REPRINT SERIES Ottorino Respighi's Burlesca for Orchestra, P. 59, composed in 1906, is an exuberant and vibrant work that exemplifies the composer's early exploration of orchestral color and rhythm. Written during a period when Respighi was refining his...

REPRINT SERIES The Variazioni sinfoniche evidently won the approval of Rimsky-Korsakov, to the extent that he accepted Respighi as a student. The work consists of a number of passacaglia-like variations after the manner of Brahms or Franck.

REPRINT SERIES Also known as Suite for Strings P.41, it is divided in 6 movements: 1. Ciaccona, 2. Siciliana, 3. Giga, 4. Sarabanda, 5. Burlesca, 6. Rigaudon

Given Ottorino Respighi’s outstanding mastery in handling the modern orchestra and his superb gifts for impressionist tone-painting (the very qualities cited by the many detractors and adversaries of this great composer), it is astonishing how...

In La Pentola Magica (The Magic Pot) Respighi pays tribute to a group of less well known Russian composers, including Grechaninov (Prelude), Arensky (Entry of the Tsar with the Bridgegrooms), Pachulski (Scene of Tsarevich), Anton Rubinstein (Dance of the...

REPRINT SERIES Respighi's "Toccata" for Piano and Orchestra is in effect a continuous piano concerto, lasting about 25 minutes, that owes much to the composer's love of older Italian masters such as Vivaldi, Corelli and Marcello. The work has been...

REPRINT SERIES In 1930 Ottorino Respighi composed Lauda per la Natività del Signore, the only sacred choral piece among his works. In this song of praise to the miracle of Christmas,0 majestic sounding choral passages alternate with the soloistic...

REPRINT SERIES There are plentiful ingredients in Respighi’s Piano Concerto in A minor. Rhapsodic flourishes, triumphal declamations, huge, dense chords and passages of lyrical contemplation. Written in 1902, when he was in his early twenties, it...

REPRINT SERIES The music of Respighi can, perhaps, be placed into two general groups: a more popular set of music which is colorfully programmatic, with fairly articulate development and invention, and a second group of melting-pot eclectism. The...

REPRINT SERIES The Concerto all’antica is an early, beautifully poetic work that again draws on ancient styles, for Solo Violin and Orchestra. An early violin concerto “in an ancient style” originally attributed to an anonymous...

The Poema Autunnale of 1925 was written for Mario Corti and dedicated to him. Once again Respighi ventured into Lark Ascending territory, as much of the writing was modal, creating the desired archaic atmosphere, and double-stops were much used for...

REPRINT SERIES Fountains of Rome or Fontane di Roma is a symphonic poem written by Ottorino Respighi in 1916 and first published in 1918. It is the first orchestral work in his "Roman trilogy", followed by Pines of Rome (1924) and Roman Festivals (1928)...

Respighi composed Metamorphoseon in 1930, for the fiftieth anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and it is in fact something of a concerto for orchestra. The 30-minute long work consists of a theme and twelve variations or 'modes', an allusion to...

REPRINT SERIES This Suite No.2 was composed in 1923. It was based on pieces for lute, archlute, and viol by Fabritio Caroso, Jean-Baptiste Besard, Bernardo Gianoncelli, and an anonymous composer. It also includes an aria attributed to Marin Mersenne...

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. Respighi rearranged the order of...

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 orchestrated composition (with six horns, four percussion,...

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 additional anonymous composers. 1. Italiana (Anonymous:...