Description
Three Botticelli Pictures (Trittico Botticelliano) (1927) by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) is his musical interpretation of three of the Renaissance master’s paintings which today hang in Florence’s Uffizi Gallery: La Primavera (Spring), L’Adorazione dei Magi (The Adoration of the Magi), and La nascita di Venere (The Birth of Venus).
The second movement – arranged here – depicts the Nativity scene in which the Three Kings kneel before the Holy Family in the stable, bearing gifts. Respighi’s colourful score prominently features the woodwind – no doubt inspired by Rimsky-Korsakov’s orchestration – and the bassoon assumes a leading role with solos which both open and conclude this movement.
Oriental and exotic flavours abound but the plainchant Advent antiphon Veni Emmanuel (which is still sung today as O Come, O Come Emmanuel) and the popular 18th-century Italian carol, Tu scendi dalle stelle (You Came Down from the Stars) are also thrown into the mix adding a sprinkle of Christmas music more familiar to Western European ears.
