Ottorino Respighi was an Italian composer best known for his rich and colourful orchestral pieces. Respighi was born in Bologna, Italy, on July 9, 1879. While studying at the Liceo Musicale, Bologna (1891–1901), he visited Russia, and returned in 1902–03 to take lessons from Rimsky-Korsakov, a master of orchestration who also taught STRAVINSKY.
Back in Italy, Respighi worked as a pianist and string player, and made an early contribution to authentic performance with his interest in early Italian lute music. In 1913, he was made a professor of composition at the Conservatory of St. Cecilia in Rome. Though he was promoted to director in 1923, he resigned in 1925 to devote himself to composition. However, he still conducted in Europe and the U.S., and provided piano accompaniment to singers, including his wife, Elsa Olivieri-Sangiacomo, who was herself a composer.
Respighi’s works, although never adventurous, were promoted by the major conductors of the century, including his fellow countryman, Arturo TOSCANINI. Respighi’s lessons with Rimsky-Korsakov and his study of the music of Giacomo PUCCINI, Claude DEBUSSY, and Richard STRAUSS resulted in a deep love and understanding of melody and orchestration. He never abandoned the traditional use of harmony and melody, and he excelled in creating rich and colourful orchestrations. This approach to composition appealed to the Hollywood composers of the 1930s and 1940s. It is rare to hear a score by Max STEINER, Dimitri Tiomkin, or Miklos Rozsa without sensing at least some influence of Respighi.
Although classification of Respighi’s music is difficult, it can be said to belong to the school of “Neo-Impressionism.” Generally, such music attaches great importance to atmosphere and often tends to be descriptive of a scene or event. Thus, the sounds of the scene—the sighing of wind in trees, the splash and tinkle of water—become molded into the piece. Others of this school include the American Charles Griffes, the Englishman Arnold Bax, and the Swiss-born Ernest Bloch. In addition to original compositions, Respighi reworked the music of earlier composers and periods (as did Stravinsky, although Respighi’s musical language was less innovative). His works of this kind include the Rossiniana (1915), based on piano works by Rossini; Antiche arte e danze per liuto, based on airs and dances for lute (1916, 1923, and 193D; and Gli Uccelli (1927), based on themes by Rameau and others. Later, he became interested in Gregorian plainchant (again, well before the revival of chant in the later years of the 20th century) and incorporated the serene and timeless melodic lines in the orchestral tone poem, Vetrate di chiesa (1925).
Among Respighi’s most successful and popular compositions are three highly programmatic tone or symphonic poems that dramatically depict the Roman landscape. The orchestration in Fontane di Roma (1917), Pini di Roma (1924), and Feste Romana (1928) is the work of a master craftsman.
Respighi also wrote chamber music and operas. Indeed, the latter represent over half of his complete catalogue, and include Re Enzo (1905); Semirama (1910); the charming La bella addormentata nel bosco (1922), originally a puppet play for children; Orfeo (1935); and Lucrezia (published in 1937).
Finally, Respighi’s Lauda per la Natività del Signore (1928–30), a medley of carols and other early material for soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, chorus, and a chamber ensemble, is an especially attractive work that is seldom heard, but which deserves to be reinstated in the repertoire.
Respighi’s last work was an opera, Lucrezia, which he started in 1935. It was completed by his wife, Elsa, after he died in Rome on April 18, 1936.
Richard Trombley
SEE ALSO:
AUTHENTIC PERFORMANCE; OPERA; ORCHESTRAL MUSIC; VOCAL AND CHORAL MUSIC
FURTHER READING
Alvera, Pierluigi, trans. Raymond Rosenthal. Respighi (New York: Treves Publishing Company, 1986);
Respighi, Elsa, trans. Giovanni Fontecchio and Roger Johnson. Fifty Years of a Life in Music, 1905–55 (Lewiston, NY: E. Mellen Press, 1993).
SUGGESTED LISTENING
Ancient Airs and Dances; Feste Romana; Fontane di Roma; Pini di Roma; Toccata for piano and orchestra.