Favorite Love Songs: "Adagio for Strings" by Samuel Barber

Continuing our series on love songs, KCUR announcer Danie Alexander shares a bit about the audio intensity of a piece by composer Samuel Barber.

"It's so lush. It starts out so beautifully," Alexander says with an energy that rivals the song. "It builds, and then right at the climax, it hangs."

"A pause," she says carefully, speaking more slowly than previously. "And then it drops right into the end of the song."

This song made a lasting impression. It shows in her eyes.

"I remember the first time I heard it I was in my car and actually when I got to my destination I sat in the parking lot to wait for the entire piece to be played," Alexander says. "The reason I like it so much, besides it being beautiful, is it's the only time I can remember thinking, 'I wish my husband wasn't deaf so that he could hear this piece of music.'

"He has no memory of hearing -- he went deaf as a toddler. Music of course doesn't have any meaning for him like it does for me. To me, it's just a very romantic song because of the build, it's like a courtship," she says. "That truly is the only time I wished he could hear."