THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2010 BOOK WORLD


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Marriage skeptic overlooks evidence


CAROLYN HAX


Adapted from a recent online discussion:


Dear Carolyn: Why do women keep believing in marriage when all evidence points to the contrary?


Va. KATHERINE FREY/THE WASHINGTON POST SWEET MUSIC: Leonard Slatkin’s recording of the Adagio for Strings is mentioned as one of the most admired.


Samuel Barber and the resonance of grief W


by Michael Dirda


riting about music can’t be easy. An art historian can direct the reader’s at-


tention to that little patch of yel- low in Vermeer’s “View of Delft,” conveniently reproduced on an adjoining page of his scholarly tome, while a book reviewer can quote whatever illustrative pas- sages he favors from that new novel.


But music critics must either


attempt to describe the evanes- cent and ineffable, which can lead to gushy impressionism, or they must transcribe bars of music no- tation and start talking about subdominants, rallentando and other arcane compositional mat- ters. In the first case, the reader must already know the music to appreciate the floundering de- scription of its particular clang- tint; in the second, he or she must grasp elementary music theory. Thomas Larson adopts the sub-


jective approach in “The Saddest Music Ever Written,” his rather too personal account of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings, an achingly beautiful nine-minute piece written in 1936, deeply re- vered by music lovers and recog- nizable to moviegoers from its use in the soundtracks of “Platoon” and “Lorenzo’s Oil.” Larson’s title is, of course, a de-


batable one, and some readers might argue that a greater sense of the forlorn can be found in var- ious pieces by Bach, or in the tra- ditional Irish song “Danny Boy,” or even in Patsy Cline’s “Faded Love,” not to overlook any num- ber of jazz saxophone ballads. In the competition for most doleful, Larson himself mentions the Ada- gietto from Mahler’s Fifth Sym- phony, Henryk Gorecki’s Sym- phony No. 3 and several funeral marches and dirgelike hymns such as “Nearer My God to Thee.” Still, Barber’s Adagio is the clear go-to favorite for funerals, memo- rials and other solemn occasions, such as tributes to the victims of


9/11 or relief benefits for Haiti. Its sustained mournfulness — lyrical, anguished and full of yearning — builds to an eventual, but only partial release. As Larson writes: “Barber composed the sorrow


of the Adagio by first concentrat- ing on familiar musical elements: a chantlike melody, rising and falling patterns, restful pauses, growing intensity, string consonance. But then variation, where the composer’s genius lies, interrupts the fa- miliarity. Barber’s melo- dy, one of many con- trasts, is consistently in- consistent, snaking and looping, ascending and falling, traversing lon- ger and shorter lengths. Walter Simmons argues that the Adagio’s ‘sense of pathos’ arises from its many soft dissonanc- es, the suspension, or appoggiaturas, that de- lay resolution and heighten unease. These suspensions help dis- rupt the expected har- mony, so the piece, ex- ploring the uncharted, sounds new. Or, better put, sounds old and new simulta- neously.” Barber was born in 1910 to a well-to-do family in West Chester, Pa., and never had to work at any- thing but his art. As a student at Philadelphia’s Curtis Institute of Music, he met fellow composer Gian Carlo Menotti, with whom he shared most of his subsequent life. Today Menotti is best known for his short operas, especially that Christmas favorite, “Amahl and the Night Visitors.” Both men won Pulitzer Prizes for their mu- sic.


When Barber was 26, he and


Menotti rented a chalet in Austria and there he worked on a string quartet, ultimately re-scoring its slow movement to create the Ada- gio for Strings. As Larson admits, almost nothing is known about the genesis of this orchestral mas-


THE SADDEST MUSIC EVER WRITTEN The Story of Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings By Thomas Larson Pegasus. 262 pp. $26.95


terpiece. By inclination, Barber seems to have gravitated to writ- ing for the voice, as in his second most famous work, the haunting “Knoxville: Summer of 1915,” based on a prose-poem by James Agee, and a signature piece for the soprano Leontyne Price. In later years, the composer would mount two operas, the Pulitzer- winning “Vanessa” and the resounding flop “Antony and Cleopatra.” Barber never wholly re- covered from the latter’s failure and gradually sank into bitterness, de- pression and drink. He died of cancer is 1981. The summary ac- count of Barber’s career is arguably the best part of “The Saddest Music Ever Written.” Look out, though, whenever Lar- son grows personal and essayistic. As early as page 19, sentences such as “The brooding photo of Barber reminded me of my father” hint at what is to come. Several chapters eventually re- create the early life of Larson’s parents and


chart their later afflictions. What’s more, Larson tends to ramble on about melancholia and family sorrows and musical ex- pressiveness, while also repeating over and over the same legitimate points about the Adagio’s univer- sality and beauty. All this is meant to underscore the deep humanity of Barber’s music but generally seems either misguided or self- indulgent. Neither is the book helped by the author’s sometimes discon- certing diction: “Every claw and nail of the characters’ travails erupts from their nuanced voices.” On two successive pages Larson employs the bizarre word “self-serious” three times. And then there’s his tendency to pop psychologizing or bathetic imag- inings: “No doubt, when Menotti


“All” evidence? That seems a


heard the B-flat held above the E- flat minor seventh and the F ma- jor chords, then resolve to A, fol- lowed by the chantlike melody, he got excited and appreciative, grabbed his handsome young composer from America and held him close, later made love, saying yes we are blessed to have each other yes we wake and walk and live together and yes this is the garden from which our musical selves will grow.” Someone at Pegasus should


have alerted Larson to such ex- cesses and urged him to stick with facts and avoid most if not all his egregious personalia. Maybe these economies would have al- lowed for an index. As it is, much of the most entertaining material in this scattershot book lies in the endnotes, where we learn about various performances and record- ings of the Adagio — those by Ar- turo Toscanini, Thomas Schip- pers and Leonard Slatkin are the most admired — and find amus- ing anecdotes and bits of trivia. You might or might not be inter- ested to know that the Adagio was played at the funeral of Mary Travers, of Peter, Paul and Mary, or that some scholars have spec- ulated that Barber was inspired by reading Virgil’s “Georgics,” or that the composer and Andy War- hol “liked each other a lot and once got thrown out of a Manhat- tan restaurant for telling bawdy jokes too loudly for the other pa- trons’ comfort.” If you’re a serious Barber fan,


you’ll probably want to read “The Saddest Music Ever Written” no matter what critics say about its quirks. Anyone else, though, would be better off buying a cou- ple of Barber CDs — probably the 1991 Slatkin, which emphasizes the orchestral music, and the Schippers-Price compilation highlighting the vocal works, in- cluding the ethereal “Knoxville: Summer of 1915.”


bookworld@washpost.com


Visit Dirda’s online book discussion at washingtonpost.com/readingroom.


bit skewed. There are definitely some significant, generalized benefits to marriage that women — and men — enjoy, and there are some individually awesome marriages. That said, I think it’s a


mistake to believe in marriage. You have to believe in the person you’re marrying; then, and only then, does marriage make sense.


Dear Carolyn: My girlfriend of two years


wants us to go to counseling together. I think that would be appropriate if we were planning a future together, which we aren’t at this point, and a waste of time and money otherwise. I guess I believe that if she isn’t satisfied with our relationship at this point, it will only get worse from here. She has not issued any ultimatums, but I still feel like if I refuse to go, it’ll be the same as saying I’ve checked out of our relationship. Do you think there’s any way I can refuse to go without having to break up with her?


Anonymous What’s the harm in going


once? She obviously cares about this, and you seem to care about her, so see what it’s about — then take a stand, if you still feel you need to. That way, it’ll be an informed stand, instead of just an assumption that whatever is wrong can’t or won’t be fixed. Open yourself to the possibility of enlightenment. For what it’s worth, I tend to agree in theory that if she’s unhappy now with who you are, then the signs for the future aren’t good. However, there’s always the possibility that you both like each other in necessary and fundamental ways, but could use a 101 course in communicating — which will inform all of your relationships, regardless. Show up for one session. You’ll either


NICK GALIFIANAKIS FOR THE WASHINGTON POST


be pleasantly surprised or that much closer to seeing that this relationship isn’t going to work.


Dear Carolyn: My partner of 14 years and I are planning a small civil union ceremony. About 25 people are invited, and the remainder of our family and friends will receive an announcement in the mail.


Here’s the issue: I am


estranged from my father and have been for almost 20 years now. This is my choice, not his, and I have good and valid reasons for it. He is obviously not invited to the ceremony, but I don’t know if I should send him an announcement. We see him at family functions once or twice a year and are cordial. We also send him a Christmas card, mostly so he can get a picture of his grandchild. I know he would want to be here. I guess I just don’t want to rub his face in it. Any input? Yet another wedding question


If you were in his shoes, which would hurt you more — hearing of your child’s union from a mailed announcement, or the grapevine? I’d say the latter, but you need to try to think as your father would. There’s also a third way, telling him personally. Phone, in person, handwritten letter — any of them would indicate more respect for his place in your life than a printed card would.


Read the whole transcript or join the discussion live


at noon Fridays on www. washingtonpost.com/discussions.


Write to Tell Me About It, Style, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071, or tellme@washpost. com.


A film showcase for Museum of American History


Warner Bros. donates $5 million to upgrade Carmichael Auditoriuim


by Jacqueline Trescott


Warner Bros. Entertainment has given $5 million to the Na- tional Museum of American His- tory to create a first-rate film thea- ter in its 46-year-old auditorium. With the gift, the museum, part of the Smithsonian Institution, will establish regular program- ming on the history of American film, a feature that has been miss- ing from the country’s largest his- tory museum. The Warner Bros. gift will allow the museum to install new sound and screen technology, including digital 3-D projection. The agree- ment includes access to the film archives of Warner Bros. and the MGM library, the storehouses of many American classics, but does not restrict the museum’s pro- gramming to those studios, a mu- seum spokeswoman said. “For more than a century, American movies have provided a strong and enduring national cul- tural connection that crosses gen- erations,” Brent D. Glass, the mu- seum’s director, said in a state- ment. “American film deserves a special home at our museum, and the Warner Bros. partnership ex- pands our capacity to tell this unique story and allow museum visitors to explore the legacy of American cinema.” The Warner holdings include


“The Wizard of Oz,” “Citizen Kane,” “Show Boat,” “Casablanca,” “The Jazz Singer,” “The Color Pur- ple” and the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy as well as many famous early cartoons and the work of di- rector Clint Eastwood.


“This partnership with the Smithsonian, whose very name is the gold standard for the preser- vation and presentation of all things with historical signifi- cance, is a great step reminding people that movies and television shows are an important part of our shared culture,” Barry M. Meyer, chairman and chief exec- utive of Warner Bros., said in a statement.


Among the museum’s extensive Look Who’s Coming to the


pop culture collection are props from 1920s silent films, early cam- eras and lenses, and drawings from the first Mickey Mouse ani- mated film, “Steamboat Willie.” “The gift parallels the collec- tions and brings them to life,” said Melinda Machado, a spokeswom- an for the museum. “It helps us do what we haven’t been able to do in film programming, and now with our relationship with Warner, we can bring in actors and directors


for programs.” The 270-seat theater, named the Carmichael Auditorium after a former Smithsonian secretary, will be renamed the Warner Bros. Theater. The museum will contin- ue to offer author lectures, panel discussions and screenings of documentaries in the new thea- ter.


The conversion is expected to be completed in 2011. trescottj@washpost.com


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