There are two contrasting musical worlds to which Ottorino Respighi devoted himself, and which he was able to blend together. The one "world" emerged from the late romantic era in Russia and Germany as a richly colored, virtuosic style of orchestration. In contrast to this, Respighi also undertook numerous transcriptions, arrangements and recompositions of the "stilo antico" from the Italian renaissance and baroque eras. The study of Gregorian chant led to a further group of works, with which distanced himself even further from the chromatic harmonies of the late romantic era. Three main works from his romantic-impressionistic period, the symphonic poems: "Fontane di Roma", "Pini di Roma" and "Feste Romane" established Respighi's international fame and brought him to the pinnacle of the post-Puccini generation of Italian composers.
Born on July 9, 1879 in Bologna
Died on April 18, 1936 in Rome