Ottorino Respighi

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Born: 9 July 1879 — Bologna — Italy
Died: 18 April 1936 — Roma — Italy
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Reactions
thanks

this really helped me with my music assignment, so thankyou :)

[by “Anonymous” on 2011-06-06 03:33:42]

Music

This man wrote some of the most beautiful and moving classical music. The best piece is entitled "The Pines of Rome". It is a musical tale of the soldiers climbing the Appian way in battle and victory. You can hear the percussion as they march and a victorious crescendo att the end.

(contributed by Grace Adams <GAdams1350(at)aol.com>)

Life

[From the Encyclopedia Brittanica.]

Italian composer who introduced Russian orchestral colour and some of the violence of Richard Strauss’s harmonic techniques into Italian music. He studied at the Liceo of Bologna and later with Rimsky-Korsakov in St. Petersburg, where he was first violist in the Opera Orchestra. From his foreign masters Respighi acquired a command of orchestral colour and an interest in orchestral composition.

A piano concerto by Respighi was performed at Bologna in 1902; a "notturno" for orchestra was played at a concert in the Metropolitan Opera House that year. His comic opera Re Enzo and the opera Semirama brought him recognition and an appointment in 1913 to the Sta. Cecilia Academy in Rome as professor of composition. He became director of the conservatory in 1924 but resigned in 1926.

Respighi was drawn to the sensual, decadent climate of the Rome depicted by the poet D’Annunzio, and in his celebrated suites - Pines of Rome and Fountains of Rome especially - he sought to convey the subtlety and colour of the poet’s imagination. Other suites include Vetrate di chiesa (Church Windows, 1927); Gli ucelli (The Birds, 1927); Feste Romane (Roman Festival, 1929); and Trittico Botticelliano (Botticelli Triptych, 1927, for chamber orchestra).

Respighi was also drawn to old Italian music, which he arranged in two sets of Antique Dances and Arias (transcribed for orchestra from lute pieces). One of his most popular scores was his arrangement of pieces by Rossini, La Boutique fantasque, produced by Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes in London (1919). A later arrangement of Rossini piano pieces, Rossiniana (1925), also became a ballet.

As a composer of opera, Respighi had less success outside his own country. His best known works for the theatre were Belfagor, a comic opera produced at Milan in 1923, and La fiamma (Rome, 1934), which effectively transfers the gloomy Norwegian tragedy of H. Wiers Jenssen (known to English-speaking audiences in John Masefield’s version as The Witch) to Byzantine Ravenna. In a different, more subdued vein are the "mystery," Maria Egiziaca (1932), and his posthumous Lucrezia (completed by his wife, Elsa, 1937), the latter showing Respighi’s interest in the dramatic recitative of Claudio Monteverdi, of whose Orfeo he made a free transcription for La Scala, Milan, in 1935.

Respighi’s wife and pupil, Elsa Olivieri-Sangiacomo Respighi (1894-?), was a singer and a composer of operas, choral and symphonic works, and songs.


[in Dutch]

Ottorino Respighi was een van belangrijkste Italiaans componisten van zijn generatie. Zijn grootste roem ontleent hij, net als zijn leermeester Guiseppe Martucci, aan zijn symfonische werken en orkestrale bewerkingen. Hij was het die de Russische orkestkleuren en de gedurfde harmonische technieken van Richard Strauss in de Italiaanse muziek introduceerde. Als operacomponist is Respighi buiten zijn landsgrenzen minder bekend.

Een vroege en sterk vormende invloed was Rimsky-Korsakov, bij wie hij in de leer was toen hij als altviolist aan het orkest van de Russische Keizerlijke Opera in St.-Petersburg verbonden was. Wat men ook van de kwaliteiten van zijn originele composities mag denken, hij was zonder twijfel een van de grootmeesters in de kunst van de orkestratie. In tegenstelling tot zijn tijdgenoten en mede-orkest-grootheden Arnold Schönberg en Béla Bartók was Respighi behoudend, met een idioom dat zich zelden ver de 20e eeuw in waagde. Zijn stijl is er een van onmiddellijk aansprekende melodieën, geplaatst tegen een achtergrond van rijke, doorschijnende harmonieën van een constante verfijning en afwerking. Respighi was een begenadigd instrumentalist, en genoot zowel als pianist als als violist aanzienlijke faam. Hij groeide uit tot een bedreven en overtuigend dirigent, veelal van zijn eigen werken.

(Contributed by Robert Tausk <r.tausk(at)elsevier.nl>)

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Events

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11 March 1917: Premiere of Fontane de Roma, in Rome, Italy.
14 December 1924: Premiere of Pini de Roma, in Rome, Italy.

Contributions by: gadams |

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Upcoming concerts →

Sat 1 Jun: Action Painting: The Edges of Sound Baruch Performing Arts Center
Sat 8 Jun: Symphony No 5 St Johns, Smith Sq, London, SW1P 3HA
Fri 14 Jun: Day of Wrath "The Revelation"- concert in Bucharest Cinema Patria, Bulevardul Magheru 12-14, Bucuresti, Romania
Sat 15 Jun: A North East Choral Garland The Ave, Washington, Tyne and Wear NE38 7LE
Sat 15 Jun: Viva Vivaldi! Bristol Cathedral College Green Bristol
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Today → (19 May) rss

Birthdays:
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Events:
(1886) Camille Saint-Saëns: Premiere of Symphony no. 3 in c minor op. 78 “Organ symphony”, in London, England, with Saint-Saëns conducting.
(1911) Maurice Ravel: Premiere of L'Heure Espagnol, in Paris, France.
(1989) Heinz Holliger: Premiere of What Where, Frankfurt, Germany.

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Classical Sheet Music and MP3 accompaniment: download instantly at Virtual Sheet Music®
Picture of Ottorino Respighi.
(sent by Egon Schrøder)

Sheet music for Respighi

[details ←] Airs, Dances & Other Piano, piano,
[details ←] Ottorino Respighi - Liriche, vocal,
[details ←] The Pines of Rome (Finale), orchestra, full orchestra,
[details ←] The Yolanda Kondonassis Collection, harp,
[details ←] Il Tramonto
[details ←] Gli uccelli, Trittico botticelliano
[details ←] String Quartet in D Major (1907), viola, violin, cello, string quartet,
[details ←] Adagio con Variazioni, piano, cello,
[details ←] Vetrate di chiesa, Belkis, regina di Saba
[details ←] Fontane di Roma, Pini di Roma, Feste Romane
[details ←] The Fountains of Rome, orchestra, full orchestra,
[details ←] Antiche Danze ed Arie, Suite 1 (Ancient Airs and Dances) - full score, harpsichord, harp,
[details ←] Belfagor, vocal,
[details ←] Sonata in F Minor, piano,
[details ←] Notturno, piano,
[details ←] Il Tramonto, vocal,
[details ←] Lauda per la Nativita del Signore (Laud to the Nativity), vocal, , choral, vocal,
[details ←] Ancient Aires and Dances, concert band,
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Offenbach: Gaïte parisienne; Rossini-Respighi: La boutique fantasque [Hybrid SACD]
Classical Music : Offenbach: Gaïte parisienne; Rossini-Respighi: La boutique fantasque [Hybrid SACD]
from: RCA


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Baroque for Beauty Sleep: Sweet Dreams for Beautiful Dreamers
Classical Music : Baroque for Beauty Sleep: Sweet Dreams for Beautiful Dreamers
from: Philips


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Respighi: Pines of Rome; Fountains of Rome; Debussy: La mer [Hybrid SACD]
Classical Music : Respighi: Pines of Rome; Fountains of Rome; Debussy: La mer [Hybrid SACD]
from: RCA


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A to Z of Classical Music
Classical Music : A to Z of Classical Music
by: Various

Features:
  • Record Label: Naxos
  • Catalog#: 8555319-20F
  • Year Of Release: 2001

Amazon.com's Price: $13.06
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Offenbach: Gaite Parisienne; Rossini-Respighi: La Boutique Fantasque
Classical Music : Offenbach: Gaite Parisienne; Rossini-Respighi: La Boutique Fantasque
from: RCA

Features:
  • Record Label: Naxos
  • Catalog#: 8555319-20F
  • Year Of Release: 2001

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Respighi: The Pines of Rome; The Fountains of Rome; Roman Festivals
Classical Music : Respighi: The Pines of Rome; The Fountains of Rome; Roman Festivals
from: Decca

Features:
  • Record Label: Naxos
  • Catalog#: 8555319-20F
  • Year Of Release: 2001


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