not voting.

My music's devotees are few, but their loyalty is unflinching 

[Josquin des Prez]

Never thought about this, but on the spur on the moment i'm going to nominate Mozart, then Beethoven.

[quintett op.57]

Voted Haydn immediately. He's composed hundreds of great adagios.

[greg]

Easy. I just chose my top 3.


.....except now that i think about it, most of Prokofiev's Adagios are actually Andantes.....

[Christo]

As in Zimbabwe, I did my duty and voted. But as in Zimbabwe, I missed some serious candidates to vote for.

Like e.g. Barber, Braga Santos, Rey, Vaughan Williams, Tubin, Henning, Rubbra, Wilms, Atterberg, Englund. This list is just a bit too much M, to my taste!  

[Renfield]

Boring vote from me: Mahler, Bruckner, Beethoven. I couldn't justify a vote from my part that excluded those three.


In fact, maybe I could have switched over Beethoven with Tchaikovsky, yet that would be doing no justice to the man who wrote the Eroica's funeral march (not to mention the 7th Symphony's second movement, strictly an "adagio" as it might be not).

I wanted five choices. This way I could've voted for Piotr Ilyich, and Shostakovich as well. But I can't have everything!

[Wanderer]

Even if I wanted to vote for regular Elgar, the poll only has the multi version. I'm not pleased!

[Kullervo]

Even if I wanted to vote for regular Elgar, the poll only has the multi version. I'm not pleased!

Indeed, his greatest moments are his adagios.

[jochanaan]

All the aforementioned composers were masters in many fields, as has been said.  But there are at least a couple of modern composers that seem to specialize in adagios, at least in my experience:
1. Morton Feldman
2. Henryk Gorecki
And they are both masters.

I should also mention Dmitri Shostakovich, who seemed to specialize in slow movements at the BEGINNINGS of his major works!  Think Symphonies #5, #8 and #10 among others; the Piano Quintet in G minor, the Piano Trio in E minor, and probably many others.

[BachQ]

Saul Dzorelashvili (see, e.g., Adagio in G Minor for Orchestra)

[val]

The absolute master?
BEETHOVEN  (Piano Sonatas opus 2/1 and 3, 7, 31/2, 106, 110, String Quartets opus 18/1 and 6, 59/1 and 2, 74, 127, 130, 131, 132, Symphony 9)

In second place BRUCKNER  (Symphonies 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)

In third BARTOK  (Piano Concertos 2 and 3, Music for strings percussion and celesta, Divertimento, 5th Quartet and some other works with the configuration of an Adagio but with another name, like the extraordinary Non Troppo Lento of the 4th Quartet).

Mozart, Schubert and Brahms prefer the Andante in their most beautiful slow movements. With some exceptions: the sublime Adagio of Brahms Clarinet Quintet, the Adagio of Mozart's absolute masterpiece the String Quintet K 516 and the Adagio of Schubert's supreme string Quintet.