Respighi: Ancient Airs and Dances Suite III. Complete

Jason C. Tramm, Conductor
Long Island Concert Orchestra

Recorded live on April 22, 2023
Broadway Presbyterian Church (Manhattan)

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00:00-04:12 I. Italiana
04:13-12:43 II. Aria di Corte
12:45-17:00 III. Siciliana
17:02 IV. Passacaglia

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Ancient Airs and Dances, Suite No. 3 OTTORINO RESPIGHI BORN July 9, 1879, in Bologna, Italy; died April 18, 1936, in Rome PREMIERE Composed 1931; first performance unknown

OVERVIEW
Ottorino Respighi was one of the most imaginative orchestrators of the first part of the 20th century. While most of his musical studies were undertaken in Italy, he spent two crucial years in Russia where he took lessons in orchestration with Nikolai RimskyKorsakov. He developed a masterful technique in the use of instrumental color and sonority, firmly rooted in the late-Romantic tradition. He maintained this style with only marginal influence from the revolutionary changes in music that occurred during his lifetime.
Respighi was also a scholar of early music, editing the works of Claudio Monteverdi and Tomaso Antonio Vitali, as well as transcribing works by many Renaissance and early Baroque composers — although in an idiosyncratic manner anathema to modern musicological practices. He also delighted in arranging obscure early music for modern performance. His three suites of Ancient Airs and Dances are based on Italian and French lute music mostly from the early 17th century to accompany dancers and singers.

WHAT TO LISTEN FOR
Respighi composed the Suite No. 3 in 1931 for string orchestra. His orchestration brings a modern cast to the old melodies, but unlike many modern arrangers of older music, he does not tamper with the original harmonies. His predilection for broad internal tempo changes is definitely not authentic to the original versions. On the other hand, Renaissance and early Baroque lutenists would have been freer with ornamentation, especially during repeats.
The suite comprises four distinct movements. The first, marked Andantino, is based on an anonymous Italian popular melody of the early 17th century. The second movement is based on six numbers from the Arie di Corte (Airs of the Court) by the Burgundian (Northeastern French) lutenist and composer Jean-Baptiste Besard, born in 1567.
The third movement, in ABA form, is an anonymous pastoral Siciliana from early in the 17th century, with a more vigorous middle (B) section. The final movement is based on a passacaglia (a form based on a short repeating bass line or harmonic progressions) from the 1692 collection Capricci armonici sopra la chitarra spagnola by the 17th-century Italian guitarist and composer Ludovico Roncalli.


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