Ottorino Respighi

Ottorino Respighi was an Italian composer, violinist, and teacher who was one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. His compositions include operas, ballets, orchestral suites, choral songs, and chamber music, including transcriptions of pieces from Italian composers of the 16th-, 17th-, and 18th-centuries, plus those from Bach and Rachmaninoff. Among his best known and most performed works are his three Roman tone poems which brought him international fame: Fountains of Rome, Pines of Rome, and Roman Festivals. All three demonstrate Respighi's use of rich orchestral colours.
Born and raised in Bologna, Respighi studied the violin, viola, and composition at the Liceo Musicale di Bologna, during which he worked in Saint Petersburg and studied briefly with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. In 1913, Respighi moved to Rome where he became professor of composition at the Liceo Musicale di Santa Cecilia, before dedicating his time fully to composing.
While composing his opera Lucrezia in early 1936, Respighi was diagnosed with bacterial endocarditis and died four months later aged 56.