Musical Vision of the Eternal City. Roman Triptych by Ottorino Respighi Cover Image

Muzyczna wizja Wiecznego Miasta. Tryptyk rzymski Ottorina Respighiego
Musical Vision of the Eternal City. Roman Triptych by Ottorino Respighi

Author(s): Marcin Trzęsiok
Subject(s): Music, Sociology of Culture, Sociology of Art
Published by: Instytut Sztuki Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: Italy; Ottorino Respighi; Rome; music;

Summary/Abstract: Roman Triptych by Ottorino Respighi (1879–1936) is a musical impression of the Eternal City: each of the tone poems – Fountains of Rome (1916), Pines of Rome (1924), and Roman Festivals (1928) – contains four part-images evocatively described in a literary commentary. The object of musical meditation involves not solely the monuments and views of Rome, but also the town’s history as well as urban folklore. This dazzling musical vision, characteristic for its masterly instrumentation, is entwined with dilemmas from the epoch. The composer belongs to the generazione dell’ottanta, i.e. a formation of composers striving towards a renaissance of Italian instrumental music and hence opposing the degeneration which, in their opinion, affected European music under the impact of the expressive subjectivism of German compositions. Certain aspects of the role which they ascribed to Italy were concurrent with Fascist conceptions. An assessment of Respighi’s actual ideological involvement, however, remains an open question – his aesthetic attitude assumed shape prior to 1922 and the composer did not take a stand regarding political issues.

  • Issue Year: 342/2023
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 35-39
  • Page Count: 6
  • Language: Polish
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