Adagio in G minor for strings and

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

, also known as Adagio in Sol minore per archi e organo su due spunti tematici e su un basso numerato di Tomaso Albinoni (Mi 26), is a neo-Baroque composition often misattributed to the 18th-century Venetian composer

Tomaso Albinoni Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni (8 June 1671 – 17 January 1751) was an Italian composer of the Baroque era. His output includes operas, concertos, sonatas for one to six instruments, sinfonias, and solo cantatas. While famous in his day as an opera co ...

. In fact the work was composed by a 20th-century

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

and Albinoni

biographer Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography. Biographers Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...

named Remo Giazotto. The piece was purportedly based on the discovery of a bass line by Albinoni in a manuscript fragment. Scholarly debate over the existence of the fragment persists, with most seeing the affair as a musical hoax perpetrated by Giazotto. There is no room for doubt when it comes to the source of everything in the ''Adagio'' other than the bassline, and Giazotto's authorship of these parts is not disputed.

Provenance

The composition is often referred to as "Albinoni's Adagio" or "Adagio in G minor by Albinoni, arranged by Giazotto". The ascription to Albinoni rests upon Giazotto's purported discovery of a manuscript fragment (consisting of a few opening measures of the melody line and

basso continuo Basso continuo parts, almost universal in the Baroque era (1600–1750), provided the harmonic structure of the music by supplying a bassline and a chord progression. The phrase is often shortened to continuo, and the instrumentalists playing th ...

portion) from a slow second movement of an otherwise unknown Albinoni

trio sonata The trio sonata is a genre, typically consisting of several movements, with two melody instruments and basso continuo. It originated in the early 17th century and was a favorite chamber ensemble combination in the Baroque era. Basic structure T ...

. According to Giazotto, he obtained the document shortly after the end of World War II from the Saxon State Library in Dresden which had preserved most of its collection, although its buildings were destroyed in the bombing raids of February and March 1945 by the British and American Air Forces. Giazotto concluded that the manuscript fragment was a portion of a church sonata (''

sonata da chiesa ''Sonata da chiesa'' ( Italian: "church sonata") is a 17th-century genre of musical composition for one or more melody instruments and is regarded an antecedent of later forms of 18th century instrumental music. It generally comprises four movemen ...

'', one of two standard forms of the

) in

G minor G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major. The G natural minor scale is: Changes n ...

composed by Albinoni, possibly as part of his Op. 4 set, around 1708. In his account, Giazotto then constructed the balance of the complete single-movement work based on this fragmentary theme. He copyrighted it and published it in 1958 under a title which, translated into English, reads "Adagio in G minor for strings and organ, on two thematic ideas and on a figured bass by Tomaso Albinoni". Giazotto never produced the manuscript fragment, and no official record has been found of its presence in the collection of the Saxon State Library. The piece is most commonly orchestrated for string ensemble and organ, or string ensemble alone, but with its growing fame has been transcribed for other instruments.

In popular culture

The Adagio has been used in many films, television programmes, advertisements, recordings, and books. Notable occurrences include: * In 1961 as the main theme of

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'' * In the 1962

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'' * In the 1968 West German short fil
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'' * For

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' 1978 album ''

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'' on the track "A Feast of Friends". The backing track was recorded in 1968 during the sessions for '' Waiting for the Sun''. * In ''

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'' starring Virginia Rambal * In the 1980 episode 153 (神様のくれた札束) of Lupin the 3rd Part II * In the 1981

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'' * In the 1983 film ''

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'' *

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, in "Icarus Dream Suite Op. 4" (1984) * In the 1991 film ''

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scene * In the 1998 song "Anytime, Anywhere" from the album '' Eden'' by

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* In the 1998 computer game Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven * A 1999 crossover song in English and Italian, "Adagio", by

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* A 2000 stop-motion animated film " Adagio" by Garri Bardin * For

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's 2004 song "Athena" performed live at the

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and featured in the album ''

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'' * The 2005 episode of

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entitled "Ida's Dance" * In the 2016 film '' Manchester by the Sea'' by

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* Wolf Hoffmann recorded a neo-classical metal version, released in his '' Headbangers Symphony'' album (2016). * In the 2018 series '' The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story'' * The background music for the " Confessions" feature on

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's radio show since the 1990s * Musical interlude in Miley Cyrus's "Every Girl You've Ever Loved", released 30 May 2025 as track 11 on her '' Something Beautiful'' album.At 3:14-4:31 on the Official Lyric Video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG_2XuYoHHw, tweaked to 4/4 time from the original 3/4.

References

External links

*, Academy of St Martin in the Fields,

Neville Marriner Sir Neville Marriner, (15 April 1924 – 2 October 2016) was an English conductor and violinist. Described as "one of the world's greatest conductors", Gramophone lists Marriner as one of the 50 greatest conductors and another compilation ra ...

- no longer available {{DEFAULTSORT:Adagio In G Minor Musical hoaxes Compositions by Remo Giazotto 1958 compositions Music for orchestra and organ 1950s hoaxes Compositions in G minor Tomaso Albinoni Compositions with a spurious or doubtful attribution