Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936)

Introduction
Ottorino Respighi was born on July 9, 1879 in Bologna, Italy. His father taught piano locally and encouraged his son to follow his footsteps into music. He taught Respighi piano and violin at a very young age to support his interest in music. Although Respighi continued to take lessons for both instruments throughout his youth, he preferred to teach himself. He passes his exams at the Liceo Musicale in Bologna and received his diploma in the violin in 1899. In 1900 he studied composition for five months under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov while he was also the first violinist in the Russian Imperial Theater’s orchestra during their Italian opera season. After studying with Korsakov, he returned home to continue his studies and get his next diploma in composition. His other position was, again, as first violin in the Mugellini Quintet whom he toured with until 1908. In 1913 he moved to Rome, where he would work at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia, marry Elsa Olivieri-Sangiacomo, and spend the rest of his life. He started as a Professor of Composition at the conservatory and in 1923 he became the director. He came to New York City in 1929 for the premiere of his third Roman tone poem, “Roman Festivals”, at Carnegie Hall. His music was quite successful in the United States and he premiered multiple pieces there. Respighi was composing and touring until January of 1936 when he fell ill due to problems with his heart. He died that year on April 18th and was buried in his hometown of Bologna.

Works
Respighi has wrote many works, which were mostly in these five genres: opera, ballet, orchestra, choral and chamber music. Some of his most important pieces are below.
 * Piano Concerto in the Mixolydian Mode (1925)
 * Pini di Roma (1924)
 * Fontane di Roma (1916)
 * Feste Romane (1928)
 * Brazilian Impressions (1928)
 * Gli Uccelli (1927)

Comparisons
Respighi was also a musicologist. He was very fascinated by the music of the 17th, 18th and 19th century. As a result, he liked to compose his works based on the music of those eras. His piece, Gli Uccelli, or The Birds, is a baroque styled work that imitates bird noises.

Observations
Respighi worked with Sergei Diaghilev, the Russian ballet impresario, in 1918 when Diaghilev commissioned him to compose a piece for his Ballet Russes. Respighi wrote Le Boutique fantasque and used one of the 19th century composer Gioachino Rossini's piano pieces as inspiration.