Respighi Pines of Rome
Respighi Pines of Rome Program Notes
As a child in Bolognia, Ottorino Respighi began violin lessons with his father. He must have been very good – while concertmaster of St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theatre (in 1899), he studied composition with Rimsky-Korsakoff. While Respighi’s compositional style and techniques are clearly early 20th century, some of his most popular works refer to older music: Renaissance lute pieces in the Ancient Airs and Dances, Baroque-era bird portraits for Gli Ucelli, and Rossini for his ballet La Boutique Fantastique. In Pines, an offstage trumpet solo quotes Gregorian chant from the ninth century (Feast for the Blessed Virgin), and there are many other examples throughout his works. Pines also features additional brass, and in a first, a gramophone recording of a nightingale. Pines of Rome is the middle of three tone poems, preceded by Fountains and followed by Festivals,known as his Roman Trilogy. It was premiered in Italy in 1924, and the work was used in Disney’s Fantasia 2000. Respighi wrote: I. The Pines of the Villa Borghese Children are at play in the pine groves of Villa Borghese; they dance round in circles, they play at soldiers, marching and fighting, they are wrought up by their own cries like swallows at evening, they come and go in swarms. Suddenly the scene changes, and… II. Pines near a catacomb we see the shades of the pine-trees fringing the entrance to a catacomb. From the depth rises the sound of mournful psalm singing, floating through the air like a solemn hymn, and gradually and mysteriously dispersing. III. The Pines of the Janiculum (Hill)A quiver runs through the air: the pines of the Janiculum stand distinctly outlined in the clear light of a full moon. A nightingale is singing. IV. The Pines of the Appian Way Misty dawn on the Appian Way: solitary pines guarding the magic landscape; the muffled, ceaseless rhythm of unending footsteps. The poet has a fantastic vision of bygone glories: trumpets sound and, in the brilliance of the newly-risen sun, a consular army bursts forth towards the Sacred Way, mounting in triumph to the Capitol. Born: July 9, 1879, Bologna, Italy Died: April 18, 1936, Rome, ItalyPines of Rome is a tone poem in four movements by Italian composer Ottorino Respighi, composed in 1924. Each movement depicts a different group of Roman pine trees and the scenes associated with them — children playing, ancient catacombs, moonlit night, and a triumphant Roman army at dawn.
Respighi composed the work in 1923 and 1924, and it was premiered in Rome on December 14, 1924, conducted by Arturo Toscanini. It was an immediate and lasting success.
A typical performance lasts approximately 22 to 24 minutes.
The finale — The Pines of the Appian Way — is one of the most thrilling orchestral buildups ever written, beginning in eerie silence and building with inexorable power to a blazing, full-orchestra conclusion. Also notable is the third movement, which includes a recorded nightingale song played through a gramophone or sound system — one of the first uses of recorded sound in an orchestral score.
Pines of Rome is the second of Respighi's Roman Trilogy, flanked by Fountains of Rome and Roman Festivals. Together they represent the pinnacle of orchestral pictorialism and made Respighi internationally famous. Toscanini was such an admirer that he programmed and conducted the work repeatedly throughout his career.
