Trittico botticelliano

Respighi's "Trittico botticelliano" was composed in 1927 as a chamber music counterpart to his large-scale Roman tone poems. The work shows the Italian composer in his mature creative period, when he brought his characteristic synthesis of late Romantic harmony and impressionistic tonal colors to full fruition. The music combines Respighi's typical predilection for pictorial tone painting with a more intimate, chamber musical idiom.

The three movements, which refer to Botticelli's paintings, demonstrate Respighi's mastery of orchestration for small ensemble. Harp and piano lend the sound picture those shimmering colors so characteristic of his music. The work stands as exemplary of Italian music of the 1920s, which moved between neoclassical tendencies and a renewed turn toward national tradition.

With its chamber music scoring, the "Trittico" was originally intended to be conceived for a more intimate setting. It is considered one of the most successful examples of Respighi's ability to develop an equally compelling and poetic musical language even without the monumental sonic resources of his famous orchestral works.