by Ben Hogwood Image of Respighi courtesy of Wikipedia

Today marks the anniversary of the death of composer Ottorino Respighi, 90 years ago in 1936, at the age of just 56.

Respighi’s most famous works are the orchestral pieces making up the ‘Roman trilogy’ – in order of composition the Fountains of Rome, Pines of Rome and Roman Festivals. A previous post on the composer highlighted recordings of those three; however I wanted this time to pay tribute to Respighi’s flair as an orchestrator. Here are his arrangements of five of Rachmaninoff‘s Etude-Tableaux for piano, showing off the orchestra with colour and flair:

Published post no.2,862 – Saturday 18 April 2026