Fontane di Roma

Program notes

About the Work

Ottorino Respighi had lived in Rome for only a few years when he wrote Fontane di Roma (Fountains of Rome) in 1915–16, and the piece is in a way a newcomer’s love letter to the city. It was the first of what became his “Roman trilogy” of tone poems, later completed by Pini di Roma (1924), heard in the second half of this concert, and Feste romane (1928). The first performance in Rome in 1917 met a cool reception; it was a performance in Milan the following year under Arturo Toscanini that made the work famous.

Respighi’s idea was original. Instead of describing a story, he chose four famous fountains, each seen at a different time of day, and tried to capture “the sentiments and visions” that they suggested to him. The score has a short programme note by the composer for each section: the Fountain of Valle Giulia at dawn, the Triton Fountain in the morning, the Trevi Fountain at midday, and the Villa Medici fountain at sunset. The four pictures follow one another without a break.

Respighi, who had studied orchestration with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in St Petersburg, was a master of instrumental colour, and Fountains of Rome is full of shimmering effects (harps, celesta, piano, glockenspiel, divided strings and delicately interwoven woodwinds) used to suggest water, light and air. It is the quietest of the three Roman poems, beginning and ending in near silence, and its big climax at the Trevi Fountain is all the more overwhelming for it.

What to Listen For

The Fountain of Valle Giulia at Dawn. A pastoral opening: muted violins create a soft haze of sound, over which oboe and clarinet sing a simple, rustic melody. Respighi’s preface describes a pastoral landscape at daybreak. Listen for the gentle, rocking motion of the water flowing quietly in the half-light.

The Triton Fountain in the Morning. A sudden, loud horn call breaks the calm and the orchestra explodes into a bright, splashing scherzo. Respighi pictured naiads and tritons chasing one another and dancing among the jets of water. Listen for the glittering runs in the woodwinds, harps and celesta.

The Trevi Fountain at Midday. A solemn theme in the low woodwinds and brass slowly gathers strength until the whole orchestra bursts into a triumphant fanfare: Neptune’s chariot drawn by sea horses across the water, as Respighi described it. This is the climax of the piece; listen to how it rises and then fades away as the procession passes into the distance.

The Villa Medici Fountain at Sunset. A melancholy, evening mood. A flute and a solo violin sing over a gently murmuring accompaniment, a bell tolls softly, birds twitter, and the music gradually dissolves into silence as night falls over Rome.