Adagio for Strings Remixes

One of the most distinctive pieces of classical music is the achingly beautiful 'Adagio for Strings' by American composer Samuel Barber (1910 - 1981), best known as the theme from the Oliver Stone movie 'Platoon' (1986). Less than thirty years after it premiered, Barber himself made a remix, turning it into a piece for choir.

By the 1990s, house DJs had gotten a hold of it, transformed it with the use of their best synthesisers and made their own remixes. Many Trance DJs and music producers have found the Adagio to be a tremendous but irresistible challenge and the result has been some fantastic, award-winning releases that have grabbed the attention of some of the biggest and best DJs and fans.

The first popular Trance remix of Barber's Adagio for Strings was done by William Orbit in 1999. He took the traditional classical recording and filtered it through a synthesizer. The result is a satisfying Trance remix blending the classical and the modern.

Ferry Corsten cracked the UK top ten with his remix in 2000. His efforts paid off with a Dancestar 2000 award. Unlike Orbit's version, Corsten's was clearly a Dance remix with a very heavy dance beat punctuated with hi-hat cymbals for the first two minutes and then segues into the familiar melody. Finally, the first two minutes is overlaid over the Adagio.

Another popular Trance remix of the Classical piece was created by Dutch DJ Tiesto in 2005. This time, any vestiges of the orchestra are removed and the entire piece is synthesiser and percussion-driven, making the entire piece great to dance to. DJ Tiesto's version wound up being remixed by Fred Baker and Phynn and eventually peaked at #37 on the UK charts.

2010 saw the release of the 'Adagio for Synths' version by DJ Sonarm. This Dance version was offered as a free download and gives the Adagio a hint of a retro synth-pop sound with modern and professional production qualities typical to that of modern Trance music, accented with altered notes of the original Classical theme. This is a fascinating contrast between the uplifting dance beat and the heartbreaking melody with powerful breakdowns and energetic climaxes.

William Orbit - Barber's Adagio for Strings
William Orbit - Barber's Adagio for Strings (Ferry Corsten Remix)
William Orbit - Adagio for Strings (ATB Remix)
William Orbit - Adagio For Strings (K-Complex Remix)
Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings (Sonarm Remix) - [Grab Sonarm's Adagio for Strings Remix free download now]
Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings (Bobby Vena Remix)
Horizon - Adagio for Strings (Deep Trance Mix)
DJ Tiesto - Adagio for Strings
DJ Tiesto - Adagio for Strings (Danjo & Styles Remix)
DJ Tiesto - Adagio for Strings (Phynn Remix)
DJ Tzer - Adagio for Strings Remix

There are many classical music pieces, but only the adagios (sad, slow movements) are favored by trance DJs for remixing. Another popular Adagio, called Adagio in G Minor credited to Albinoni, uses a dramatic church organ as well as strings.

There are a couple of good reasons why producers use Adagios as the base of their trance remixes:

- a good tune is a good tune, no matter what remix process it goes through. The main melody is still recognisable despite being translated into electronic instrumentation.

- there is a lot of power and emotion put into Classical music, a typical trait of a good Trance song, with many intelligent layers and counter melodies.

- there is often a lot of space between the main notes. Trance DJs can fill up this empty space with a heavy dance beat or counter melodies without making their remix too busy or muddy.

Not only that but a lot of Classical music is considered to be in the public domain. This isn't so with this particular Adagio, as Samuel Barber died in the early 80s, but works from musicians that died over 70 years ago is generally considered to be in the public domain in many countries.