Pini di Roma

Pini di Roma (English "Pines of Rome") is a 1924 work by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi, and is considered one of the masterpieces of the Roman Trilogy of symphonic poems along with Feste Romane and Fontane di Roma. Each movement portrays the location of pine trees in the city during different parts of the day.

The first performance was given under conductor Bernardino Molinari in the Augusteo, Rome, on December 14, 1924.

Movements

1. "I pini di Villa Borghese" (Pines of the Villa Borghese)
2. "Pini presso una catacomba" (Pines near a catacomb)
3. "I pini del Gianicolo" (Pines of the Janiculum)
4. "I pini della Via Appia" (Pines of the Appian Way)

The first movement, called "I pini di Villa Borghese", portrays children playing in the pine groves of the Borghese gardens. The music depicts children marching and playing. The second movement, "Pini presso una catacomba" has a more melancholic tune, representing pine trees close to a catacomb in Campagna. Lower orchestral instruments, plus the organ pedal at 16' and 32' pitch, represent the subterranean feature of the catacombs. The trombones chant like priests. The third part, a nocturne, "I pini del Gianicolo", is set at night, near a temple of the Roman god Janus on the Janiculum hill. Double-faced gods open large doors and gates, marking the beginning of a new year. A nightingale is heard, giving Respighi the opportunity to include real life bird sounds in his work, a feat unachieved before (the score mentions a specific recording that can be played on a phonograph: the Brunswick Panatrope). The final movement, "I pini della Via Appia", portrays pine trees along the great Appian Way. Misty dawn: a legion advances along the Via Appia in the brilliance of the newly-risen sun. Respighi wanted the ground to tremble under the footsteps of his army and he instructs the organ to play bottom B flat on 8', 16' and 32' organ pedal. Trumpets peal and the consular army rises in triumph to the Capitoline Hill.

Instrumentation

Pini di Roma calls for the following large orchestra:

Woodwinds: piccolo (doubling flute 3), 2 flutes, 2 oboes, english horn, 2 clarinets in B-flat and A, bass clarinet in B-flat and A, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon

Brass: 4 horns in F, E, 3 trumpets in B-flat, 4 trombones (Tbn. 4 part usually replaced by tuba), 6 offstage buccine in B-flat: 2 Soprano, 2 Tenor, 2 Bass (often substituted by Flugelhorns), Offstage Trumpet

Percussion: timpani, bass drum, cymbals, 2 small cymbals, tam-tam, triangle, ratchet, tambourine, glockenspiel

Keyboards: organ, piano, celesta

Electronics: gramophone (Il Canto dell’usignolo)

Strings: harp, violins I and II, violas, violoncellos, double basses

Use in Film and Elsewhere

An edited version was used to accompany "flying", frolicking humpback whales in the animated movie Fantasia 2000. The second movement of the piece is omitted, along with the English horn solo in the fourth movement.

The piece was also used in its entirety in A Movie (1958) by Bruce Conner.

The piece was used in Fireworks, an avant-garde film directed by Kenneth Anger.

The very opening of the work was used at the beginning of the 1983 song "City of Love" released on the album 90125 by rock group Yes.

The piece was the basis of most of Star of Indiana's 1991 Drum Corps International world championship repertoire.

External links

• Program notes