Serge Koussevitzky asked whether Rachmaninoff would select a group of études-tableaux for Italian composer Ottorino Respighi to orchestrate. He agreed and selected five études from Op. 33 and Op. 39...

REPRINT SERIES Ottorino Respighi’s hour-long Sinfonia drammatica, which he completed just before the First World War broke out, appears to anticipate the impending tragedy. The brilliantly...

Written for strings only and somewhat melancholy in overall mood. It is based on lute songs by Besard, a piece for baroque guitar by Ludovico Roncalli, and lute pieces by Santino Garsi da Parma and...

Respighi's greatest masterpieces,  the three Roman tone poems:   Fountains of Rome (Fontane di Roma) Picc, 2 Fl, 2 Ob, En.H., 2 Cl, B.Cl, 2 Bsn, 4 Hn, 3 Tpt, 3 Tbn, Tba, Timp, Perc, Organ (ad lib...

It is the third orchestral work in Respighi's "Roman trilogy", preceded by Fountains of Rome (1916) and Pines of Rome (1924). Each of the four movements depict a scene of celebration from Ancient...

A visit to Brazil resulted in the composition Impressioni brasiliane (Brazilian Impressions). He had intended to write a sequence of five pieces, but by 1928 he had completed only three, and decided...

Trittico Botticelliano ("Three Botticelli Pictures") is a three-movement suite based on famous paintings by the Renaissance master Botticelli.It demonstrates not only Respighi's ear for fresh and...

Dating from 1927, the work is based on music from 18th-century and represents an attempt to transcribe birdsong into musical notation. The work is in five movements:    "Prelude" (based on music of...

Pines of Rome (Pini di Roma) is a symphonic poem written in 1924 and forms one-third of Respighi's so called Roman trilogy, along with Fontane di Roma and Feste Romane. The piece was used in the film...

Among Respighi's less familiar works, the Adagio con Variazioni is a beautiful, evocative and mellow single movement piece that nicely captures the singing capabilities of the cello.It was originally...