Samuel Barber, American composer, was born on March 7, 1910, in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and died on January 23, 1981, in New York. Considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century, his most famous works include the Adagio for Strings, a piece for string orchestra based on a theme from his Adagio for piano, and his Essay for Orchestra, a nine-minute symphonic composition. Barber studied music at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he was a student of Rosario Scalero and Italian composer Gian Carlo Menotti. In 1936, Barber and Menotti won the Pulitzer Prize in Music for their cantata for voices and orchestra, The War and Peace. He composed numerous works for orchestra, choir, piano, voice, and solo instruments, and also worked in chamber music, composing three string quartets and vocal music, including a melody on a poem by James Agee entitled Knoxville: Summer of 1915. In 1966, he received the Pulitzer Prize in Music again for his composition for orchestra, Commandments, and was named Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters of France in 1981.

Samuel Barber - Adagio For Strings (Chillion Remix) Extract :