Respighi – Ancient Dances and Airs For Lute; Suites I, II, III

The common practice in concert houses today of performing early music on modern orchestral instruments is owed largely to the endeavours of Ottorino Respighi. His free transcription of Renaissance works for the lute (1932) opened up the way to the rediscovery of forgotten rhythms and timbres. Although Respighi altered the structure of the music by dissecting phrases right down to their basic elements, re-ordering them and redefining their sonority by the use of heavy brass and timpani, the art of the ancient maestri remained unscathed. Cadences and harmonic idioms are given a modern colouring at the most, but are never destroyed.