Who wrote Albinoni's Adagio?

One of the best-known works purportedly from the baroque period, Albinoni’s Adagio in G minor has been phenomenally popular since its ‘rediscovery’ at the end of World War Two. As well as appearing frequently as a soundtrack on the big and small screen, it has been adapted for many instrumental combinations, 40 of which can be enjoyed here on 8notes.

Whilst the title of this work would seem to make it’s authorship clear, its history is a controversial one, since the piece may, in fact, be the greatest hoax in musical history.

Who was Albinoni?

Born in Venice in 1671, Tomaso Albinoni lived until the ripe old age of 80, dying a year after his most famous contemporary, J.S. Bach. He likely had a comfortable early life, his father being a wealthy paper merchant. He studied violin and singing, eventually becoming a well-established composer, known especially for his operas. Sadly, many of these are now lost, so nowadays he is better known for his instrumental music. Of this output, the most famous piece that bears his name is his famous Adagio in G Minor.

Enter Remo Giazotto

Remo Giazotto (1910–1998) was an Italian musicologist known especially for his work in cataloguing the works of Albinoni. He was also a composer. From the ruined remains of the Saxon State library in Dresden at the end of World War 2, he claimed to have found a portion of manuscript containing the opening of a piece of music. He identified this as part of a sonata by Albinoni. He then said that he used this to complete the single movement work that we know today. Claiming the finished work only as an ‘arrangement’, he published it 1958 with the title ‘Adagio in G minor for strings and organ, on two thematic ideas and on a figured bass by Tomaso Albinoni’

The plot thickens

Giazotto’s description of the work as an ‘arrangement’ would normally imply that the bulk of the work was by Albinoni. It seems, however, that this description was an exaggeration and that, at most, he only found a few bars of figured bass in Dresden. At best this implied that the work was co-authored, at worst that it was entirely a hoax. That the latter was more likely true seemed to be confirmed by Giazotto subsequently claiming that he actually composed the piece entirely himself, though this may have been the result of a bruised ego—the work became so popular he may have thought he was not being properly credited.

Ultimately it is difficult to disentangle the story without access to the original manuscript, which has never been made public (possibly because it ever existed to begin with). Nowadays the majority of scholars consider the work to be largely by Giazotto, though debate still continues. Among the general public however, the work is still known as only one thing - Albinoni's Adagio.

The Adagio in popular culture

If the work's authorship has been in doubt, its popularity never has been. Its noble qualities made it popular in the concert hall, but also a popular piece for use in TV and film soundtracks. It first appeared in the cinema in 1961 as the main theme in Alain Resnais's Last Year at Marienbad. It is particularly effective used in scenes that are emotionally charged, for example in a war film such as Peter Weir’s 1981 film Gallipoli:

Or in Kenneth Lonergan’s 2016 drama Manchester by Sea:

On TV it was used in the last ever episode of the British sitcom ‘Butterflies’ as two of the main characters break up:

There have also been a number of pop music covers of the piece, including on Renaissance’s ‘Cold is Being’ (1974), Sarah Brightman’s ‘Anytime, Anywhere’ (1998), Tiësto’s Olympics song ‘Athena’ and The Doors’ ‘A Feast of Friends’ (1968, below):