FOUNTAINS OF ROME & LA MER
Ottorino Respighi
Born July 9 , 1879 in Bologna , Italy Died April 18 , 1936 in Rome , Italy
FOUNTAINS OF ROME [ 1916 ]
Had fate offered Ottorino Respighi a preview of his future in Rome , would the proud Bolognese have left home in January 1913 with such a heavy heart ? In a letter , Respighi lamented : “ You can well imagine how it tears my heart to leave my old habits , my home , the study and my dear books ! […] However , I don ’ t believe I will stay very long in Rome ; perhaps just until July …” With his established successes , he had reason to think so — after all , his composition teacher famously said , “ Respighi is not a pupil , Respighi is a master .” A teaching post at the conservatory in Rome seemed a temporary measure . Yet it was Rome that inspired Fountains of Rome , the symphonic poem that would bring international acclaim , and where Respighi
met his wife . Nevertheless , as the composer ’ s star rose from his new homebase , darker forces loomed — Mussolini would later co-opt the composer ’ s music for nationalist propaganda , casting a decadeslong shadow over the composer ’ s legacy .
In Fountains of Rome , Respighi immortalizes four of Rome ’ s iconic fountains , contemplating each at the time of day when its beauty appears most striking . The first movement captures the Fountain of Valle Giulia “ in the fresh damp mists of a Roman dawn ”; according to Respighi ’ s wife , Elsa , Fountains was inspired by two Baltic émigré sisters — one or both believed to be his lover — who brought the gurgling Valle Giulia to the composer ’ s attention . The second movement evokes naiads and tritons dancing at the Triton Fountain in the morning light . The Trevi Fountain follows , with music depicting Neptune ’ s chariot crossing the water ’ s
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