Ottorino Respighi Biography
Italian Composer and Teacher, Known for Fontane, I Pini, Roman Feste
Life and works of Ottorino Respighi, best-known for symphonic poem trilogy of Rome.
Italian composer Ottorino Respighi was a master of modern Italian orchestration. He was best known for his "Roman Trilogy" orchestral compositions evoking the beauties of Rome.
Respighi is one of the Italian composers who broke the Italian tradition of writing principally for the opera. Instead, he focused more on instrumental and orchestral music.
Early Life of Respighi
Ottorino Respighi was born on July 9, 1879, in Bologna, Italy, into a musical family. He started his first music lessons from his father, a teacher at Liceo Musicale. Later, he studied in the same school his father taught.
In the early 1900s during his visits to Russia, he had lessons with Rimsky-Korsakov. He also studied under Max Bruch in Berlin.
Composer and Teacher
In his mid-30s, Respighi settled in Rome, teaching and composing, and writing his best works. 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 Works
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
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 in 1936.
Later Life
Respighi he went on several successful concert tours of the USA later in his career.
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 17th- and 18th-century pieces about birds) 1927
- Trittico botticelliano (Three Botticelli Pictures) 1927
- Symphonic poem, Roman Festivals 1928
- Opera, La Fiamma 1933
- Vocal Works
Sources:
The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd Edition, edited by Stanley Sadie (2000)
The Oxford Companion to Music, edited by Alison Latham (2002)
