On July 9, 1879, Ottorino Respighi was born. Respighi was a composer known for his colorful orchestrations and his adaptations of music from other composers and other eras.
Respighi was born in Bologna, Italy, into a family filled with artists of various types. One grandfather was a skilled sculptor, and the other was a prominent church organist; Respighi’s father was a fine pianist.
Respighi didn’t show much early interest in music, and when he did start piano lessons at age 8, the lessons didn’t go very well. Once he did connect to music, though, he learned quickly, and when he was twelve, he began studying violin and viola at the local conservatory. He added classes in composition at 16 and graduated at the age of 20 with a diploma in violin.
In 1900, Respighi spent a year in St. Petersburg, playing in the orchestra of the Russian Imperial Theatre. While he was there, he studied composition and orchestration with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. On his return to Bologna, he received his diploma in composition, and his instructor declared that “Respighi is not a student; Respighi is a master.”
After leaving the conservatory, Respighi spent about a decade as a member of a string quintet. In 1913, he left Bologna, accepting a position as a professor of composition in Rome. He was never really happy there. He found Rome too busy and longed to return to Bologna.
Respighi’s career as a composer developed relatively slowly. It wasn’t until 1917 that he premiered the first of what are now recognized as his major works. The Fountains of Rome is a set of four short tone poems depicting various Roman fountains at different times of the day. The audience response was relatively mild, but the piece received a much better reception the next year when Arturo Toscanini conducted it in Milan. Respighi later wrote two similar suites, The Pines of Rome and Roman Festivals; the three are frequently recorded together.
Also in 1917, Respighi presented the first of three suites based on pieces of 16th-century Italian lute music. The Ancient Airs and Dances Suites arranged this older music for a 20th-century orchestra. Borrowing from earlier eras and other composers was common for Respighi, who was something of a musical magpie. The ballet La boutique fantasque and the orchestral suite Rossiniana are both based on piano pieces from Gioachino Rossini’s Péchés de vieillesse; The Birds is built around Baroque music that imitates birdsong; and the Concerto Gregoriano, for violin and orchestra, is inspired by medieval chant.
In 1919, Respighi married Elsa Olivieri-Sangiacomo, one of his composition students, and they began touring Europe together as performers. The conservatory in Rome expressed some impatience with his absence, especially after the Respighi's relocated to Bologna, but he was still made director of the conservatory in 1923.
The new job didn’t suit Respighi well. He hated the administrative duties, which took a lot of time away from his composing. He resigned the directorship in 1926, though he continued to teach for another decade.
By this time, Respighi was frequently touring as a conductor and pianist. He made his American debut in 1925, and a 1927 trip to Brazil inspired the orchestral suite Brazilian Impressions.
In 1929, Respighi suggested to Sergei Rachmaninoff that he would like to write orchestral versions of some of Rachmaninoff’s piano pieces. Rachmaninoff agreed to the idea, and even offered to Respighi some of his thoughts about what the pieces were meant to depict. The 5 Études-Tableaux debuted in Boston in 1931, and Rachmaninoff was delighted with the results.
The final years of Respighi’s life were spent working on an opera; he wrote nine operas, none of which are performed very often today. He became ill in late 1935, and in January 1936, was diagnosed with a bacterial infection of the blood. He received several blood transfusions over the next few months, but died on April 18, at the age of 55.
Respighi’s widow, Elsa, was only 41 when he died, and she survived him by 60 years, dying one week short of her 102nd birthday in 1996. She spent those years as a champion of his music. “I live because I can truly still do something for him,” she wrote. “And I shall do it, that is certain, until the day I die.” She led the Italian celebrations of Respighi’s centennial in 1979.
Respighi’s orchestral suites are his most popular pieces today. In addition to those already mentioned, the Trittico botticelliano, inspired by three Botticelli paintings, and Church Windows remain popular. The most popular of his chamber works are a violin sonata and a piano sonata.
More of Respighi’s music is available for streaming at Hoopla and Freegal.