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Transcript of THE ORGAN WORKS OF OTTORINO RESPIGHI TOGETHER ...
THE ORGAN WORKS OF OTTORINO RESPIGHI
TOGETHER WITH THREE RECITALS OF
SELECTED WORKS OF J. S. BACH,
W. BOLCOM, J. GUILLOU,
J. LANGLAIS, F. LISZT,
C. TOURNEMIRE AND
L. VIERNE
APPROVED:
Graduate Commit ye:
o r Professo
Minor Professor
Committee Member
Dean of the School of Music
Dean of t Graduate School
-71
/W, /J5THE ORGAN WORKS OF OTTORINO RESPIGHI
TOGETHER WITH THREE RECITALS OF
SELECTED WORKS OF J. S. BACH
W. BOLCOM, J. GUILLOU,
J. LANGLAIS, F. LISZT,
C. TOURNEMIRE AND
L. VIERNE
DISSERTATION
Presented to the Graduate Council of the
North Texas State University in Partial
Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of
Doctor of Musical Arts
By
Susan Ingrid Ferr6, B. A., B. M., M. M.
Denton, Texas
August, 1979
Ferr&, Susan Ingrid, The Organ Works of Ottorino
Respighi Together With Three Recitals of Selected Works
of J. S. Bach, W. Bolcom, J. Guillou, J. Langlias, F. Liszt,
C. Tournemire and L. Vierne. Doctor of Musical Arts, in
performance, August, 1979, 67 pages, 5 tables, bibliography,
23 titles.
This dissertation deals with Respighi's output for
the organ which consists of the Three Preludes for organ
solo, a Suite in G for strings and organ, two transcrip-
tions (the Vitali Ciaccona, and a Suite by Bach), both for
violin and organ, and various organ parts in the symphonic
poems, operas, and orchestral works.
A general discussion of the history of organ building
in the nineteenth-century shows that English "improvements"
in the machinery of the organ and the eventual trend
toward orchestral organs came later in Germany and in
Italy. Italian organs retained their clarity by being
voiced lightly throughout, in spite of the addition of a
proliferation of 8-foot stops.
It is probable that Respighi's vast knowledge of
organ literature, his classical training, his interest in
music history, his family heritage, his associations with
other composers, and his travels to Russia and Berlin
stimulated his interest in the organ, enough to write
the three solo works, the Suite for strings and organ, and
to set two of his transcriptions for organ. All of this
activity was accomplished between the years of 1905 and
1910, precisely the years in which he made his various
formative trips across the Alps.
Respighi's harmonic language shown in the organ
pieces is grounded in the traditional harmonic techniques
of the nineteenth century. New keys are properly intro-
duced by their dominant seventh chords, the harmonic
successions are logical, dissonance employed solely for
color, and the writing proceeds with the traditional
tonal logic of the tertian system of harmony. One finds
little chromaticism except for color or embellishment of
certain chords.
Respighi's works can be played most effectively on
an Italian or German romantic organ. Organs with which
he was most familiar were not of the orchestral type,
although they certainly must have had the capability of
a wide dynamic range, quick, gradual crescendos and
decrescendos, as well as more than their share of founda-
tion stops.
If Respighi was not an innovator, he was at least
creative in his use of the organ in his orchestral works.
The organ was used primarily for color by adding depth,
body, and novelty to the ever-growing orchestra. Res-
pighi paid great attention to the smallest detail in his
orchestrations, which were varied, delicate, and precise.
Why did this interest in color and sonority not result
in similar treatment of the organ in his music?
The answer is suggested already in the description
of the late romantic/orchestral organ. Its stops had
lost their individuality, and they blended together in
such a way that no particular color was distinguished.
The thought is not that Respighi's music, or the music
of any other composer, caused the decline, but rather
that the direction of organ-building in its search for
modernity, machinery, and the industrial age, lost its
identity, its characteristic personality and color, and
lost in fact the very thing it was trying to achieve--
its autonomy.
Tape recordings of all performances submitted
as dissertation are on deposit in the
A. M. Willis, Jr. Library, North
Texas State University
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PERFORMANCE PROGRAMS Page
First Solo Recital................... .. ....... vi
Second Solo Recital........... . . . . . . . . . vii
Third Solo Recital.................. . ....... viii
Lecture-Recital......... . ..... .. ix
Chapter
I. INTRODUCTION............ ... ... 1
Statement of PurposeProcedureSignificance
II. GENERAL BACKGROUND AND BIOGRAPHICALINFORMATION..................... . . ....... 5
Organ Culture in the Early 1900'sRespighi's Heritage of an Organ Tradition
III. MUSIC FOR THE ORGAN. ..--... -.-...26
Orchestral Works Using OrganWorks for Solo OrganTranscriptionsPoints of Analysis
IV. SUMMARY.................. ... *..... . . . . 45
Conclusions
APPENDIX A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Sources
APPENDIX B . ............ ........ 59
Stoplists
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... . 62
iv
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North Texas State UniversitySchool of Music
Graduate Lecture-Recital
SUSAN INGRID FERRE
8:00 P.M.
The Organ Works of Ottorino Respighi
Excerpts from the Suite in G Major for strings and organ
I Preludio
11 Aria
III Pastorale
IV Cantico
Prelude in D Minor
Prelude inBMajron a chorale of Bach(In dich hab' ich gehoffet, Herr)
Prelude in A Minoron a chorale of Bach(Ich hab' mein' Sach' Gott heimgestellt)
Presented in partial fulfillment for the requirementsfor the degree Doctor of Musical Arts
July 2, 1979 First United Methodist Church
North Texas State UniversitySchool of Music
Graduate Organ Recital
SUSAN INGRID FERREassisted by Gary Case, Percussionist
February 13, 1979 8:15 P.-M. Main Auditorium
PROGRAM
Franz Liszt(1811-1886)
William Bolcom(b. 1938)
Fantasy and Fugue on"Ad Nos,'Ad Salutarem Undam"
Black Host (1967)for pipe organ, percussion,
and tape
Presented in partial fulfillment for the requirementsfor the degree Doctor of Musical Arts
North Texas State UniversitySchool of Music
Graduate Organ Recital
SUSAN INGRID FERRET
January 26, 1975 3:00 P.M. Recital Hall
PROGRAM
Charles Tournemire(1870-1939)
Jean Langlais(b. 1907)
'Orgue Mystique, Opus 57, No. 35 ("Assomption")
V Paraphrase-Carillon
Cing Mditations Sur 'Apocalypse (1973)
I Celui qui a des oreilles qu'il tcoute11 11 lat, Ilit et l vientIII Visions prophtiquesIV Oh ou, viens SeigneurJisusV La Cinquitme trompette
(Southwestern Premiere)
Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirementsfor the degree Doctor of Musical Arts
NORTH TIEXAS STATE UNIERSITY PAINTING OFFICU.DENTON. TEXAS
0 1 al
North Texas State UniversitySchool of Music
Graduate Organ Recital
SUSAN INGRID FERRE8:15 P. M. Main Auditorium
PROGRAM
J. S. Bach(1685-1750)
J. S. Bach
Jean Guillou(b. 1931)
Louis Vierne(1870-1937)
Fantasy and Fugue in C minor, S. 537
Canonic Variations on "Vom Himmel hoch,"S.769
Sagas (1971)Numbers 5 and 6
INTERMISSION
Sixth Symphony, Opus 59 (1931)I Introduction and AllegroII AriaIII ScherzoIV AdagioV Final
Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirementsfor the degree Doctor of Musical A rts
July 9, 1974
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Statement of Purpose
The organ music of Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936),
written between 1905 and 1928, remains almost entirely un-
known. Libraries and music stores are devoid of his music,
and few among them show an interest in purchasing it, even
if it were available. "After his death in 1936, librarians
did not necessarily purchase Respighi's works, whose popu-
larity had suffered because of the dated nature of his
style." 1 Only occasionally does Respighi's Vetrate di
Chiesa (Church Windows) receive a performance, Respighi's
symphonic poems are often performed without the organ parts,
and his solo pieces for organ are greeted with an "Oh,
really?" and an accompanying smirk.
Then why revive them? Recently, much attention has
been paid to organ works of the nineteenth century, many of
which have been hitherto unknown to a majority of organists,
including works by Liszt, Franck, Saint-Saens, Reubke,
Rheinberger, and Reger. Such interest, and the resulting
Telephone conversation, Ruth Watanabe, head librarian,Sibley Library, Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NewYork, May 17, 1979.
1
This page has been inserted during digitization.
Either the original page was missing or the
original pagination was incorrect.
3
Procedure
By a discussion of Respighi's organ works, the symphon-
ic works which use organ, and his transcriptions involving
the organ, we shall glimpse a small portion of a larger
phenomenon. In examining these works, it will be not only
necessary but enlightening to discuss the backdrop against
which they were created: organs of the turn of the century,
composers' attitudes toward the instrument itself, and re-
lated compositions, as well as Respighi's own personal
knowledge and heritage of an organ tradition. We shall
point out that Respighi was a post-romantic composer whose
writing employed the traditional logic of tertian harmony.
The purpose of this paper, then, will be to present
some organ music which has been virtually unknown, and, in-
cidentally, to attempt a systematic look at some of the
trends in that period of organ building. For any who might
desire to study or perform these pieces, a section on
"Sources" is included in the Appendix.
Significance
The information about Respighi and his music is hard
to obtain, and suggests that he has already been assigned
a minor place in the musical annals of the twentieth-century.
It is perhaps partly due to the difficulty and delays in
obtaining Italian journals and scores from various publishers
4
involved. After all, with the exception of Puccini, Respi-
ghi has been the most celebrated of the twentieth-century
Italian composers. His several tours in the United States,
even taking into account the biased nature of the story as
told by his wife, Elsa, were virtual triumphs which created
for Respighi an almost fanatical and certainly enthusiastic
public. While he lived, the market for his music and the
accompanying interest in his talents as a conductor contri-
buted to a high level of recognition.
Was the success of Respighi's music predicated upon
his personality, or was the decline of interest after his
death a natural consequence? Whatever the case, it is a
matter of record that Respighi was a musical conservative
who looked to history for expression within the seemingly
narrow constraints of the major-minor system, and who worked
actively against many of the modern ideas circulating at the
beginning of this century--from "Wagnerianism" to Busoni's
ideas of a new tonality, from "Impressionism" to Schonberg's
twelve-tone ideas.
CHAPTER II
GENERAL BACKGROUND AND BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Organ Culture of the Early 1900's
Ottorino Respighi left no particular statement of his
affection or disdain for the organ. His contemporaries did.
Evidence is found not only in their literary works, but in
their musical compositions, in the fact that many wrote
serious organ pieces--composers such as R. Strauss (1864-
1949), Rheinberger (1839-1901), Reger (1877-1916), Bossi
(1861-1925), and the entire French group, consisting of
Saint-Sa'6ns (1835-1929), Widor (1844-1937), Gigout (1844-
1925), Satie (1866-1925), Tournemire (1870-1939), Vierne
(1870-1937), Roger-Ducasse (1873-1954), Mulet (1878-1967),
and Dupre (1886-1971).
It was not unusual for Puccini and Verdi to call upon
the organ for serious or religious moments in their opera-
tic works. The "modern" orchestra frequently included the
organ, perhaps the highest compliment the organ could be paid
by nineteenth- and early twentieth-century composers. Saint-
Saens' "Organ" Symphony No. 3 (1886), his last effort in
symphonic form, bears a dedication to Franz Liszt, and en-
joyed an early success, partly because of its orchestration.
The comPoser wrote the following explanatory statement in
the third person:
5
6
The composer thinks that the time has come forthe symphony to benefit by the progress of moderninstrumentation, and he therefore establishes hisorchestra as follows: three flutes, two oboes, oneEnglish horn, two clarinets, one bass clarinet, twobassoons, one double-bassoon, four horns, threetrumpets, three trombones, one tuba, three kettle-drums, organ, pianoforte (now for two hands and nowfor four), one triangle, a pair of cymbals, bassdrum, and the usual strings. 1
Saint-Saens was even to be outdone by Richard Strauss
in his orchestration of the Festival Prelude for organ and
orchestra, Opus 61 (1913), written for the dedication of
the new Konzerthaus in Vienna. R. Strauss' score calls for
.,.piccolo, four flutes, four oboes, heckelphone,E-flat clarinet, two C clarinets, two A clarinets,four bassoons, contrabassoon, eight horns, four trom-pets, plus (at the climax) six or, if possible, twelveadditional trumpets, four trombones, bass tuba, eighttimpani (with two players), cymbals, bass drum, fortyviolins, twenty-four violas, twenty cellos and twelvedouble basses.
Claude Debussy wrote on the subject of saving street
organs at about the same time that Respighi was composing
his pieces for organ (circa 1910).3 The fact that Debussy
defended the street organ is not as far-fetched as it may
1Saint-Sans, cited in program notes by Max deSchauensee, "Saint-Sa~ns: Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, Op.78, The Philadelphia Orchestra," Columbia Records ML 5869,1963.
2 Edwin H. Schloss, program notes for "Music for Organand Orchestra," Columbia Records, ML 5798, 1962.
3 Claude Debussy, Monsieur Croche the Dilettante Hater,in Three Classics in the Aesthetic of Music, (New York,1962), pp. 31-33.
7
seem, for Abdy Williams describes in 1903 the popularity
throughout Europe of barrel organs, Dutch clock organs, and
many other curious inventions (organs made of brass and
iron, powered by steam, or "church hand-organs," and the
immense "Apollonicon"--which could be played by six organ-
ists at once).4 Italian organs in the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth centuries saw their counterparts in organs
built by Joseph Serassi which very likely contained bells
and bass drums in addition to an array of colorful flute
and reed stops.
Another opinion echoed from across the Atlantic was
penned a few years later by Charles Ives. He lauded the
obscure
.. village organist who plays Lowell Masonand Bach with such affection that he would give hislife rather than lose them. The truth and courageof this organist, who risks his job, to fight theprejudice of the congregation, offset the reposeand large salary of a more celebrated choirmaster,who holds his job by lowering his ideals, who iswilling to let the organ smirk under an insipid,easy-sounding barcarolle for the offertory, who iswilling to please the sentimental ears of the musiccommittee (and its wives)--who is more willing toobserve these forms of politeness than simple de-votion, and for a service of a spiritual unity, thekind of thing that Mr. Bossitt, who owns the big-gest country place, the biggest bank, and biggest"House of God"' in town (for is it not the divinehandiwork of his own--pocketbook)--the kind of music
4C. F. Abdy Williams, The Story of the Organ, (NewYork, 1903), p. 177.
8
that this man, his wife, and his party (of property5right in pews) can't stand because it isn't "pretty. "
It is also known that the organ suffered during the
nineteenth century, particularly in Italy, because of the
dazzling glare of the operatic stage, which "so completely
distracted the attention of the Italian musicians and their
public that the organ, from the days of Frescobaldi until
the last decades of the nineteenth century, languished in
practically utter neglect."6 Historians unanimously agree
that organ playing in Italy had fallen into a low condition
by 1900. One such historian, Henry Lahee, writes: "There
are in Italy few good organs and few good organists." 7
Describing a performance by Guilmant in 1886 for an Italian
audience, Lahee mentions that Guilmant performed some of
Bach's fugues "to the great astonishment of the native
organists."S
In order to understand how the organ changed from the
beginning to the end of the nineteenth century we must
5 Charles Ives, Essays Before a Sonata, in ThreeClassics, p. 169.
6David Eric Berg, Fundamentals of Musical Art, Vol.IX of The Organ, Composers, and Literature, (New York, 1927),p. 62.
7Henry C. Lahee, The Organ and Its Masters, (Boston,1902 and 1927), p. 183.
8 Ibid, p. 184.
9
mention the "advances" of Abbe Vogler and the subsequent
torrent of changes in European organ building. George
Joseph Vogler (1749-1814), known as Abbe Vogler, who studied
in Bologna, Padua, and later in Rome, wrote, traveled, per-
formed, and generally effected a great influence on the
tonal ideas of the period. He was a student of Padre G. B.
Martini (1706-1784) and the teacher of Meyerbeer (1791-1864)
and Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826). His invention, the
"orchestrion" (exhibited in Amsterdam in 1789), was intended
to simplify the construction of the organ, so as to be able
to tour easily with it. Vogler did tour with his "orches-
trion" across Europe as an organ virtuoso, thereby causing
his invention to be well-known and to have a wide-spread
sensational effect. 9 "It had the power of crescendo and
dimenuendo, by means of swell shutters, and though its size
was so small that it could easily be carried from place to
place, it had four keyboards of more than five octaves and
a pedal clavier of thirty-nine notes." 1 0 Vogler reduced
space by making hybrid combinations to produce lower
octaves, such as a 16-foot and a 12-foot producing a 32-
foot sound, and by "disposing his pipes in regular scale
9Berg, Fundamentals, p. 88.
1 0Wtwilliams, Story, p. 185.
10
series, like the string of the pianoforte, and by simplify-
ing the connection between key and pipe . . .1?
Essentially, Vogler limited the number of large expen-
sive pipes, introduced free beating reeds, and cut down the
number of multi-rank mixtures. He began a trend which was
destructive and dangerous--the trend of reducing the number
of mixtures (and not only the number, but also the pitch
levels, which were lowered and softened) to increase the
number of 8-foot stops in number and in tone, to increase
wind pressures, and to pursue scaling systems which resulted
eventually in dull, heavy sounds.12 In 1885, a German or-
gan writer described these inventions and offered this
argument in defense of Vogler's ideas: "To make the organ
a perfect instrument a crescendo and decrescendo were
wanted," although the tone "could be rendered mellow to a
certain degree" by choice of registers.13 He further attri-
buted Vogler with having simplified the action, creating a
lighter touch, placing the bellows nearer the chest for a
more powerful tone, omitting the front pipes, creating
1Ibid., p. 186.
1Stephen E. Young, "The Organ Works of Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933)," unpublished doctoral dissertation,University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina,1968, pp. 19-20.
13 J. J. Seidel, The Organ and Its Construction, London,1885), p. 26.
11
hybrids, and experimenting with flue pipes. 14 Later, Seidel
described three kinds of "swells" as well as other "innova-
tions", advocated steady wind, "modern" orchestra pitch, the
use of several 8-foot stops to "'complete, strengthen, and
soften each other, "15 and supported the immediate abolishing
of old tuning systems and unequal temperaments. Other
theorists, such as TOpfer and Sorge, recorded and codified
the tonal scaling of pipes, so much had they become
standardized. What became known as "Normal Scale" consisted
of gravity and depth of tone in the lower registers, bright-
ening and becoming louder toward the top of the pipework.
Thus the top note when played on this type of instrument is
always clearly heard over all the others, even in large
chords. The organ music of the nineteenth century depended
on this one important fact.16
The changes did not stop there, however, for it was a
short step to the advent of the "orchestral" organ, which
became particularly popular in England. Not every organ
theorist agreed that the organ should "imitate" anything.
One passage of vigorous disapproval is found as early as
1903, once again in Abdy Williams' Story of the Organ:
14 Ibid., p. 15.
15 Ibid., pp. 170-171.
16 Robert A. Schuneman, Lecturer, Boston, June 22, 1976.
12
The modern concert-room organ usually differsfrom the church organ in being made more orchestralin its character: its solo stops are made to imi-tate in tone as far as possible the tone of the oboe,clarionet, bassoon, flute, etc . . .
The organ has been called the "King of Instru-ments," and with good reason. It stands apart fromall other instruments in its character; its peculiartone causes it to predominate whenever it is usedwith other instruments or with voices, while in itsfull strength it can easily overpower the largestorchestra. But these very features make it theworst imitator of other instruments; it stands alone,and refuses to submit to any attempt to force it toact the part of another character than its own. Thus,the stop called the "orchestral oboe" may be a per-fect imitation of the tone of an oboe, but it isabsolutely powerless to give the effect of an oboesolo played by human lips and lungs, directed byartistic intelligence; and the same is true of allother so-called "orchestral" stops.1 7
The outpouring continues with numerous examples of
oboes, clarinets, strings, drums, and full orchestra sounds
attempted on the organ, after which he adds: "To degrade
the king of instruments by causing it to humbly imitate,
or rather caricature, a neighbouring and friendly poten-
tate is an indignity to which it ought not to be submitted.18
In any case, in spite of the protests, English builders
took the lead during the last half of the nineteenth cen-
tury in attempting "improvements in the machinery" of the
organ, and their inventions were adopted by other countries.
17 Williams, Story, pp. 166-167.
18 Ibid., p. 168
13
Germany, however, was slow in accepting them. "Even on the
romantic German organs, which admittedly were in the great
majority from 1850 to 1920, orchestral stops were never so
popular as in England and America."19
The German builders have been very conservative,and have been left far behind in the race for improve-ment by the French, English, and Americans. Althoughthe Germans were early to adopt the pedal keyboard,they were left far behind in their adoption of the"swell-box" and their ideal organ was an instrumentsuitable for the proper performance of Bach's fugues.In Germany, too, the organ has been a church and nota concert instrument . . .20
But by 1903 Williams wrote::
.V . .Germany, though slow to accept [improve-ments] finds herself now obligated to do so. Notonly have German organ builders improved their reedstops, a department in which France has taken thelead, but they have, in the last decades of thenineteenth century, followed the practices of Frenchand English builders in making large and powerfulswell organs, and improving the swell boxes by mak-ing the wood thicker, by which means the sound isshut in, and more contrast obtained when the shut-ters are opened.21
Italy naturally followed suit in adopting "'all the
improvements invented by the most advanced nations;' these
consist for the most part of English inventions, such as
the tubular pneumatic action, hydraulic blowing, etc. ,22
19 Young, "Karg-Elert," p. 21.
2 0 Lahee, Masters, p. 138.
2 1 Williams, Story, p. 154.
22~Ibid. , p . 155.
14
By the late 1920's such statements as the following be-
came commonplace: "The organ is the most mechanical of
musical instruments, even more so than the much maligned
piano." 23 Many organists lost their sense of pride in the
organ art, as evidenced by Williams' expression of hope that
"The vulgar habit of 'illustrating the psalms' by causing
the birds to sing, the lions and the thunder to roar, is,
we hope, dying out, as is, probably, the accompanying
Gregorian chants by chromatic successions of diminished
sevenths. "24
A description of an Italian organ built in 1874 in a
church at San Ambrosio mentioned that it possessed twenty-
four half-stops on one manual (with a split keyboard),
wooden levers with which one pushed or pulled the stops,
and an octave of pedals built at such an angle that use of
the heel was impossible. The stops included a vox humana
with tremolo attached, bells, and flue pipes of which the
8-foot and 4-foot pipes were good in tone, "but like nearly
all Italian organs, directly one adds the higher stops, the
instrument becomes screamy.,25 This example is not isolated.
2 3 Berg, Fundamentals, p. 2.
24 Williams, Story, p. 204.
C. F. Abdy Williams, "Old Italian Church Organs,"Musical Times, LV, (May 1, 1914), p. 313.
15
It clearly shows the modernizing trend, but also exemplifies
no "orchestral" leanings. In Italy that movement came much
later and to a much smaller degree.
The major builders of the period were Walcker in
Germany (by 1870 the largest in the world), and Tamburini
in Italy--both of whom installed instruments all across
South America, especially in Brazil, as well as in Spain
and in their own countries. The Italian versions of the
German tonal ideal resulted in a proliferation of 8-foot
stops, but with a distinct difference: Italian organs re-
tained their clarity by cutting the mouths of the pipes
low enough, and by keeping the tin content high enough, to
produce and enhance many overtones. These pipes were most
frequently voiced lightly throughout.26
Other examples of Italian and German organs may be
found in the Appendix. They show clearly the trends of
organ building at the turn of this century. A study of
these concepts suggests reasons why the organ eventually
fell from grace.
The extension of harmonic experiments in theromantic period of the nineteenth century culminatedwith the lush chromaticism of Wagner . . . Organbuilders followed suit, and their products becamelarger and noisier than ever, intended to producean 'orchestral' sound . . .
26 Susan Tattershall, organ builder with Formentelliand Rieger, telephone conversation, May 23, 1979.
16
The strong romantic predilection for sheer weightof sound, as exemplified in the works of Berlioz orStrauss, may or may not have produced orchestral worksof brilliance . . . but it is invariably fatal inorgan music.2 7
Respighi's Heritage of an Organ Tradition
Ottorino Respighi was born in 1879 in Bologna, Italy,
into a family of sculptors on his mother's side and musi-
cians on his father's. His grandfather, Tommaso Respighi,
a childhood friend of Giuseppe Verdi, was an accomplished
violinist and Cathedral organist in a town called Borgo San
Donnino (now called Fidenza). He had also been organist at
Salso-maggiore. Tommaso's son, Giuseppe (Ottorino's father),
had an early and keen interest in music, but was constantly
denied formal lessons by his father. As soon as he moved
to Bologna, out of the watchful eye of his father, Giuseppe
took intensive piano lessons and became a respectable
amateur pianist. Giuseppe was an avowed admirer of Debussy
and Ravel, and at his deathbed requested the score of
Wagner's Die Walkiire "just to pass the time." 2 8
Ottorino was surrounded by music from an early age,
but as a child took little interest in it, much to his
father's disappointment. He began to study the violin at
2 7 Francis Routh, The Organ, (London, 1958), pp. 100-101.
28 Elsa Respighi, Ottorino Respighi, His Life Story,translated by Gwyn Morris, (London, 1962), p. 8.
17
the age of eight, and learned the rudiments of piano-playing
from his father--enough to be able to manage Schumann's
Symphonic Variations. "He always admitted that he had
never studied the piano and only played for fun. 'As a
matter of fact,' he added, 'I can't play scales and have
always been careful not to include any in the piano works
that I have had to perform myself.'"2 9
Respighi had a quick aptitude for languages, mastering
several at once, and showed the same facility for mastering
the technics of various musical instruments. In addition
to the violin (with which he made a concert career),
Respighi played the piano, the viola (playing it under the
direction of Arturo Toscanini and other famous conductors),
the viole d'amore (which he learned in a few days to show
up the one professed viole d'amore player in Italy, and to
please Martucci, who wanted to recreate a work faithfully
which called for a viole d'amore), and the harp (to silence
a rather elderly harpist who complained that one of his
passages was "absolutely unplayable"). 30 There is no refer-
ence to Respighi's ever having played an organ, but with
his facility at the keyboard and coordination in learning
new instruments and languages, he would have had no problem
292Ibid., p. 30.
30 Ibid., pp. 21-22.
--la* - MMUMOMMAKUM
18
in performing his own works, with the possible exception of
some of the fast scale passages.
In 1900 Respighi took a position for the Italian opera
season at the Imperial Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia.
With his fluent grasp of the Russian language, he profited
enormously by studying for five months with Rimsky-Korsakov
(1844-1908), and described his lessons as "vitally impor-
tant.,,31 Respighi wrote and orchestrated his Prelude,
Chorale, and Fugue (all three typical organ forms) under
Rimsky-Korsakov's guidance, and took his diploma in compo-
sition in 1901 at Bologna with this work. In the fall of
1902, Respighi was again engaged in Russia as first violin-
ist at the St. Petersburg Opera House, and later at the
Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, remaining nine months. He was
known to have spoken perfect Russian and to have taken an
active part in the Russian musical scene.
In addition to the Russian influence, Respighi spent
a year in Berlin, beginning in the fall of 1908, and,
although his biographers have failed to mention it, the
vibrant organ culture there must have had its effect. It
was either there or just after returning to Italy that
Respighi composed his Three Preludes for organ. It was
also in Berlin that his early transcription of Monteverdi's
31 Ibid., p. 15.
w, lo im, -0. Aww
19
Lamento di Arianna was performed by the Berlin Philharmonic,
its popularity immediately placing him amongst a "galaxy of
stars."32 Because of this enthusiastic reception, Respighi,
while still in Berlin, made more transcriptions of seven-
teenth- and eighteenth-century pieces, including his famous
one of the Vitali Ciaccona, which met with great success,
and the Bach Suite in E Minor, both pieces for violin and
organ.
In spite of the fact that most dictionaries and music
history books state that Respighi studied with Max Bruch
during this time, it is not so. "Ottorino used to say that
once or twice he showed Bruch some of his work and at first
he thought of having lessons from him, but had never done
so because he felt too remote, spiritually, from the
professor." 33
In the biography by Rensis, however, we find that it
was in 1902 that Respighi first visited Berlin with the in-
tention of entering Max Bruch's course, but that in reality
he went only a few times, even though he remained in
Berlin quite a long while. It seems that Respighi attended
about ten classes but declared soon thereafter in an inter-
view that Bruch's teaching had no influence on him.3 4
32 Ibid., p. 24.
Ibid., p. 25.
34 Rafaello de Rensis, Ottorino Respighi, (Torino, 1935),p. 6.
20
It was also in Berlin that Respighi frequented the
beautiful home of Ferruccio Busoni, who was in the habit of
inviting many of his friends twice a week for lengthy dis-
cussions about music. Respighi did not respond well to
what he heard: to Busoni's ideas of breaking up the scale
into smaller intervals, creating new tonalities. It was
Busoni's contention that "A kaleidoscopic blending and
interchanging of twelve semitones within the three-mirror
tube of Taste, Emotion, and Intention--the essential feature
of the harmony of today . . . for all signs presage a revo-
lution, and a next step toward that 'eternal harmony.'"3 5
Respighi did not believe the old one to be so totally
exhausted that it could not still be expressive in the hands
of a creative artist who accepted the limits of the system.
Between the two minds was more than a clash of ideas,
as their temperaments were also totally opposed to one
another. Busoni, writing of a south European, warns him
to be "more or less on his guard about German music, because
while spoiling his taste anew, it undermines his health."3 6
35 Ferruccio Busoni, Sketch of a New Esthetic, (NewYork, 1911), translated by Th. Baker, in Three Classics inthe Aesthetic of Music, (New York, 1962), p. 93.
36 Ibid., p. 96.
21
Respighi, in turn, held great disdain for formulated
theories and systems, explaining, "How many abortive master-
pieces that have never seen the light of day, rest in the
twilight limbo of systems and 'pseudo-schools' publicized
in high-flown literary manifestos by many present-day
composers!"3 7 To further prove the point, on the 17th of
December, 1932, ten Italian composers, of whom Respighi was
one, issued the following manifesto, which appeared in the
New York Times on January 7, 1933, deploring the cerebrality
of music:
We take the stand against this art which cannothave and does not possess any human content and tendsto be only a mechanical experiment and a cerebralconundrum. In the musical world today there reignsthe biblical Babel. For twenty years the most di-verse and disparate trends have been consolidatedin an uninterrupted revolutionary chaos . . . Alogical connection must bind the past with the future,and the romanticism of yesterday must become the ro-manticism of tomorrow.3 8
Perhaps already too much has been made of the foreign
influences on Respighi. As a student of the Liceo Musicale
in Bologna, he received a classical education in harmony,
counterpoint, and fugue, and in composition, under Luigi
Torchi, and later Giuseppe Martucci. 3 9
E. Respighi, His Life, p. 26.
38 New York Times, January 7, 1933, cited in The Inter-national Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, 9th edition,Oscar Thompson, editor, Robert Sabin, editor of 9th edition,(New York, 1964).
22
Among his close associates and good friends were men of
letters such as Piero Misciatelli, "a bibliographer," a keen
connoisseur of rare books, and S. A. Luciani, art critic,
writer, and musician, with whom Respighi wrote a history
of music in 1925 entitled, Orpheus.
It is in this carefully composed book that we discover
conclusively Respighi's wide knowledge of the organ and its
literature. After defining musical terms and discussing
the component parts of music, the authors present a short
history of music, which devotes entire chapters to "Oriental
Music," "Greek-Roman Music," "Gregorian Chant," "Troubadors
and Trouveres," "Polyphony and the Vocal World," "Polyphony
and the Instrumental World," "The Symphony," "Beethoven,"
"National Music," "The Dramatic Symphony and Symphonic
Poem," and "Current Trends." 4 1
Under the chapter on instrumental music, organ is the
first heading, followed by harpsichord, other instruments,
and a discussion of opera and oratorio. The information
given is thorough and correct, touching on such composers
as Leonin, Perotin, Landini, Paumann, Willaert, Cabezon (the
"Spanish Bach"), Frescobaldi (the "great" organ composer),
E. Respighi, His Life, p. 37.
4 1 Ottorino Respighi and S. A. Luciana, Orpheus,(Firenze, 1925), 352 pages.
ill,"",,', "I'll M*W.06461 I -11, -I- .-,--- ---- -
23
Sweelinck, Pachelbel, Nivers, Grigny, and Bach, among others.
A discussion of the hydraulis, early manuscripts (Roberts-
bridge Codex, Ilboy), publications such as Attaignant,
forms of compositions (the Venetian school), developments
in organ building, and the decline of the instrument
("decadence") in Catholic countries (but not where the pro-
testant countries developed the chorale) shows an amazingly
perceptive grasp of the history of the organ.4 2
Italy was not totally devoid of good organists at the
turn of the century. Filippo Capocci (1840-1911), organist
at St. John Lateran in Rome, was reputed to have been a
brilliant performer. Giuseppe Terrabugio, a pupil of Rhein-
berger's, was an active reformist in church music at the
time, and Enrico Bossi (1861-1925) authored a new school
of modern organ playing in Italy. 4 3
In 1921 Respighi and his wife visited Vienna, where
they met Richard Strauss, who at the age of 58 was then at
the height of his career. It is reported that the Respighi's
were disappointed in the man, whose musicianship Ottorino
had always so greatly admired.4 4 In fact, Respighi felt
42 Ibid., pp. 233-239.
4 3 Berg, Fundamentals, p. 62.
44 E. Respighi, His Life, p. 85.
24
every measure of his own music to have been directly in-
fluenced by Strauss' ideas of color and orchestration, his
harmonic language, and his contrapuntal techniques.
Another composer whose music greatly influenced
Respighi was Camille Saint-Saens, who at the age of 84
came to Rome in 1917 to conduct a program of his own works.
Respighi was then Professor of Composition at the Saint
Cecilia Academy in Rome, and the two composers met.
Both Strauss and Saint-Saens had considered and uti-
lized the organ in their symphonic works, and the success
of each probably had a lasting effect on Respighi. It is
not unusual then that Respighi's orchestrations often in-
clude the organ. In addition to the organ, he frequently
called upon the piano (for two or four hands), the mandolin,
the harpsichord, celestas, bells, and numerous other non-
traditional instruments. In this Respighi was not abso-
lutely new, for the precedent had already been set.4 5
From all these disparate elements in his heritage we
can suppose that Respighi's knowledge of the organ and its
literatur-e was extensive. He was most certainly influenced
by his family heritage (and we can imagine trips to visit
his grandfather, during which he may have accompanied
45 Rensis, Respighi, p. 28.
25
Tommaso to the Cathedral), as well as by his classical train-
ing; his travels to Russia as well as the months he spent in
Berlin (There we are left to assume that he attended reci-
tals by Max Reger or students of Joseph Rheinberger, and at
least heard the prevailing organ styles of composition.); his
friendships with scholars, composers, musicologists, and
historians, as well as his own research for his account of
music history, Orpheus.4 6
4 6 Ibid., p. 35.
CHAPTER III
MUSIC FOR ORGAN
Respighi's output for the organ consists of the Three
Preludes for organ solo, a Suite2 in G Major for strings
and organ, two transcriptions (the Vitali Ciaccona,3 and a
so-called Suite4 by Bach), both for violin and organ, and
various organ parts in the symphonic poems, operas, and
orchestral works.
Orchestral Works Using Organ
Respighi's more frequent and well-known use of the
organ is in such works as his famous Pines of Rome, written
in 1924. The organ part enters only in the second portion
("Pine-Trees Near a Catacomb"), which Respighi described in
the following manner: "We see the shades of the pine-trees
o. Respighi, Tre Preludi per organo ("Preludio in sib.,""Preludio in la magg.," "Preludio in re min."), EdizioniBongiovanni (Bologna, 1921).
2Ottorino Respighi, Suite in sol maggiore, per archi eorgano, Edizioni Bangiovanni (Bologna, 1957).
30. Respighi, Ciaccone di Tomaso Vitali, trascritta perviolino, archi e organo, Edizioni Schmidl (Trieste, 1909).
4 0. Respighi, Suite in mi min. (o Sonata) di G. S. Bach,trascritta per violino, archi e organo, Edizioni Schmidl(Trieste, 1909).
26
27
fringing the entrance to a catacomb. From the depth rises
a sound of mournful psalmsinging, floating through the air
like a solemn hymn, and gradually and mysteriously
dispersing."5
It is fitting that the organ enters at the climax of
this movement, reinforcing the mournful psalmsinging by
use of the pedal alone (at 32-foot, 16-foot, and 8-foot
pitch) until its decrescendo and dispersal at the end of
the movement. The organ is called upon to make a rapid but
gradual decrescendo from forte to piano in the space of
one measure.
Another similar treatment of the organ is found in the
Roman Festivals of 1928. This time the organ enters in the
first movement ("Circenses"), depicting the strains of a
religious song which continues unperturbed through wild
chaos, finally conquering all before being lost in the
tumult. The part is short (ten measures) but effective,
consisting of a minor third (C-eb) in the lowest register
of the pedal-board, marked fortissimo, superseded by a
B-Major chord, marked even louder in the manuals.
In the second movement ("The Jubilee") the organ is
used to celebrate the approach to the holy city, Rome, by
5 Ottorino Respighi, Pini di Roma, "Pini Presso unaCatacomba," (Milano, 1925).
28
sustaining a C-Major chord which builds to a climax culmin-
ating in the old hymn, "Christ is Arisen" ("Christ Ist
Erstanden"). At this point Respighi calls for the gran
ripieno (full principals and open flues, or plein jeu) for
the playing of the hymn. The part ends with chords gradual-
ly ascending, becoming softer and softer, until indications
of a 4-foot and then 2-foot end the section.
In the fourth movement ("The Epiphany") the organ has
its most characteristic part, that of representing itself,
producing rustic airs from the then-popular barrel organ,
such as one would hear at a circus. Respighi calls for
8-foot and 4-foot stops in the manual with 16-foot and 8-
foot stops in the pedal. Crescendo markings are not
uncommon in all three of the organ parts.
The earliest symphonic poem by Respighi, The Fountains
of Rome, penned in 1916, and considered by him to be his
first "distinctive" work,6 asks for organ ("ad libitum")
in the third section ("The Fountain of Trevi at Midday")
in order to represent the solemn theme of a processional.
The part is not substantial, consisting of pedal tones,
long sustained chords, and doubled bass lines. However,
the score calls for the organ to enter at fortissimo
and increase to "FFF" before a long diminuendo reduces
the part texturally and tonally to "ppp". No stops or
6 RsE. Relspighi, His Life, p. 29.
.AAAo - - 96M, - I I 1 11 1----.- -- ---- - -- "Wwmm.*W.U --------------------
29
registers are indicated. It is Respighi's most obvious use
of organ for color, with the exception of the Pines score.
One of the most logical places to look for a substan-
tial organ part, because of the organ's long and rich
history in Italy during the Renaissance and Baroque eras,
would seem to be in the three sets of Ancient Airs and
Dances of 1920, 1923, 1932 respectively. Oddly enough,
Respighi has chosen to use the harpsichord in the first two
sets, with no keyboard instrument in the third. This
choice gives us an obvious clue about the types of organs
which were available to Respighi, which he understood and
used; and of course about the kinds of organs which were
not available, or which he chose not to use. Respighi wrote
for the organ of his day, and not for the older style Italian
or German instrument.
In 1925 Respighi made an orchestral arrangement of his
three piano preludes on Gregorian melodies, adding a fourth
piece to the set and naming them Church Windows. The pieces
were conceived independently, each movement bearing no re-
lation to the others, contrasting with the symphonic poems,
which were conceived as a whole.7 In these pieces the
treatment of the organ is similar to that in the symphonic
Ibid., p. 95.
30
poems, except in the fourth movement, in which an impressive
organ solo appears in the form of a fantasia on the Gloria
from the Gregorian Mass of the Angels, No. 8, describing
St. Gregory "the Great." The earlier passages for the
organ are more restrained, the first representing "War in
Heaven," being set in D minor, calling for 32-foot, 16-foot,
8-foot, and 4-foot stops. Another short section using
organ, found in Part Two, refers to St. Michael and the
Archangel.8 Only in the fourth movement of this work does
Respighi's treatment of the organ break away from the roll
of color and enter the realm of the virtuosic solo.
All of these works were written between 1916 and 1928.
They represent Respighi's mature and final consideration
of the organ. The solo works, the transcriptions, and the
Suite came ten years earlier when Respighi was still a
young student formulating his musical language.
The Suite in G Major for strings and organ (Notice
the order.) was premiered in 1905 at Trento, but as an early
work remained unpublished until well after the composer's
death. It was during this time, however, in 1905, that
Respighi met the publisher Bongiovanni, who published many
of Respighi's early works. Another reference to the work
8Klaus G. Roy, "Vetrate di Chiesa (1926), Four Symphon-ic Impressions," Cleveland Orchestra Program Notes, December19-21, 1974, p. 533.
Moll, 0(0494""OINII
31
is made by Elsa Respighi, who relates that the Suite was
included in a concert which took place on the sixth of
February, 1914, at the Saint Cecilia Academy, along with
the lyric poem Aretusa and three songs. She refers to the
work as a Suite all' antica for organ and strings (the
order reversed).9
The Suite contains four movements ("Preludio," "Ar ia,"
"Pastorale," and "Cantico") and lasts approximately 25
minutes. The composer asks for a rather large string
orchestra, considering that it is scored for string basses
(plural) as well as cellos, violas, and the first and
second violins, often dividing these parts into eight or
nine voices.
In the "Preludio" the organ plays often by itself in
alteration with the strings. The movement is contrapun-
tally conceived, and Respighi reserved the thick textures
for the final long chords, which contrast with the strings'
virtuosic scale passages. Once again the organ is treated
independently in the "Aria," but joins the strings in
doubling some of the melodic content. In the "Pastorale"
the organ is saved for moments of dramatic pause in which
the strings rest. It is perhaps the simplest of all the
movements, yet also the most effective, showing Respighi's
9E. Respighi, His Life, p. 39.
32
skill in orchestrating at the age of twenty-six. The
"Cantico" is the least satisfying movement technically
speaking. Its cumbersome, weighty chords and its lack of
variety in doubling the string score (even if the organ and
string parts are not always played together) seem disappoint-
ing. On the other hand, in spite of its lack of ingenuity,
the movement typifies perfectly the Romantic ideal of weight
and gravity.
Since the Suite remained unpublished during Respighi's
lifetime, one wonders if he would have favored the atten-
tion to and publication of such an early work. The same
question was put to his widow in 1963 when an early violin
concerto, dating from about the same time as the Suite,
was revived in the United States. Elsa Respighi pointed
out that Ottorino's studies in those early years, of seven-
teenth- and eighteenth- century Italian compositions,
certainly influenced his concerto, and that there were
many works that her husband did not want published, but
that the concerto was not one of them. "It's just not one
of his more mature works," she said from their Roman home.10
One might hope that these words concerning the publication
of his early works also apply to the Suite in G.
10 "Violin Concerto, Respighi," Musical America, LXXXIII,(December, 1963), p. 60.
,-6a -- .- I - - 1-1. 1 --- '00-Ml 10,10i -- mww .-- --- ---
33
Works for Solo Organ
The Tre Pezzi (Three Preludes) were written in 1910,
or at least the publisher has supplied that date. They
are not mentioned in either of the biographies, except to
appear in Rensis' "List of Works."
Perhaps they were mentioned in Elsa Respighi's original
edition in Italian, which was severely reduced and shortened
to the point of omitting the "manifesto") by the translator,
Gwyn Morris. This criticism was leveled by many of the
reviewers who had access to both volumes, but all of them
felt that the translation was otherwise accurate and faith-
ful to the spirit of the original.
The most often played, and therefore the most well-
known of the Three Preludes is the one in D Minor. It is
a freely composed piece based on a single, lyrical melody
and a short motive. The piece contains no registration in-
dications, but is adequately treated with dynamic markings,
as in the symphonic poems. The written indications
"crescendo" and "diminuendo" appear several times and manual
changes appear in Roman numerals (I and II only), suggest-
ing that Respighi wrote the piece for a two manual romantic
organ, capable of a wide dynamic range, able to be built-
up gradually and imperceptibly. Since the dynamics of the
piece are expansive, it seems evident that Respighi would
have used a third manual if he had had one.
34
The other two preludes were inspired by chorales of
Bach--the Prelude in Bb on "In dich hab' ich gehoffet,
Herr," as it appears in the same key at the end of Cantata
No. 52, and the Prelude in A Minor on "Ich hab' mein'
Sach' Gott heimgestellt," S. 351, transposed from the
original key of G minor. There the similarities end.
The Prelude in Bb presents the chorale in half-notes
and quarter-notes, reharmonized by Respighi with long ca-
dential formulas at the ends of each phrase. At the
conclusion of the chorale presentation the last note
elides into a second variation with the introduction of
eighth-note motives. A long bridge develops the motivic
material from the second variation and a quick crescendo
leads to the third and final variation with the chorale
in the pedal, maintaining the contrapunal texture in the
manuals, and thereby uniting the motive with the chorale.
Again the dynamic contrasts are gradual (sometimes
effected slowly, sometimes quickly), demanding a wide
range (pp to FFF). Of the three preludes, this is the
most awkward and cumbersome, due partly to the five-voice
texture, and partly to the reiteration of tied and common
notes. No manual changes are indicated. In spite of
that, the tied and common note problem could be solved by
separating the hands on two different manuals, were it not
for the reaches, which would then be too wide, and for
"NaLW-Aw--l- -.-- TowwA*wAkw%*- I -- - -,
35
the texture itself, obviously meant to be played on one
keyboard.
In her reminiscenses, Elsa Respighi tells of submitting
her compositions to Respighi while a student in his class.
In this passage she tells of his care in writing music that
could be easily executed:
Whenever one of us wrote an impossible passagefor a certain instrument, the Maestro would giveus a hilariously funny impression of the unfortunateplayer, demonstrating the position of the fingerson the instrument and his face as he tried to exe-cute the passage. The 'performance' illustratedthe point so clearly and comically that it wasimpossible to forget it.11
Other composers held the opposite view. Charles Ives
wrote:
The instrument! -- there is the perennialdifficulty--there is music's limitations. Whymust the scarecrow of the keyboard--the tyrantin terms of the mechanism (be it Caruso of aJew's-harp) stare into every measure? Is itthe composer's fault that man has only tenfingers?12
From Respighi's own attention to this detail, we
might assume that he either did not have the occasion to
try it at the organ, or that he did not find this piece
awkward. Otherwise, he probably would have corrected it.
A pleasant surprise is the Prelude in A Minor. In it
Respighi asks for dynamic changes, as in the others, but
1E. Respighi, His Life, p. 47.
12 Ives, Essays, p. 168.
36
also indicates the registers of certain passages. It is
the simplest of the three and perhaps the most gratifying
both to hear and to play. Its gentle 12/8 rhythm is clearly
marked with phrasings which demand legato playing of large
leaps and the connecting of the third note in a triplet to
the first two notes in the second triplet. The other pre-
ludes contain large, sweeping phrase marks, but in the A
Minor Prelude the slurs are short, not necessarily the way
a modern day player would group the notes. The chorale is
presented in long lines, with the customary--at least at
the turn of the century--romantic "pauses" at the ends of
the phrases.
Next, florid scale passages are introduced which fit
the keyboard beautifully. The expected crescendo is found
in the middle of this piece, attained rapidly, lasting only
half a measure, and dying away just as quickly. This is
the only piece with "ppp" marked in it.
In the pedal the composer asks for 8-foot (sometimes
coupled to the manual "unione al man:!") and at other times
for 16-foot and 8-foot stops. It is impossible to know if
he meant 8-foot combinations or an 8-foot solo. Since none
of the pieces indicate solo stops (which most certainly
would have been done on an "orchestral" type instrument),
we may assume that a soft combination of 8-foot stops would
have been Respighi's choice.
37
We know from Orpheus, Respighi's attitude toward inter-
preters and their interpretations:
The Conservatories should accustom their pupilsto perform music without any expression marks what-soever so that only careful analysis of the pieceand its inherent musical mood serve to convey theright tempo and musical feeling of the melody, ona basis of profound sensibility and not of cere-bral considerations . . . The performer is in away the composer's collaborator as well as areproducer. But we must be quite clear and dis-criminating about the liberty involved, since forevery piece of music, with or without marks, thereis an ideal interpretation in the Platonic senseof the word . . . Then the same piece can be playedin different ways right from the statement of thefirst subject. In conclusion, there can be var-ious different performances of the same work butthey all combine to form the ideal image of thecomposer's intention, an image of the composer'sintention, an image which he could only fix imper-fectly and express partially.13
In discussions with Elsa, Respighi held that a performer
could sometimes enhance a work and obtain results unfore-
seen by the composer himself, even if he or she did not
play exactly as it was written. In this regard, he hesi-
tated to take the "conviction" out of a student's perform-
ance by suggesting tempos or accelerandos, for instance,
which the student did not feel.
A great deal has been written on this subject by
composers of the period. One statement which applies not
only to the question of interpretation, but transcription
13 Luciani and Respighi, Orpheus, cited in E. Respighi,His Life, p. 38.
A.W - q I, W.5millow"Oo -- l------ I OMMM -NOMI WOMM"Ummmm .- M. -W, -1-1, 11 - I- - -- l-1--l-, - -
38
as well, was made by Busoni. The two composers surely ex-
changed many ideas on these subjects, although they were
not always necessarily in sympathy with each other. The
following discerning statement represents the widely held
views of Busoni, Respighi, and many of their contemporaries.
The audible presentation, the "performance," ofmusic, its emotional interpretation, derives fromthose free heights whence descended the Art itself.Where the art is threatened by earthliness, it isthe part of interpretation to raise it and reendowit with its primordial essence.
Notation, the writing out of compositions, isprimarily an ingenious expedient for catching aninspiration, with the purpose of exploiting itlater. But notation is to improvisation as theportrait to the living model . . . Great artistsplay their own works differently at each repeti-tion, remodel them on the spur of the moment,accelerate and retard, in a way which they couldnot indicate by signs--and always according tothe given conditions of that "eternal harmony." .
Notation (writing down) brings up the subjectof Transcription, nowadays a term much misunderstood,almost discreditable . . . Every notation is, in it-self, the transcription of an abstract idea. Theinstant the pen seizes it, the idea loses itsoriginal form. That is an Arrangement of the original. . . a transcription does not destroy the archetype,which is, therefore, not lost through transcription.
Again, the performance of a work is also atranscription, and still, whatever liberties it maytake, it can never annihilate the original . . .
Strangely enough, the Variation-Form is highlyesteemed by the Worshippers of the Letter. That issingular; for the variation-for--when built up on aborrowed theme--produces a whole series of "arrange-ments" which, besides, are least respectful whenmost ingenious.
So the arrangement is not good, because itvaries the original; and the variation is good,although it "arranges" the original.14
14 Busoni, Sketch, pp. 84-86.
.ab.mmoo I , -- --- - .11 awAufw -w - m - --. 1-1.1-1- -. I I - .- I 11 .
39
Transcriptions
In the preceding quotation, Busoni beautifully sums up
the attitude of his time toward transcriptions. Respighi
shared these ideas, working just as hard, or harder, on his
many transcriptions as on his freely composed music--from
his elaborate orchestration/transcription of Monteverdi's
Orfeo to his transcription of Bach's Passacaglia in C Minor
for organ. Of his version of Orfeo Respighi writes that
he has seen it as "a poetical, not an archaeological, work
. . .I have not tried to imitate Monteverdi's instrumenta-
tion, but I have sought to obtain the colour that he
wanted."15
Orfeo was given at La Scala in 1935 and met with imme-
diate success. His free transcription, however, was not
without its critics. Even recently, a critic who reviewed
and compared all of the Orfeo versions described Respighi's
version as the
. . . most outrageous of them all, remarkablyless for what he has removed than for what he hasinserted. He creates elaborate stage directions,structural extensions and rearrangements whichare comparatively mild, but in his musical dis-tortions Respighi exceeds all others.1 6
Respighi added richly scored diminished chords, trans-
posed and reallocated parts, and varied recurring
E. Respighi, His Life, p. 152.
16 Jane Glover, "The Metamorphosis of Orfeo," MusicalTimes, (February, 1975), p. 135.
40
ritardandos so that they were never played the same way
twice. Jane Glover found this transcription to be highly
elaborate, spectacular, but not an opera of 1609.
In response to such criticisms Respighi replied in a
magazine (Mutina) in May of 1935:
. . . there is an obvious need for an interpre-tive transcription for Orfeo and Monteverdi's otheroperas especially if they are presented in thetheater. But this apparently means nothing to somecritics . . . who compare my realisation of Orfeoto a modern version of--for instance--the Madonnadella seggiola. The gentleman in question forgetsthat you can still see Raphael's painting more orless as it was 400 years ago, whereas it is abso-lutely impossible to "hear" Monteverdi's operafrom what can be found in the 1609 or 1615 editions.' 7
Respighi did not always stray from the original score
as much as he did in Orfeo, although in accordance with
turn of the century rhetoric and ideals Respighi captured
the essence and spirit of Monteverdi's music.
In addition to transcribing works for organ, Respighi
also transcribed works from organ or harpsichord originals
to orchestra or piano. One such is the great organ
Passacaglia in C Minor, S, 582, by Bach. The orchestrated
version uses organ pedal at the beginning and end of the
Passacaglia and again at the conclusion of the fugue (in
double pedal notes). Respighi worked at it as if possessed
17 E. Respighi, His Life, p. 152.
41
and kept on saying, "It's like a cathedral built exclusively
of sound--a divinely perfect piece of architecture. "18 It
is masterfully orchestrated, faithful to the original in its
text and texture, complete with articulations and crescendos
through a kind of terraced dynamics.
Three transcriptions often listed for organ are really
for piano, transcribed by Respighi from the organ or harpsi-
chord originals by Frescobaldi: a Preludio e Fuga, Toccata
e Fuga, and a Passacaglia.19 They would make an interesting
study, although they are not directly related to the subject.
We have already mentioned Respighi's many transcrip-
tions of seventeenth and eighteenth century compositions by
such composers as Locatelli, Tartini, Veracini, Valentina,
Vivaldi, and Porpora. He set two of the transcriptions for
violin and organ (although they are frequently listed for
violin, strings, and organ). They are Vitali's famous
Ciaccona and Bach's Suite in E Minor (originally a sonata
from the St. Matthew Passion). Little need be said of the
Suite, since it adheres closely to the original.
However, the Vitali piece has been under a great deal
of scrutiny in recent years. [See footnote 20] No matter
18 Ibid., p. 125.
190. Respighi, Preludio e Fuga, Toccata e Fuga in laminore, and Passacaglia, transcriptions from Frescobaldi,(Milano, 1918).
42
who was the real author of the Ciaccona, Respighi may have
familiar with the famous edition made by the Belgian con-
ductor Leopold Charlier, who in turn had been inspired by
Ferdinand David's revival and publication of it in 1867.
Respighi probably became familiar with the David score
while in Berlin in 1908 and 1909. Because of the success
of Monteverdi's Lamento which he transcribed, "Respighi
made more transcriptions, the most important of which was
Vitali's Ciaconna played with great success by the violinist
Arrigo Serato in Germany and Italy."2 Respighi's version
is very similar to David's, with the exception that it comes
out a few variations shorter, and the accompaniment is
written for the organ. Claude Debussy noted that "it is
admittedly less dangerous to preach Palestrina to the
crowds than the Gospel to savages; yet one may meet with
the same hostility--the difference is only in the penalty:
in the one case it is scalping, in the other yawning.,,22
Respighi's transcriptions constituted a workable answer to
that problem by pleasing the emotions of his public.
20 For a thorough discussion of the authorship of thispiece: Diethard Hellman, Preface to the Barenreiter edition,Tommaso Vitali, Chaconne in G Minor, (Kassel, 1966).
E. Respighi, His Life, p. 24.
22 Debussy, M. Croche, p. 35.
43
Points of Analysis
Respighi's harmonic language shown in the organ pieces
is grounded in the traditional harmonic techniques of the
nineteenth-century. New keys are properly introduced by
their dominant seventh chords, the harmonic successions are
logical, dissonance being employed solely for color, and
the writing proceeds with the traditional tonal logic of
the tertian system of harmony. One finds little chromati-
cism except for color or embellishment of certain chords,
as one might expect from Respighi. In fact, when performed
the works are often mistaken for works by Reger. in these
pieces the key is established very quickly, using straight-
forward diatonic harmonization, followed by carefully
prepared modulations.
There is no hint that Respighi was anything but a
nineteenth-century post-romantic composer, yet Respighi did
not seek new forms or theories, but cultivated essentially
classical architectural clarity. He openly stated that he
wanted to restore opera to its origins, liberating it from
the influence of Wagner's music-drama.23 He cherished
fluent, expressive recitative, and "closed forms," and
thorough examination of his entire output shows no sign of
impressionism.
23 eH,E . Respighi, His 'Life, p. 147.
44
Respighi's music is too much rooted in tradition andshows no evidences of the tonal concept of the im-pressionists, If critics and historians still wishto insist that Respighi's art is impressionist, thenelements other than the concept of tonality are partof the "sound" of impressionism . . . Though he mayhave been attracted to French impressionism, orinterested in Russian scores, at no time in hiswriting are there evidences of his employing theimpressionist concept of tonality. 2 4
Not only the organ works, but Respighi's other compositions
reflect Morrison's findings.
A contemporary of Respighi's, writing in La Revue
Musicale in 1933, described his music as direct, honest,
and simple, as were the ancients', with the taste for
line as antidote to the dangerous approximations of impres-
sionism. "He discovers an archaic world of bone and nerves,
and opposes this other sonorous world of flesh and cells,
that of Baroque impressionism.,25
24 Donald N. Morrison, "Influence of ImpressionistTonality on Selected Works of Delius, Griffes, Falla, andRespighi," unpublished doctoral dissertation, IndianaUniversity, Bloomington, Indiana (1960), pp. 130, 151-152.
2 5 Massimo Mila, "Ottorino Respighi," La Revue Musi-cale, XIV, (April, 1933), pp. 256-257.
CHAPTER IV
SUMMARY
We have seen that organs at the turn of this century
were developing rapidly toward the "orchestral" concept of
organ design. Organs which could imperceptibly increase
and decrease in volume (whether with the aid of swell shut-
ters, the pulling on and off of stops, or by some other
machinal means, such as a rollschweller or crescendo pedal)
became more and more the fashion, even though in Germany
and in Italy the trends appeared late. Along with the
increase in the size of orchestras, organs increased in
size, necessarily weakening the character of a single stop,
so that an organist could use groups of stops more effec-
tively than single stops. The individuality of separate
ranks was thereby restricted in order to blend more easily
with the whole ensemble. On the other hand, solo stops,
some of enormous scale, began to imitate individual orches-
tral sounds.
Respighi's works can be played most effectively on
this kind of organ. However, not once does he ask for a
solo stop, suggesting that the organs with which he was
most familiar were not of the orchestral type, although
45
46
they certainly must have had the capability of a wide dynam-
ic range, quick, gradual crescendos and decrescendos, as
well as more than their share of foundation stops. His re-
quest for a "gran ripieno" further suggests that organs at
his disposal still had high-pitched stops (such as our
mixtures and mutations) and a full range of principals.
Demands for 32-foot stops are not uncommon in Respighi's
scores.
It is probable that Respighi's vast knowledge of organ
literature, his classical training, his interest in music
history, his family heritage, his associations with other
composers, and his travels to Russia and Berlin stimulated
his interest in the organ, enough to write the three solo
works, the Suite for strings and organ, and to set two of
his transcriptions for organ. All of this activity was
accomplished between the years of 1905 and 1910, precisely
the years in which he made his various formative trips
across the Alps.
Concurrently, the orchestral movement afoot in organ
circles produced a loss of respect for the instrument by
its players and, more important, by its composers. By 1910
the "orchestral movement" had taken hold in Italy with the
immense overblown organs of builders such as Tamburini, who
provided pre-set pistons which ranged from "p" to "FF,." as
loom fm a OWN ko Irmo'OVA WA
47
well as swell boxes, and crescendo devices. Because of these
innovations it became unnecessary to indicate stop changes.
Only dynamic changes (such as in Respighi's music) were
needed.
Conclusions
If Respighi was not an innovator, he was at least
creative in his use of the organ in his orchestral works.
Excepting the fourth movement of Vetrate, the organ was
used primarily for color by adding depth, body, and novelty
to the ever-growing orchestra. Respighi's interest in the
sound of the orchestra was paramount, directly influenced
by Richard Strauss' works. Respighi paid great attention
to the smallest detail in his orchestrations, which were
varied, delicate, and precise. Why did this interest in
color and sonority not result in similar treatment of the
organ in his music? After all, the organ possesses, at
least potentially, the capability of a flower garden of
sound, its varieties endless.
The answer is suggested already in the description of
the late romantic/orchestral organ. Its stops had lost
their individuality, and they blended together in such a
way that no particular color was distinguished. The thought
is not that Respighi's music, or the music of any other
composer caused the decline, but rather that the direction
48
of organ-building in its search for modernity, machinery,
and the industrial age, lost its identify, its characteris-
tic personality and color, and lost in fact the very thing
it was trying to achieve--its autonomy.
Respighi and his contemporaries did not turn a deaf
ear to the populace. If his transcriptions prove one point,
it is that Respighi was eager to capture the spirit of
older music, not only to render it successful to his imme-
diate critical public, but to give it new life, new rele-
vancy in a change frame of reference, His choice of
organ accompaniments was logical (after all, Vitali and
Bach had also employed the organ). What was different at
the turn of the century was the ease with which composers
transcribed from one medium to another without any fanfare--
organ works to the orchestra, orchestral works to the organ.
It constituted part of that same spirit of compassion for
the public, the same striving to catch the elusive essence
of a given piece of music.
So then, if Respighi was somewhat reactionary (although
innovative and imaginative in his use of timbra and pitch
relationships), and his immature organ works stylized
(although not without their beauty), does that render his
music unworthy? Compared to some of his contemporaries, he
was no innovator, but can he not claim some credit for not
49
being swept away by Strauss or Debussy? Respighi was a man
of culture. He knew Frescobaldi and drew upon Bach. Music
history will probably not make much of Respighi's organ
music, but does he not deserve our praise for evading the
domination of the genius of Wagner?
Respighi's own reduction in his use of the organ, from
solo works to small orchestral parts, paralleled a decline
in organ art. Was it merely a coincidence? Or had the or-
gan so lost its unique flavor that composers such as
Respighi were no longer interested in tasting its puffed-
up desserts? Let us imagine that Respighi was correct,
after all, in his use of the organ as creamy filling in
the larger orchestral cake.
APPENDIX A
Sources
Assembling the material for this project met with
some difficulties. For instance, a computer search on the
OCLC terminal of the member libraries in the United States
showed that none of the libraries possesses either the
Suite in G Major for strings and organ or the transcrip-
tions for violin and organ. Nor did most of them own the
three solo pieces. Music stores announce that the Suite
and the transcriptions are impossible to obtain, while
obtaining the three solo pieces (when available) involves
delays up to six months. Telephone calls to major music
libraries in the United States and to well-known organists
with large personal collections resulted in what began to
1be an almost predictably negative response. Even a letter
to a former Respighi student, Norman Lockwood, now a well-
known composer who demonstrates an interest in the organ
by his compositions for it, turned up no knowledge of the
works in question.2
'Libraries at: University of Illinois, University ofMichigan, Eastman School of Music, A. M. Willis, Jr. Libraryat North Texas State University, personal libraries ofMarilyn Mason, David Craighead, and others.
2 Letter from Norman Lockwood, composer, May 9, 1979.
50
'IWlmoi - ON '0014 NINO, ON
51
First, the solo pieces (the Three Preludes) are still
in print and may be ordered through Belwin-Mills,3 the
American agent for Bongiovanni, by contacting almost any
retail music store. The Suite for strings and organ is
also available in a study score by the same means. 4How-
ever, there is no such score currently in stock (the last
remaining copy being now in my personal collection); so it
would have to be back ordered from Italy, bringing possible
delays of between three to six months. The individual
parts are available only on a rental basis from Bongiovanni.
The two transcriptions are no longer in print, and have not
been re-copyrighted. The European-American Music Distribu-
tors Corporation, through the work of Caroline Hunter, has
prepared a list of American publishing houses which carry
European publications, which will soon be sent to partici-
pating United States libraries.5
Another source, but not a very practical one, is the
New York City Public Library, which does not lend through
3 Belwin-Mills Publishing Corporation, 25 Deshon Drive,Melville, New York 11746 (Attn. Foreign Department).
4 Study score catalogue number: Bongiovanni 2429,available from Belwin-Mills or Joseph Patelson Music Com-pany, 160 W. 56th Street, New York, New York 10019, (212)757-5587.
5Caroline Hunter, European-American Music DistributorsCorp., 195 Allwood Rd., Clifton, New Jersey 07012.
52
the Inter-library Loan System. Records of this library's
catalogue show the Suite to be in its possession. Since
its copyright date is recent, this score cannot be repro-
duced without written permission from Bongiovanni. Other-
wise, an on-the-spot analysis would be the only value in
looking up this copy.
The transcriptions, however, perhaps because they
were transcriptions--or perhaps because Schmidl was not
represented in the United States--were never acquired and
apparently do not exist, not even in personal libraries
or collections.
In addition to the difficulty in obtaining the scores
of Respighi's organ music, very little has been written
about Respighi in general, reducing the secondary source
material to two biographies, a doctoral dissertation, and
some isolated magazine articles. Many of the articles
were written just before American libraries began collect-
ing major Italian periodicals. Thanks to the diligent
research of writers of program notes for major U. S. or-
chestras, who did their homework as Respighi toured the
United States conducting his most popular orchestral works,
we are left with many good references to most of the in-
formation contained in these early journals of the 1920's
and 1930's.
53
Since such extenuating circumstances presented them-
selves in this search, it is undoubtedly proper to express
gratitude to Ruth Watanabe of the Sibley Library at the
Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, Morris
Martin of the A. M. Willis, Jr. Library at North Texas
State University in Denton, Texas, and to Ted Graczyk in
the foreign department of Belwin-Mills Publishing Corpora-
tion for their suggestions and help in obtaining many of
the materials necessary for this project.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
Arnold, Corliss R., Organ Literature, Metuchen, N.J., TheScarecrow Press, Inc., 1973.
Berg, David Eric, Fundamentals of Musical Art, Vol. IX,"The Organ, Composers and Literature," New York, TheCaxton Institute, Inc., 1927.
Busoni, Ferruccio, Sketch of a New Esthetic of Music, tr.by Th. Baker, New York, G. Schirmer, Inc., 1911 inThree Classics In the Aesthetic of Music, New York.Dover Publishers, Inc., 1962.
Debussy, Claude, Monsieur Croche the Dilittante Hater, tr.by B. N. Langdon Davies, New York, Viking Press, 1928,in Three Classics In the Aesthetic of Music, New York,Dover Publishers, Inc., 1962.
Gillespie, John, Five Centuries of Keyboard Music, New York,Dover Publishers, Inc., 1965.
Hopkins, Edward J., The Organ, London, Robert Cocks & Co.,1877.
Ives, Charles E., Essays Before a Sonata, the KnickerbockerPress, 1920, in Three Classics In the Aesthetic ofMusic, New York, Dover Publishers, Inc., 1962.
Lahee, Henry C., The Organ and Its Masters, Boston, L.C.Page & Co., Inc., 1902 and 1927.
Lunelli, Renato, Der Orgeln in Italien in Seinen Meister-werken, Mainz, Im Rheingold-Verlag, 1956.
Radole, Giuseppe, L'Arte Organaria In Istria, Bologna, CasaEditrice Riccardo Patron, 1969.
Rensis, Raffaello de, Ottorino Respighi, Torino, G. B.Paravia and Company, 1935.
Respighi, Elsa, Ottorino Respighi: His Life Story, tr. byGwyn Morris, London, G. Ricordi & Co., 1962.
62
WNW"
63
Respighi, Ottorino, and Luciani, S. A., Orpheus, Firenze,G. Barbera, Editore, 1925.
Routh, Francis, The Organ, London, the English UniversitiesPress Ltd., 1958 (8th printing, 1974),
Seidel, J. J., The Organ and Its Construction, London,Ewer & Co., 1855,
Sumner, William Leslie, The Organ, London, Macdonald andCompany Ltd., 1962.
Williams, C. F. Abdy, The Story of the Organ, New York,Charles Scribner's Sons, 1903; republished, Detroit,Singing Tree Press, 1972.
Articles
A., W. R., "Book Review," Music Teacher and Piano Student,Vol. XLI (November, 1962), p. 509.
"Book Review," Musical Times, Vol. CIII, (November, 1962),p. 767.
Boyd, M., "Dies Irae," Music and Letters, Vol. XLVIV, No. 4,1968, p. 351.
Gatti, Guido M., "Ottorino Respighi," in Groves Dictionaryof Music and Musicians, Vol. VII, London, MacMillanand Company, Ltd., 1955, pp. 128-129.
Glover, Jane, "The Metamorphosis of Orfeo," Musical Times,Vol. CXVI (February, 1975), pp. 135-139.
"His Life Story," Music and Letters, Vol. XLIV, No. 1,(1963), p. 51.
Jacobs, Arthur, "His Life Story: Book Review," Opera,Vol. XIV (January, 1963), p. 52.
Karlinger, F., "In Memoriam," Musica, Vol. XV (April, 1961)p. 204.
Mila, Massimo, "Ottorino Respighi," La Revue Musicale,Vol. XIV (April, 1933).
R., B., "Book Review," Musical Opinion, LXXXVI (1962), p. 95.
64
Schuneman, Robert A., "Playing Around with Tempo," TheDiapason, (May and June, 1970), pp. 16-19 and p. 16.
Steutermann, A., "Notturno New Music for Organ," TheDiapason, XLIV (July 1, 1953), p. 29.
Terenzio, Vicenzo, "Appunti su Respighi," Rassegna Musicale,Vol. XXIV (January, 1956), pp. 27-32.
"Violin Concerto, Respighi," Musical America, Vol. LXXXIII(December, 1963), p. 60.
Williams, C. F. Abdy, "Old Italian Church Organs," MusicalTimes, LV (May 1, 1914), pp. 313-314.
Music
Bach, J. S., Passacaglia in do minore, Interpretazioneorchestrale di Ottorino Respighi, Milano, Ricardi, 1930.
, 371 Four Part Chorales, Vol. I, New York,Edwin F. Kalmus.
Monteverdi, Claudio, L'Orfeo, realizzazione orchestrale diOttorino Respighi, Milano, A & G Carish & Co., 1935.
Respighi, Ottorino, Antiche Danze ed Arie per Liuto, Nos. 1,2, & 3, Milano, G. Ricordi, 1920, 1924, and 1932.
, Belfagor, Milano, G. Ricordi & Co.,
1923.
, Ciaccona di Tomaso Vitali, trascritta
per violino, archi organo, Trieste, Edizione Schmidl,1909.
, Concerto Gregoriano, Vienna, Universal
Edition, 1922.
, Feste Romane, Milano, G. Ricordi & Co.,1929.
, Fontane di Roma, Milano, G. Ricordi &
Co., 1918.
, Gli Uccelli, Milano, G. Ricordi & Co.,1928.
65
Respighi, Ottorino, La Campana Sommersa, Berlin, Ed. Boteand G. Bock, 1927.
, Lauda per la Nativita del Signore, Milano,G. Ricordi & Co., 1930.
, Maria Egiziaca, Milano, G. Ricordi & Co.,1931.
, Passacaglia, G. Frescobaldi, LiberaTrascrizione di Ottorino Respighi, Milano, Ed. G.Ricordi, 1918.
, Pini di Roma, Milano, G. Ricordi, 1925.
, Preludio e Fuga, G. Frescobaldi, Libera
Trascrizione di Ottorino Respighi, Milano, Edizione G.Ricordi & Co., 1918.
, Rossiniana, da "Les Riens" di G. Rossini,London, Richard Schauer, 1927.
, Suite in mi min. (o Sonata) di G. S.Bach, trascritta per violino, archi e organo, Trieste,Edizioni Schmidl, 1909.
, Suite in sol maggiore, per archi eorgano, Bologna, Edizioni Bongiovanni, 1957.
, Toccata e Fuga in la minore, G. Fresco-
baldi, Libera Transcrizione di Ottorino Respighi,Milano, Ed. G. Ricordi, 1918.
, Tre Preludi per organo ("Preludio in si
b," "Preludio in la magg.," "Preludio in re min."),Bologna, Edizioni Bongiovanni, 1921.
Vitali, Tommaso, Chaconne in G minor, Diethard Hellmann, Ed.,Kassel, Barenreiter, 1966.
, Ciaccona, ed. by Louis Bailly, New York,George Scribner's Sons, 1932.
Program Notes
Jellinek, George, Program Notes, for "Eugene Fodor PlaysPaganini, Serasate, and Vatali," RCA, ARLI-1172, 1975.
Ad "* i 11 --. . I I A - I * , WON, d-M, -M -6116i "Wo -- OR !a i, -- , .,
66
Jellinek, George, Program Notes, for "Heifitz," RCA, LM2074,1975.
Roy, Klaus G., Program Notes, for "Vetrate di Chiesa,"Cleveland Orchestra, (December 19-21, 1974), p. 533.
Schauensee, Max de, The Philadelphia Orchestra ProgramNotes, for "Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3 in C Minor,"Columbia Records, ML5869, 1963.
Schloss, Edwin H., The Philadelphia Orchestra ProgramNotes, for "Music for Organ and Orchestra," ColumbiaRecords, ML5798, 1962.
Taaffe, Ellen, Notes for "Francescatti plays ViolinSpectaculars," Columbia Records, MS6953.
Unpublished Materials
Lockwood, Normand, letter to Susan Ferr6, March 9, 1979.
Morrison, D. N., "Influences of Impressionist Tonality onSelected Works of Delius, Griffes, Falla, andRespighi: Based on the Concept Developed by RobertMueller," unpublished doctoral dissertation, Schoolof Music, Indiana University, June, 1960.
Schuneman, Robert A., Lecture, Boston, June 22, 1976.
Young, Stephen E., "The Organ Works of Sigfrid Karg-Elert(1877-1933)," unpublished doctoral dissertation, Schoolof Music, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,North Carolina, 1968.
Newspaper
Gatti, Guido M., New York Times, January 7, 1933, in TheInternational Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians, 9thedition, Oscar Thompson, ed., Robert Sabin, ed. of9th edition, New York, Dodd, Mead, & Company, 1964.