Ancient Airs and Dances

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Ancient Airs and Dances

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Ancient Airs and Dances (Italian: Antiche arie e danze) is a set of three orchestral suites by Italian composer Ottorino Respighi, freely transcribed from original pieces for lute. In addition to being a renowned composer and conductor, Respighi was also a notable musicologist. His interest in music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods led him to compose works inspired by the music of these periods.

Suite No. 1 (1917)

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Ancient Airs, Suite No. 1

1. Balletto, "Il Conte Orlando"

2. Gagliarda

3. Villanella

4. Passo mezzo e mascherada

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Suite No. 1 P 109 was composed in 1917. It was based on Renaissance lute pieces by Simone Molinaro, Vincenzo Galilei (father of Galileo Galilei) and additional anonymous composers.

Balletto: "Il Conte Orlando" (Simone Molinaro, 1599)
Gagliarda (Vincenzo Galilei, 1550s)
Villanella (anonymous, end of 16th century)
Passo mezzo e mascherada (anonymous, end of 16th century)

The orchestration calls for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, English horn, 2 bassoons, 2 horns in F, trumpet in D, harp, harpsichord and strings.

Suite No. 2 (1923)

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Suite No. 2, P 138 was composed in 1923. It was based on pieces for lute, archlute, and viol by Fabritio Caroso, Jean-Baptiste Besard, Bernardo Gianoncelli, and an anonymous composer. It also includes an aria attributed to Marin Mersenne.

Laura soave: balletto con gagliarda, saltarello e canario (Fabritio Caroso)
Danza rustica (Jean-Baptiste Besard)
Campanae parisienses (anonymous) & Aria (attributed to Marin Mersenne)
Bergamasca (Bernardo Gianoncelli, 1650)

The orchestration calls for an average-sized orchestra of 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets in A/B♭, 2 bassoons, 3 horns in D (doubling 2 horns in E/F), 2 trumpets in A/D (doubling trumpet in C), 3 trombones, 3 timpani, celesta, harpsichord 4-hands, harp and strings.

Suite No. 3 (1931)

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Suite No. 3, P 172 was composed in 1931. It differs from the previous two suites in that it is arranged for strings only and somewhat melancholy in overall mood. (A note by the composer in the printed score states that the work may also be performed by a string quartet, completely omitting the double-bass part.) It is based on lute songs by Besard, a piece for Baroque guitar by Ludovico Roncalli, and lute pieces by Santino Garsi da Parma and additional anonymous composers.

Italiana (Anonymous: Italiana (Fine sec. XVI) – Andantino)
Arie di corte (Jean-Baptiste Besard: Arie di corte (Sec. XVI) – Andante cantabile – Allegretto – Vivace – Slow with great expression – Allegro vivace – Vivacissimo – Andante cantabile)
Siciliana (Anonymous: Siciliana (Fine sec. XVI) – Andantino)
Passacaglia (Lodovico Roncalli: Passacaglia (1692) – Maestoso – Vivace)

Transcriptions

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The Ancient Airs and Dances first two suites were freely transcribed by the composer for piano (2 and 4 hands).^{[citation needed]} In 2016, Dennis Janzer transcribed the set for the organ.^[1]

Recordings

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External audio
You may hear Respighi's "Ancient Airs and Dances" with Neville Marriner conducting the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra in 1976 Here on archive.org

There have been many recordings of the suites in their entirety, and individually, with Suite No. 3 most frequently appearing alone. Recordings include:

Philharmonia Hungarica, Antal Dorati (Mercury)
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa (DG)
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Sir Neville Marriner (EMI)
Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, Jesús López-Cobos (Telarc)
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Hugh Wolff (Teldec)
Australian Chamber Orchestra, Christopher Lyndon-Gee (Omega)
Sinfonia 21, Richard Hickox (Chandos)
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (1 & 3 only) (DG)
Rome Symphony Orchestra, Francesco La Vecchia
Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, John Neschling (BIS)

In 1987 Paul O'Dette released a recording of the original lute songs and dances on which Respighi based the suites.

Suite No. 3 only

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Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan (DG)
I Musici
I Solisti Italiani
Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Sir Neville Marriner (Philips)
English String Orchestra, William Boughton (Nimbus)

References

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^ Knapp, David (2017). "Music received". Notes. 73 (4): 782–790. doi:10.1353/not.2017.0067. ISSN 0027-4380. JSTOR 44735124. S2CID 201728845.

External links

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Antiche danze et arie per liuto, Suite No.1, Antiche danze et arie per liuto, Suite No.2, Antiche danze et arie per liuto, Suite No.3: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

v t e Ottorino Respighi
List of operas List of compositions
Operas	Belfagor La bella dormente nel bosco La campana sommersa La fiamma Lucrezia Maria egiziaca Marie Victoire Re Enzo Semirâma
Ballets	La Boutique fantasque
Concertante	Concerto gregoriano Concerto in modo misolidio Piano Concerto in A minor Violin Concerto in A major
Orchestral	Ancient Airs and Dances Suite 1 Suite 2 Suite 3 Fountains of Rome Pines of Rome Roman Festivals Rossiniana The Birds
Chamber	Violin Sonata in B minor
Piano	Sei pezzi per pianoforte
Category

v t e Neoclassical music
Composers	Georges Auric Béla Bartók Alfredo Casella Carlos Chávez Aaron Copland Louis Durey George Enescu Manuel de Falla Radamés Gnattali Camargo Guarnieri Paul Hindemith Vagn Holmboe Arthur Honegger Zoltán Kodály Bohuslav Martinů Darius Milhaud Francis Poulenc Sergei Prokofiev Maurice Ravel Erik Satie Richard Strauss Igor Stravinsky Germaine Tailleferre Heitor Villa-Lobos
Compositions	Antiche arie e danze Apollo Le baiser de la fée Le bourgeois gentilhomme Concert champêtre Concerto in D Concerto in E-flat (Dumbarton Oaks) Divertimento for chamber orchestra after keyboard pieces by Couperin Harpsichord Concerto Jeu de cartes Mathis der Maler Mavra Octet for winds Oedipus rex Orpheus Piano Sonata No. 1 (Enescu) Piano Sonata No. 3 (Chávez) Piano Sonata No. 3 (Enescu) Piano Suite No. 2 (Enescu) Premier Menuet Pulcinella The Rake's Progress El retablo de maese Pedro Sonatine bureaucratique Symphony No. 1 Symphony in C Symphony in Three Movements Symphony of Psalms Tanzsuite aus Klavierstücken von François Couperin Le Tombeau de Couperin Gli uccelli
Other topics	Neoclassical ballet Neoromanticism (music) Neotonality Modernism (music)

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