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The Organ Works of Ottorino Respighi Together with Three Recitals of Selected Works of J. S. Bach, W. Bolcom, J. Guillou, J. Langlais, F. Liszt, C. Tournemire and L. Vierne (open access)

The Organ Works of Ottorino Respighi Together with Three Recitals of Selected Works of J. S. Bach, W. Bolcom, J. Guillou, J. Langlais, F. Liszt, C. Tournemire and L. Vierne

This dissertation deals with Respighi's output for the organ which consists of the Three Preludes for organ solo, a Suite in G for strings and organ, two transcriptions (the Vitali Ciaccona, and a Suit by Bach), both for violin and organ, and various organ parts in the symphonic poems, operas, and orchestral works. If Respighi was not an innovator, he was at least creative in his use of the organ in his orchestral works. The organ was used primarily for color by adding depth, body, and novelty to the ever-growing orchestra. Respighi paid great attention to the smallest detail in his orchestrations, which were varied, delicate, and precise. Why did this interest in color and sonority not result in similar treatment of the organ in his music? The answer is suggested already in the description of the late romantic/orchestral organ. Its stops had lost their individuality, and they blended together in such a way that no particular color was distinguished. The though is not that Respighi's music, or the music of any other composer, caused the decline, but rather that the direction of organ-building in its search for modernity, machinery, and the industrial age, lost its identity, its characteristics personality …
Date: August 1979
Creator: Ferré, Susan
System: The UNT Digital Library