Concert Reflection Paper:

Pines of Rome

Joshua Blanks
MUSI 101 Online 2
March 4, 2013

On Friday, January 18, 2013, I went to the Pines of Rome Virginia Symphony Orchestra
concert with my mother. Overture to Semiramide was the first piece of music played. Violin
Concerto in D major, Op. 35 was the next composition. After the intermission, Rond Veneziano
was played. Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome), P.141 was performed last.
Overture to Semiramide was composed in 1823 by Gioachino Rossini ("Overture to
Semiramide"). Semiramide was the last opera that Rossini wrote for the Italian stage. Rossini
went to work in Paris after writing the music for this opera ("Overture to Semiramide," par 1).
This music composition is from the Romantic Period (Overture to Semiramide). The opera is
known as an opera seria. According to Krstine Forney and Joseph Machlis, an opera seria is a
serious opera. Serious operas were favored in Italy during the Romantic Period (2008, 214).
According to All Music Guide on the overture, Its sizable overture is one of his two or three
most popular and has maintained its place in the orchestral repertoire even as the opera fell into
temporary disuse. The piece is one of the most Beethovenian of the Rossini overtures, from the
weighty block of D major with which it opens, to the idyllic horn passage that follows, to the
dramatic minor episode subtly derived from the horn passage, to the extended architecture of the
main Allegro section and the momentum it generates through judiciously placed syncopations
(Overture to Semiramide, par 1). This quote is describing the musical elements in Overture to
Semiramide. Rossini typically used crescendo passages in most of his overtures. However, this
overture is different because he places the passage at the beginning. Another exception that
Rossini used in this overture is that he made a major to minor shift in the slow section. He
connects this shift musically with one of the operas dramatic climaxes ("Overture to
Semiramide," par 1). In general the heft of the overture matches the seriousness of the opera as
a whole, adapted from a 1748 tragedy by Voltaire that also furnished the story of the English
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opera from which the song Home, Sweet Home is taken (Overture to Semiramide, par 1).
This quote is saying that the overture is serious just as the opera is serious.
Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 was composed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold in 1945.
The music was composed in the Modern Period (Rovi). The Modern Period described here is the
Early 20th Century Period. According to Rovi, What did help enormously in this regard was the
support and patronage of great artists, among them the celebrated violinist Jascha Heifetz, for
whom Korngold composed his Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35, during 1945 (par 2). In
other words, Korngold had help from multiple artists including Jascha Heifetz. Rovi also states
that The violin concerto is an unashamedly romantic work, with a vibrantly cinematic character,
begging the lie that no hack celluloid composer could write a work that not only ranked as one
of the best concertos of its time, but also retained the populist feel of a Hollywood movie in the
unforgettable contouring of its thematic material (par 3). The music feeling like a Hollywood
movie is one reason why it is part of the Early 20th Century Period. Violin Concerto in D major
consists of three movements. The first movement is Moderato nobile. The soloist starts almost
immediately with a lush, broadly stated melody that is typical of Korngold (Rovi, par 3). The
music progresses to a faster-moving experience. The highly rhapsodic style emphasizes the
soloist constantly reminding the listener of the opening passages. Also included in the movement
is a virtuoso cadenza and a final coda of arresting power (Rovi, par 3). Rovi states that The
central movement (Romanze) brings the required contrast, in a delicately scored piece in which
the soloist reflects at length on material of a touchingly nostalgic coloration (par 3). This quote
describes the second movement and the musical elements of the second movement. Compared to
first movement, the melody played by the soloist gives the listener a sense of longing. The final
movement, the finale, is Allegro assai vivace. It adds a powerful confident mood (Rovi, par 3).
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Rovi states of the finale that angular, strongly motoric rhythms serve as reminder that
Korngold came from the same creative stable as Schoenberg and Zemlinsky (his childhood
mentor), while also being a modernist in the sense of being fully able to write in a totally
original, independent manner. Again, the movement calls for outstanding technique and fearless
virtuosity, but a more relaxed and lyrical central episode again brings the required contrast. The
closing section, a thrilling pyrotechnic tailpiece, again imposes severe technical demands on
soloist and orchestra alike (par 3). Rovi provides a detailed description of the third movement
and its musical elements. At this concert, each of these movements emphasized the extraordinary
ability of the soloist and her control over the instrument.
Rond Veneziano was composed in 1929 by Ildebrando Pizzetti during the Modern Period
(Rond veneziano, for orchestra). Again, the Modern Period is also known as the Early 20th
Century Period. Pizzettis Rond Veneziano for orchestra was originally composed for the
concert hall, but was later performed as a ballet ("Rond veneziano (Pizzetti)," par 1). The
composition is an exception to the Early 20th Century Period because it can also be performed as
a ballet. According to Kristine Forney and Joseph Machlis, ballet originated in the Late Romantic
Period (2008, 223). Pizzetti dedicated Rond Veneziano to his oldest son Bruno. In February
1930, Toscanini conducted the New York premiere of the composition. According to Hyperion
Records, the composition is a single-movement Venetian impression which, broadly speaking,
falls into three parts, making it a study not unlike that of a sonata rondo. Throughout this score,
Pizzettis mastery of orchestral colour, tonal and melodic organization, and of contrasting
elements maintained within an untroubledeven consistently light-heartedcharacter, comes
into play for the first time in his music in a concert work ("Rond veneziano (Pizzetti)," par 1).
This piece presents itself as light and fun.
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Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome), P.141 was composed in 1924 by Ottorino Respighi during
the Post-Romantic Period (Lewis). According to Dave Lewis, Pines of Rome (Pini di Roma) is
chronologically the second installment in Italian composer Ottorino Respighi's Roman trilogy.
It is a symphonic tone poem scored for a very large orchestra and cast in four movements, the
musical content being representative of a literary plan. In Pines of Rome, Respighi succeeds
spectacularly, producing a colorful and exciting montage of impressions that capture the
imagination without wandering or becoming digressive (par 1). This quote describes the
elements of the music. The impressions fit with the Post Romantic Period since they deal with
impressionism. The four movements are I pini di Villa Borghese (The Pines of the Villa
Borghese), I pini presso una catacomba (The Pines near a catacomb), I pini del Gianicolo (The
Pines of the Janiculum), and I pini della Via Appia (The Pines of the Appian Way) (Lewis). Lewis
also states The Pines at the Villa Borghese depicts a scene at a once-private resort, and
Respighi's music captures the energy and irreverence of children at play, including a discordant
trumpet raspberry towards the end. This is contrasted by an austere phrase of plainchant that
begins The Pines near the Catacombs. Meditative in mood, the movement leads to a climax
built around an insistent, repeated figure stated in fifths in the strings. This leads seamlessly into
the next section, Pines of the Janiculum. Opening with a spray of color from the piano, the
piece slowly evolves into a beautiful nocturne punctuated by the recorded sound of a
nightingale's twittering, in one of the first instances where a recorded sound is specified for a
concert score. This movement is successfully impressionistic without being particularly
French. The Pines of the Appian Way transforms from a slow, mysterious section into a loud,
exciting march that evokes Ancient Rome, its gladiators, and its chivalry (par 3). This quote
brilliantly describes the four movements. Anyone listening to these movements may imagine
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their own individual imagery being portrayed in the music. They are fun, passionate, and
captivating.
The Virginia Symphony Orchestra was comprised of strings consisting of violins, violas,
cellos, and basses. There were also flute, oboe, piccolo, clarinet, trumpet, English horn, French
horn, trombone, tuba, base clarinet, bassoon, timpani, and percussion instruments represented. A
keyboard was also used for piano parts. JoAnn Falleta was the conductor. Chloe Hanslip, an
internationally renowned British violinist, was the guest performer. She was the soloist for Violin
Concerto in D major, Op. 35. She made her first debut at the BBC Proms in 2002. She has been a
regular performer at significant places in the Far East, the United States, Europe, and England.
Chloe has performed with several symphonies and orchestras. Hanslip is also a recording artist.
Gramophone has stated that The richness and clarity of her tone is beyond learning and she
demonstrates such profound empathy for John Adams 1993 Violin Concerto This is the sort of
performance that secures a reputation for life (46). Chloe Hanslip became one with her
instrument. Her passion for the instrument and the music that she was playing filled the concert
hall. She brought life to the concerto and responded well to the Conductor. I sat close enough to
the stage to see her facial expressions. These expressions also exuded her passion for the music
she was playing. In other words, she was fabulous.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Forney, Kristine, and Joseph Machlis. The Enjoyment of
Music Essential Listening Edition. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.,
2008. (accessed January 10, 2013).
Lewis, Dave. "Pini di Roma (The Pines of Rome),
symphonic poem, P. 141." AllMusic.
http://www.allmusic.com/composition/pini-diroma-the-pines-of-rome-symphonic-poem-p-141
-mc0002367445 (accessed March 3, 2013).
Overture to Semiramide." AllMusic.
http://www.allmusic.com/composition/overtureto-semiramide-mc0002432496
(accessed March 3, 2013).
"Rond veneziano, for orchestra." AllMusic.
http://www.allmusic.com/composition/rondveneziano-for-orchestra-mc0002493893
(accessed March 3, 2013).

"Rond veneziano (Pizzetti)." Hyperion Records.

http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dw.asp?
dc=W6017_GBAJY9908401&vw=dc (accessed
March 3, 2013).
Rovi. "Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35." AllMusic.
http://www.allmusic.com/composition/violinconcerto-in-d-major-op-35-mc0002369846
(accessed March 3, 2013).