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For the astronomer, see Lorenzo Respighi (1824—1889). For the crater named after Lorenzo Respighi, see Respighi (crater).

Elsa and Ottorino Respighi in the 1920s

Ottorino Respighi (Bologna, July 9, 1879 - Rome, April 18, 1936) was an Italian composer, musicologist, pianist, violist and violinist. He is best known for his Roman trilogy and the three suites of Ancient Airs and Dances.

Respighi was born in Bologna, Italy. He was taught piano and violin by his father, a local piano teacher. He continued studying violin and viola with Federico Sarti at the Liceo Musicale in Bologna, composition with Giuseppe Martucci, and historical studies with the early music scholar Luigi Torchi. In 1900, Respighi went to Russia as first violist in the orchestra of the Russian Imperial Theatre in St Petersburg during its season of Italian opera; while there he studied composition for five months with Rimsky-Korsakov. He also had composition lessons with Max Bruch in 1902 in Berlin. Until 1908 his principal activity was as first violin in the Mugellini Quintet, before turning his attention entirely to composition.

Respighi moved to Rome in 1913 and lived there for the rest of his life, after being appointed a teacher of composition at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia. He married a former pupil, singer Elsa Olivieri-Sangiacomo, in 1919. From 1923 to 1926 he was director of the Conservatorio. In 1925 he collaborated with Sebastiano Arturo Luciani on an elementary textbook entitled Orpheus.

Respighi maintained an uneasy relationship with Mussolini's Fascist Party during his later years. He vouched for more outspoken critics such as Arturo Toscanini, allowing them to continue to work under the regime.^[1] Feste Romane, the third part of his Roman trilogy, could be seen as a response to the regime's demands to glorify Italy under the Fascists; however, as with much of the work of Shostakovich, the 'celebration' is ambiguous, if not satirical.^{[citation needed]} This spectacular, sometimes showy, work was premiered by Toscanini and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in 1929; Toscanini recorded the music twice for RCA Victor, first with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1942 and then with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1949, and RCA released both versions, first on LP and then CD.

In his role as musicologist, Respighi was also an enthusiastic scholar of Italian music of the 16th-18th centuries. He published editions of the music of Claudio Monteverdi and Antonio Vivaldi, and of Benedetto Marcello's Didone. Because of his devotion to these older figures and their styles of composing, it is tempting to see him as a typical exponent of Neo-classicism. In fact, Neo-Renaissance or Neo-Baroque would probably more accurately describe his compositions that are based on earlier work. Respighi generally kept clear of the musical idiom of the classical period, unlike most neo-classical composers. He preferred combining pre-classical melodic styles and musical forms (like dance suites) with typical late 19th century romantic harmonies and textures.

He died in his Roman villa named "I Pini". A year after his burial, his remains were moved to his birthplace Bologna and reinterred at the city's expense.

Respighi's compositions include:

• For piano:
  • Concerto in modo misolidio (Concerto in the Mixolydian mode (1925)
  • "Toccata for Piano and Orchestra"
• For violin:
  • Violin sonata in B minor
• For guitar:
  • Variazioni
• His best known symphonic poems, which now belong to the standard orchestral repertoire:
  • The Roman trilogy (three symphonic poems with a Roman theme)
    • Fontane di Roma (Fountains of Rome) (1915-1916)
    • Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome) (1923-1924)
    • Feste Romane (Roman Festivals) (1928)
  • Brazilian Impressions (1928)
• Nine operas, which are only occasionally revived:
  • Re Enzo (1905)
  • Semirâma (1909)
  • Marie Victoire (completed in 1913, but not produced until 2004)
  • La bella dormente nel bosco (1922)
  • Belfagor (1923)
  • La campana sommersa (1927)
  • Maria Egiziaca (1932)
  • La fiamma (1934)
  • Lucrezia (1937) (completed posthumously by his wife, Elsa)
• One choral work is occasionally performed: Lauda per la Natività del Signore (Laud to the Nativity) (1930), a cantata for three soloists (soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor), chorus (including substantial sections for 8-part mixed chorus and TTBB male chorus), and chamber ensemble (woodwinds and piano).
• His most popular works involving older sources:
  • The Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 1 of 1917 is an orchestral piece based on Renaissance lute pieces by Simone Molinaro, Vincenzo Galilei (father of Galileo Galilei), and additional anonymous composers.
  • In 1918 Sergei Diaghilev commissioned a ballet from Respighi, who then wrote La Boutique Fantasque, which borrows tunes from the 19th century composer Rossini. This had its premiere in London on 5 June 1919.
  • Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 2 of 1924 is based on pieces for lute, archlute, and viol by Fabrizio Caroso, Jean-Baptiste Besard, Bernardo Gianoncelli, and an anonymous composer, plus Antoine Boësset's famous song "Divine Amaryllis". It also interpolates an aria attributed to Marin Mersenne.
  • In 1925, Respighi orchestrated and expanded his "Tre Preludi e sopra gregoriane" for piano and created "Vetrate di chiesa" (Church Windows).
  • Following the success of this suite, Respighi wrote Gli Uccelli ("The birds") in 1927, based on Baroque pieces imitating birds.
  • In 1930, he wrote a Ballet Suite Belkis, regina di Saba which was his last works for ballet.
  • Then in 1932, he wrote Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 3, which differs from the previous two suites in being arranged for strings only and somewhat melancholy in overall mood. It is based on lute songs by Besard, a piece for baroque guitar by Lodovico Roncalli, and lute pieces by Santino Garsi da Parma and additional anonymous composers.

Note: The Roman Trilogy is one of the most ubiquitous works in the catalogue, and has been recorded by all the major world ensembles under many prominent conductors. The recording of the first two with Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is one of the most respected in the catalogue and features prominently in recommended listings in such publications as the Good CD Guide and the Penguin Guide to CDs.

• I Pini di Roma/Feste Romane/Fontane di Roma - Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia/Antonio Pappano, (EMI Classics)
• I Pini di Roma/Fontane di Roma - Chicago Symphony Orchestra/ Fritz Reiner, (RCA) (on JVC in Japan)
• I Pini di Roma/Feste Romane/Fontane di Roma - Montreal Symphony Orchestra/ Charles Dutoit, (Decca)
• I Pini di Roma/Feste Romane/Fontane di Roma - NBC Symphony Orchestra/ Arturo Toscanini, (RCA)
• I Pini di Roma/Feste Romane/Fontane di Roma - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/ Enrique Bátiz, (Naxos)
• Brazilian Impressions/Metamorphoseon - Philharmonia Orchestra/ Geoffrey Simon, (Chandos)
• Ancient Airs and Dances I-III (Antiche Aire e Danze) - Philharmonia Hungarica/ Antal Dorati, (Mercury Records)
• Ancient Airs and Dances I-III (Antiche Aire e Danze) - National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland/ Rico Saccani, (Naxos)
• I Pini di Roma/Fontane di Roma/The Birds (Gli Uccelli) - London Symphony Orchestra/ István Kertész, (Decca)
• Church Windows (Vetrate di Chiesa) - Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/ Jesus Lopez-Cobos, (Telarc)
• Three Botticelli Pictures (Trittico Botticelliano)/The Birds - Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra/ Sir Neville Marriner, (EMI Classics)
• Belkis, Queen of Sheba - Suite / Metamorphoseon - Theme & Variations - Philharmonia Orchestra/ Geoffrey Simon, (Chandos)
• Suite in G for Organ and Strings - Robert Boughen / Queensland Symphony Orchestra / Vanco Cavdarski, (ABC Classics)
• Pines of Rome/ Fountains of Rome/ Metamorphoseon Modi XII - Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/ Jesús López-Cobos (Telarc)

• Respighi, Elsa (1955) Fifty Years of a Life in Music
• Respighi, Elsa (1962) Ottorino Respighi, London: Ricordi
• Nupen, Christopher (director) (1983) Ottorino Respighi: A Dream of Italy, Allegro Films

1. ^ Liner notes from RCA Toscanini Edition CD Vol 32 (1990)

• The Respighi Foundation (in Italian)
• Website of the Respighi Society
• Ottorino Respighi free scores in the Werner Icking Music Archive
• Respighi was listed in the International Music Score Library Project
• Ottorino Respighi at Find A Grave