Ottorino Respighi

Respighi, Ottorino 

Born July (or June) 9, 1879, in Bologna; died Apr. 18, 1936, in Rome. Italian composer. Son of a musician.

Respighi graduated from the Liceo Musicale Bologna in 1899. He studied with L. Torchi and G. Martucci. From 1900 to 1903 he was a violist with the orchestra of the Italian Opera Company in St. Petersburg and Moscow. He studied with N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, whose picturesque orchestral style greatly influenced him. Respighi performed as a violinist, violist, pianist, and conductor. In 1913 he became a professor of composition at the Royal Conservatory of St. Cecilia in Rome. He served as director of the conservatory in 1924–25.

Respighi’s most popular compositions are his orchestral works, including the symphonic poems The Fountains of Rome (1916), The Pines of Rome (1924), and Roman Festivals (1928). He also wrote the operas Belfagor (1923), La campana sommersa (1927), and La fiamma (1934); ballets; symphonic, chamber instrumental, and vocal compositions; and many adaptations. Respighi’s work is characterized by impressionistic and neo-classical tendencies.

REFERENCES

Krein, Iu. “Ottorino Respigi.” Sovetskaia muzyka, 1960, no. 8.
Respighi, E. Ottorino Respighi. [Milan, 1954.]

M. L. SLOBODENIUK