Overture Magazine - 2014-2015 January-February 2015 | Page 36

remembered that composition’s birth on the Island of Capri: “[It] reflects Respighi’s state of mind at the time: the joyous wonder of a revelation [his discovery of Gregorian chant] and at the same time the mystic exultation of profound religious feeling.” Respighi essentially re-conceived these piano preludes for an enormous orchestra and added a new final movement saluting Pope Gregory the Great (540 to 604 A.D.), who is traditionally credited with codifying Gregorian chant and its use in the Catholic liturgy. However, he only decided after he completed the score what precisely each movement was about, with advice from his librettist Claudio Guastalla. Guastalla wrote the descriptions for each of these “windows,” which do not exist in any church, only in the imagination. The Flight into Egypt: “The little caravan proceeded through the desert in the starry night, bearing the Treasure of the World.” On a slow, irregular rhythm like the swaying of a camel, this quiet nocturnal music materializes from a haunting melody based on Gregorian chant in the clarinet. Decorative arabesques in the woodwinds lend it an exotic MiddleEastern atmosphere. Saint Michael the Archangel: “And a great battle was made in the heavens; Michael and his angels fought with the dragon and his angels. But these did not prevail, and there was no more place for them in Heaven. (Homily XII of St. Gregory)” An immense orchestral whirlwind summons St. Michael, the warrior angel, into action. His battle theme, roared out by trombones, is a transformation of the gentle chant theme from the first movement. Yet another transformation of this melody is played offstage by a solo trumpet in the more lyrical middle section. But Michael soon returns to triumph over Satan. Matins of St. Clare: “But Jesus Christ her bridegroom, not wishing to leave her thus disconsolate, had her miracul