Respighi Ottorino Free Sheet Music, Program Notes, Recordings and Biography

The Grand Painter of Orchestral Sound

During the 1924 premiere of Pines of Rome, the audience sat mesmerized as the orchestra hushed to a pianissimo shimmer at the end of the third movement, "The Pines of the Janiculum." Then, something unprecedented happened. From the silence, a new, ethereal sound emerged: the recorded song of a real nightingale, played on a phonograph. This was the first time in history a pre-recorded sound had ever been specified in a major classical work. The effect was magical, a perfect blend of nature and art. This single, innovative moment encapsulates the genius of Ottorino Respighi. He was a sonic painter of the highest order, a composer who would use every color on the vast orchestral palette—and even invent new ones—to create dazzling, evocative, and unforgettable soundscapes.

A Foundation in Bologna and St. Petersburg

Ottorino Respighi was born in Bologna, Italy, into a musical family. His father, a local piano teacher, encouraged his studies, and the young Ottorino enrolled in Bologna's Liceo Musicale, where he studied violin, viola, and composition. After graduating, he took a position that would change the course of his life. In 1900, he traveled to Russia to serve as the principal violist for the Imperial Theatre Orchestra in St. Petersburg.

This move was pivotal. While in Russia, he sought out the great Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, a renowned master of orchestration, for five months of intensive lessons. From Rimsky-Korsakov, Respighi learned the secrets of creating brilliant, transparent, and colorful orchestral textures. This Russian influence, combined with his own Italian gift for melody and a deep interest in German musical structure, would form the foundation of his unique style. After his time in Russia, he spent a period in Berlin before returning to Italy, his musical identity now fully formed.

Arrival in Rome and the Dawn of a Trilogy

In 1913, Respighi was appointed professor of composition at the prestigious Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. The "Eternal City" immediately captivated him—its ancient ruins, its baroque fountains, its majestic pines, and its layers of history provided an endless source of inspiration. It was here that he would compose the works that would make him world-famous.

His international breakthrough came in 1917 with the premiere of the first of his great tone poems, Fontane di Roma (Fountains of Rome). In four connected sections, the work masterfully depicts four of the city's fountains at different times of the day, from the pastoral dawn at the Valle Giulia to the triumphant midday glare of the Trevi Fountain. The work was a sensation, showcasing his incredible ability to evoke specific moods and visual scenes through music. It established him as one of Italy's most important living composers, a successor to the operatic legacy of Verdi and Puccini but in the realm of orchestral music.

Painting Rome in Sound: The Roman Trilogy

Fountains of Rome was the first installment of what became his celebrated "Roman Trilogy." He followed it with Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome) in 1924. This work was even more ambitious, depicting children playing in the Villa Borghese gardens, the somber quiet of pines near a catacomb, the moonlit beauty of the Janiculum hill (with its famous nightingale), and a final, spectacular movement depicting Roman legions marching in triumph down the Appian Way, complete with extra brass instruments placed in the concert hall balconies.

He completed the trilogy in 1928 with Feste Romane (Roman Festivals), the most boisterous and extravagant of the three. It paints four scenes of Roman celebration, from the brutal gladiatorial games of ancient Rome to a raucous Epiphany festival in the Piazza Navona. Together, the three tone poems are a monumental love letter to the city of Rome and stand as one of the crowning achievements of 20th-century orchestral music.

A Fascination with the Past

Despite the lush, late-Romantic feel of his Roman poems, Respighi was also deeply interested in the music of the past. He was a serious musicologist who studied and transcribed a great deal of Italian music from the Renaissance and Baroque eras. This fascination led to some of his most elegant and popular works.

His three suites of Antiche arie e danze per liuto (Ancient Airs and Dances) are masterful reworkings of 16th- and 17th-century lute pieces for a modern orchestra. Far from being simple transcriptions, they are affectionate and beautifully crafted homages that bring the charm and grace of early music to life. Other works, like his Vetrate di chiesa (Church Windows), were inspired by the sound and structure of Gregorian chant. This neoclassical side of his work shows a composer of great stylistic range, equally at home in grand spectacle and refined intimacy.

Opera, Fascism, and Final Years

Like most Italian composers of his era, Respighi also wrote several operas, including Belfagor and La fiamma, though none achieved the lasting international success of his orchestral works. He lived and worked through the rise of Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime. Respighi was a fundamentally apolitical and private man, but he was also a conservative figure and a patriot. He signed the 1925 "Manifesto of the Fascist Intellectuals," and his music, which glorified Italy's ancient Roman past, aligned well with the regime's cultural propaganda. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Italy and was generally left alone by the state, allowing him to maintain his artistic integrity.

He was supported in his work by his wife and former pupil, the singer and composer Elsa Sangiacomo, who became a tireless champion of his music after his death. After suffering from heart problems, Ottorino Respighi died in Rome on April 18, 1936, at the age of 56, leaving behind a legacy as Italy's most important 20th-century composer of instrumental music.

Section 4: References and Further Reading

References and Further Reading

• Respighi, Elsa. Ottorino Respighi. Ricordi, 1954.

• Barrow, Lee G. Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936): An Annotated Bibliography. Scarecrow Press, 2004.

• Webb, Michael. Ottorino Respighi and the Musical World of Rome. Troubador Publishing, 2019.

• Waterhouse, John C. G. "Respighi, Ottorino." In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. Macmillan Publishers, 2001.