Ottorino Respighi

Classical Music / Composer's Datebook: July 9

Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer and teacher. His brief biography – life and major works. He is best known for orchestral and instrumental music, famous for symphonic poem trilogy of Rome. 

 

Ottorino Respighi was born on July 9, 1879, in Bologna into the musical family in Bologna, Italy, and started his first music lessons from his father, a teacher at Liceo Musicale, a local school. Respighi also studied in the same school, and had lessons with Rimsky-Korsakov during visits to Russia in the early 1900s. He also studied under Max Bruch in Berlin. 

In his mid-30s, he settled in Rome, teaching and composing, and he wrote his best works. Later in his career, he went on several successful concert tours of the USA.

As a teacher, he was appointed professor of composition at the Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome.

As a composer, he is best known for his orchestral pieces, capitalizing on the most brilliant aspects of Rimsky-Korsakov, Ravel and Richard Strauss.

Respighi's most famous work and masterpiece is the trilogy made up of Fontane di roma (The Fountains of Rome), I Pini di Roma (The Pines of Rome) and Feste romane (Roman Festivals), all symphonic poems. In The Fountains of Rome, he presents a beautiful sound of the four famous fountains of Rome at different times of the day:

Sunrise – Vale Giulia

Morning - Tritone

Midday - Trevi

Sunset – Villa Medici   

 

Below, enjoy Respighi's "Pines of Rome" with standing ovation. Performed by  Gimnazija Kranj Symphony Orchestra in Gallus Hall, Cankarjev dom, Ljubljana, Slovenia. Conductor: maestro Nejc Bečan; Concert master: Nina Pirc; Sound engineer: Matjaž Culiberg; Head of Production: Grega Jeraša; Director: Primož Zevnik. Youtube, uploaded by Zevnikov. Accessed July 9, 2023.

 

His other works include orchestral music Vetrate di chiesa, Trittico botticelliano (Three Botticelli Pictures)  and Gli uccelli (The Birds), ballets including La Boutique fantasque (The Fantastic Toyshop, La bella dormente nel bosco, Ancient Airs and Dances, and vocal works.

He was greatly helped by his wife, Elsa Olivieri-Sangiacomo, herself a composer and singer. She also completed his last opera Lucrezia, premiered a year after his death.

Ottorino Respighi is one of the Italian composers who broke the Italian tradition of writing principally for the opera, instead, he focused more to instrumental and orchestral music. His legacy lies  in his impressive displays of orchestral writing, particularly evoking the beauties of Rome and its surroundings. He was also a master of modern Italian orchestration. 

Ottorino Respighi died in Rome, 18th April, 1936.

 

Ottorino Respighi's Major Works

Sinfonia drammatica  1914

Symphonic poem, The Fountains of Rome  1916

Ancient Airs and Dances, first series  1917

Ballet, La Boutique fantasque (The Fantastic Toyshop), based on music by Rossini  1919

Ballet, La bella dormente nel bosco  1921

Opera, Belfagor  1922

Ancient Airs and Dances, Second series  1923

Symphonic Poem, The Pines of Rome  1924

Orchestral music Vetrate di chiesa  1925

Gli Uccelli (The Birds), suite for small orchestra (based on 17^th- and 18^th-century pieces about birds)  1927

Trittico botticelliano (Three Botticelli Pictures)  1927

Symphonic poem, Roman Festivals  1928

Opera, La Fiamma  1933

Vocal Works

 

Image Credit:

Ottorino Respighi.  Karadar / Public Domain.

 

Resources:

Ottorino Respighi. Wikipedia. 

The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, The Macmillan Press Ltd (1994)

 

(c) July 2008. Updated July 9, 2023. Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.