Something for Thursday

Born this day, 1879: Ottorino Respighi, who after a slow musical development in his youth would become one of most notable Italian composers of the 20th century. Respighi’s music is wonderfully pictorial and lyrical, often with a sense of size that is nevertheless modern enough to sound removed from the traditions of Romanticism. Italian music tends toward the dramatic anyway, and Respighi’s work is certainly that.

For all that, I’m not nearly as familiar with Respighi’s music as I should be; I’ve listened to several of his tone poems (The Pines of Rome is one of the greats, and a favorite of mine), but not much else. So here, to honor his 147th birthday, I present a work for solo piano: “Notturno” from Sei pezzi prr pianoforte (“Six pieces for piano”). Apparently the “Notturno” is one of Respighi’s most popular piano pieces, all by itself. I can certainly hear why. Its pianistic tone painting is certainly redolent of Chopin, but with a decidedly modernistic twist to it.

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