Ottorino Respighi - Trittico botticelliano / Three Botticelli Pictures

Ottorino Respighi (Italian: [ottoˈriːno resˈpiːɡi]; 9 July 1879 – 18 April 1936) was an Italian composer and musicologist. He is best known for his orchestral music. Trittico Botticelliano (1927), A work in three movements inspired by Botticelli paintings in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence: La Primavera, L'Adorazione dei Magi, La nascita di Venere; the middle movement uses the well-known tune Veni Emmanuel (O Come, O Come, Emmanuel). Commissioned by the Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation and premiered in Vienna in 1927, the Pictures demonstrate not only Respighi's ear for fresh and beautiful sonorities, but also his interest in the history of art in his native Italy. "La Primavera" (Spring) unfolds as a pastorale, with rustlings of nature, bird songs, and "antique" dance rhythms. "L'adorazione dei Magi" (Adoration of the Magi) evokes a mood of medieval devotion through its employment of old church modes and Gregorian chant-influenced melodies. The brilliant finale, "La nascita de Venere" (Birth of Venus), is an aural impression of the famous painting of the goddess borne upon a giant oyster shell. Skirling figures and bright sonorities suggest the play of waves, providing a backdrop for Venus' sensuous melody

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 VIDEO: Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936), Italia - Triptyque de Botticelli I. La primavera [5.35] II. L'adorazione dei Magi [8.37] III. La nascita di Venere [5.29] Orpheus Chamber Orchestra