Barber's "Adagio for Strings"

Here's a real change of pace, from All Things Considered (11-4-06 - 8:59) and the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress, a piece on Arturo Toscanini's first performance of the what has become perhaps the most popular piece of classical music written in the 2oth century, Samuel Barber's "Adagio for Strings." The NPR piece focuses almost exclusively on the performer, in this case the great conductor Toscanini, rather than the composer.

Musings

• Try listening to the 7-minute piece (a link is on the same page) before listening to the discussion, and see how your response differs from that of the experts at NPR, or the more formal analysis at Wikipedia. The Wikipedia entry also notes the numerous times the Barber piece has been used in films and pop culture.
  
• Adagios are basically slow, somber pieces of instrumental music. What is the appeal of such music, or of somber art generally.