– Composer: Ottorino Respighi (9 July 1879 — 18 April 1936)
– Orchestra: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
– Conductor: Louis Lane
– Year of recording: 2002
Gli uccelli The Birds, suite for small orchestra, P. 154, written in 1927-1928.
00:00 – “Preludio” (based on the music of Bernardo Pasquini)
03:01 – “La colomba” (“The dove”; based on the music of Jacques de Gallot)
07:33 – “La gallina” (“The hen”; based on the music of Jean-Philippe Rameau)
10:36 – “L’usignuolo” (“The nightingale”; based on the folksong “Engels Nachtegaeltje” transcribed by Jacob van Eyck)
14:28 – “Il cucù” (“The cuckoo”; based on the music of Pasquini)
Respighi’s affection for and knowledge of early music is amply demonstrated in his three suites of Ancient Airs and Dances. “Gli Ucelli” represents another expedition into the past, in which Respighi transforms five characteristic keyboard pieces from the 17th and 18th centuries (all five pieces were attempts to transcribe birdsong into musical notation) into a genial suite for orchestra.
The orchestration of early keyboard music is a risky undertaking: The bright, uninflected timbre of an instrument like the harpsichord cannot adequately be conveyed by orchestral sonorities. Wisely, Respighi makes no attempt to do so. Instead, he uses the borrowed material to exploit the innate strengths of the orchestra, relying on melodic ingenuity, sparkling instrumental color, and swift contrasts of volume and tempo for interest. While none of these five movements conveys the brittle brilliance of the original pieces, each is witty, playful, and unpretentious.
After a graceful Prelude based on a work by Bernardo Pasquini, the “uccelli” (birds) of the title make their appearances as follows: the dove (after Jacques de Gallot), the hen (after Jean-Phillippe Rameau), the nightingale (Anonymous, 17th century), and the cuckoo (after Pasquini). The Prelude’s main theme returns in various guises throughout, and the work ends with a restatement of melodic fragments from earlier movements.