Pini di Roma
Encyclopedia
Pines of Rome is a symphonic poem
written in 1924 by the Italian
composer
Ottorino Respighi
and, together with Fontane di Roma
and Feste Romane
, forms what is sometimes loosely referred to as his "Roman trilogy". Each movement
depicts the pine trees in different locations in Rome
at different times of day.
The first performance was given under conductor Bernardino Molinari
in the Augusteo, Rome, on December 14, 1924.
The first movement, "I pini di Villa Borghese
", portrays noisy children playing soldiers and marching in the pine groves of the Borghese gardens. The second movement, "Pini presso una catacomba" is a majestic dirge, representing pine trees near a catacomb in Campagna. Lower orchestral instruments, plus the organ pedal at 16' and 32' pitch, suggest the subterranean nature of the catacombs
, while the trombones represent priests chant
ing. The third part, "I pini del Gianicolo", is a nocturne set near a temple, on the Janiculum
hill, of the Roman
god
Janus
. Double-faced gods open large doors and gates, marking the beginning of a new year. Respighi
takes the opportunity to include the actual sound of a nightingale
, something that had never been done before. (The score
mentions a specific recording that can be played on a phonograph
: the Brunswick Panatrope). The final movement, "I pini della Via Appia", portrays pine trees along the great Appian Way
. Misty dawn: a legion
advances along the Via Appia in the brilliance of the newly-risen sun. Respighi wanted the ground to tremble under the footsteps of his army and he instructs the organ to play bottom B flat on 8', 16' and 32' organ pedal. The score calls for buccine
- ancient trumpets that are usually represented by flugelhorn
s. Trumpets peal and the consular army rises in triumph
to the Capitoline Hill
.
Woodwinds: a piccolo
(doubling flute 3), 2 flute
s, 2 oboe
s, an english horn
, 2 clarinet
s in B-flat and A, a bass clarinet
in B-flat and A, 2 bassoon
s and a contrabassoon
Brass
: 4 horns
in F and E, 3 trumpets in B-flat, 3 tenor trombones, a bass trombone, 6 Buccine
in B-flat (played on flugel
or saxhorn
s as follows: 2 Soprano, 2 Tenor, 2 Bass) and an offstage trumpet in C
Percussion: timpani
, a bass drum
, a snare drum
, cymbals, 2 small cymbals, a tam-tam, a gong, a triangle
, a ratchet
, a tambourine
and a glockenspiel
Keyboards
: an organ
, a piano
and a celesta
Strings
: a harp
, first and second violin
s, viola
s, violoncellos and double bass
es
was long associated with this work, performing it in his first and last concerts with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, in 1926 and 1945 respectively, the first recordings of the music were by other Italian conductors. Lorenzo Molajoli
and Ettore Panizza
both made recordings with the Milan Symphony Orchestra; Molajoli's recording was released by Columbia Records
and Panizza's recording was released by Odeon
and Decca Records
. In 1935, Piero Coppola
and the Paris Conservatory Orchestra recorded the music for EMI, released by in the U.K. by His Master's Voice and in the U.S. by RCA Victor on 78-rpm discs. Toscanini recorded the music with the NBC Symphony Orchestra
in Carnegie Hall
in 1953. The music was recorded in stereophonic sound
by Fritz Reiner
and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
in Orchestra Hall
in 1957, also for RCA Victor.
. The second movement of the piece is omitted, along with the English horn solo in the fourth movement.
The piece was also used in its entirety in A Movie
(1958) by Bruce Conner
.
The piece was used in Fireworks
, an avant-garde film directed by Kenneth Anger
.
The very opening of the work was used at the beginning of the 1983 song "City of Love" released on the album 90125
by rock group Yes
.
In addition to Sergei Prokofiev
and Gustav Holst
, film composer John Williams
cites Respighi as a great influence and his music for the Planet Krypton, early on in Superman (film), was strongly modeled after the fourth movement of this piece.
Film composer Basil Poledouris
, in his score for Conan the Barbarian was influenced by various other musical works, including Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky
cantata, the choral music of Carl Orff
, i.e. Carmina Burana
, and this piece. Poledouris' work on that score is reminiscent of Respighi's second movement in particular, with its rumbling tam-tam, strong brass harmony, rising bass lines, and building string ostinati.
Symphonic poem
A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music in a single continuous section in which the content of a poem, a story or novel, a painting, a landscape or another source is illustrated or evoked. The term was first applied by Hungarian composer Franz Liszt to his 13 works in this vein...
written in 1924 by the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Ottorino Respighi
Ottorino Respighi
Ottorino Respighi was an Italian composer, musicologist and conductor. He is best known for his orchestral "Roman trilogy": Fountains of Rome ; Pines of Rome ; and Roman Festivals...
and, together with Fontane di Roma
Fontane di Roma
Fontane di Roma is a 1916 work by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi, now considered part of the Roman Trilogy of symphonic poems along with Feste Romane and Pini di Roma. Each of the four sections is meant to depict one of Rome’s fountains during different periods of the day and night...
and Feste Romane
Feste Romane
Feste Romane is a work for very large symphony orchestra composed in 1926, by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi. It is a tone poem depicting scenes from Ancient Rome of the Roman Empire...
, forms what is sometimes loosely referred to as his "Roman trilogy". Each movement
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
depicts the pine trees in different locations in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
at different times of day.
The first performance was given under conductor Bernardino Molinari
Bernardino Molinari
Bernardino Molinari was an Italian conductor.Molinari studied under Renzi and Falchi at the Accademia of Santa Cecilia in his home town of Rome....
in the Augusteo, Rome, on December 14, 1924.
Sections
- "I pini di Villa Borghese" (The Pines of the Villa Borghese)
- "Pini presso una catacomba" (Pines near a catacomb)
- "I pini del Gianicolo" (The Pines of the Janiculum)
- "I pini della Via Appia" (The Pines of the Appian Way)
The first movement, "I pini di Villa Borghese
Villa Borghese
Villa Borghese may refer to:*The Villa Borghese Pinciana , the villa built by the architect Flaminio Ponzio , developing sketches by Scipione Borghese, who used it as a villa suburbana, a party villa, at the edge of Rome, and to house his art collection.**The Galleria...
", portrays noisy children playing soldiers and marching in the pine groves of the Borghese gardens. The second movement, "Pini presso una catacomba" is a majestic dirge, representing pine trees near a catacomb in Campagna. Lower orchestral instruments, plus the organ pedal at 16' and 32' pitch, suggest the subterranean nature of the catacombs
Catacombs
Catacombs, human-made subterranean passageways for religious practice. Any chamber used as a burial place can be described as a catacomb, although the word is most commonly associated with the Roman empire...
, while the trombones represent priests chant
Chant
Chant is the rhythmic speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of notes to highly complex musical structures Chant (from French chanter) is the rhythmic speaking or singing...
ing. The third part, "I pini del Gianicolo", is a nocturne set near a temple, on the Janiculum
Janiculum
The Janiculum is a hill in western Rome, Italy. Although the second-tallest hill in the contemporary city of Rome, the Janiculum does not figure among the proverbial Seven Hills of Rome, being west of the Tiber and outside the boundaries of the ancient city.-Sights:The Janiculum is one of the...
hill, of the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
god
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
Janus
Janus (mythology)
In ancient Roman religion and mythology, Janus is the god of beginnings and transitions, thence also of gates, doors, doorways, endings and time. He is usually a two-faced god since he looks to the future and the past...
. Double-faced gods open large doors and gates, marking the beginning of a new year. Respighi
Ottorino Respighi
Ottorino Respighi was an Italian composer, musicologist and conductor. He is best known for his orchestral "Roman trilogy": Fountains of Rome ; Pines of Rome ; and Roman Festivals...
takes the opportunity to include the actual sound of a nightingale
Nightingale
The Nightingale , also known as Rufous and Common Nightingale, is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae...
, something that had never been done before. (The score
Sheet music
Sheet music is a hand-written or printed form of music notation that uses modern musical symbols; like its analogs—books, pamphlets, etc.—the medium of sheet music typically is paper , although the access to musical notation in recent years includes also presentation on computer screens...
mentions a specific recording that can be played on a phonograph
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
: the Brunswick Panatrope). The final movement, "I pini della Via Appia", portrays pine trees along the great Appian Way
Appian Way
The Appian Way was one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, Apulia, in southeast Italy...
. Misty dawn: a legion
Roman legion
A Roman legion normally indicates the basic ancient Roman army unit recruited specifically from Roman citizens. The organization of legions varied greatly over time but they were typically composed of perhaps 5,000 soldiers, divided into maniples and later into "cohorts"...
advances along the Via Appia in the brilliance of the newly-risen sun. Respighi wanted the ground to tremble under the footsteps of his army and he instructs the organ to play bottom B flat on 8', 16' and 32' organ pedal. The score calls for buccine
Buccina
A buccina or bucina , anglicized buccin or bucine, is a brass instrument used in the ancient Roman army similar to the Cornu. An aeneator who blew a buccina was called a "buccinator" or "bucinator" ....
- ancient trumpets that are usually represented by flugelhorn
Flugelhorn
The flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...
s. Trumpets peal and the consular army rises in triumph
Roman triumph
The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
to the Capitoline Hill
Capitoline Hill
The Capitoline Hill , between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the seven hills of Rome. It was the citadel of the earliest Romans. By the 16th century, Capitolinus had become Capitolino in Italian, with the alternative Campidoglio stemming from Capitolium. The English word capitol...
.
Instrumentation
Pini di Roma calls for the following large orchestra:Woodwinds: a piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
(doubling flute 3), 2 flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s, 2 oboe
Oboe
The oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
s, an english horn
Cor anglais
The cor anglais , or English horn , is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family....
, 2 clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s in B-flat and A, a bass clarinet
Bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
in B-flat and A, 2 bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
s and a contrabassoon
Contrabassoon
The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
Brass
Brass instrument
A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player's lips...
: 4 horns
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
in F and E, 3 trumpets in B-flat, 3 tenor trombones, a bass trombone, 6 Buccine
Buccina
A buccina or bucina , anglicized buccin or bucine, is a brass instrument used in the ancient Roman army similar to the Cornu. An aeneator who blew a buccina was called a "buccinator" or "bucinator" ....
in B-flat (played on flugel
Flugelhorn
The flugelhorn is a brass instrument resembling a trumpet but with a wider, conical bore. Some consider it to be a member of the saxhorn family developed by Adolphe Sax ; however, other historians assert that it derives from the valve bugle designed by Michael Saurle , Munich 1832 , thus...
or saxhorn
Saxhorn
The saxhorn is a valved brass instrument with a conical bore and deep cup-shaped mouthpiece. The sound has a characteristic mellow quality, and blends well with other brass.-The saxhorn family:...
s as follows: 2 Soprano, 2 Tenor, 2 Bass) and an offstage trumpet in C
Percussion: timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, a bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
, a snare drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
, cymbals, 2 small cymbals, a tam-tam, a gong, a triangle
Triangle (instrument)
The triangle is an idiophone type of musical instrument in the percussion family. It is a bar of metal, usually steel but sometimes other metals like beryllium copper, bent into a triangle shape. The instrument is usually held by a loop of some form of thread or wire at the top curve...
, a ratchet
Ratchet (instrument)
A ratchet, also called a noisemaker , is an orchestral musical instrument played by percussionists. Operating on the principle of the ratchet device, a gearwheel and a stiff board is mounted on a handle, which can be freely rotated...
, a tambourine
Tambourine
The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
and a glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
Keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
: an organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, a piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and a celesta
Celesta
The celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
Strings
String instrument
A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...
: a harp
Harp
The harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
, first and second violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s, viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
s, violoncellos and double bass
Double bass
The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
es
Recordings
Although Arturo ToscaniniArturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
was long associated with this work, performing it in his first and last concerts with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, in 1926 and 1945 respectively, the first recordings of the music were by other Italian conductors. Lorenzo Molajoli
Lorenzo Molajoli
Lorenzo Molajoli was an Italian opera conductor who was active in recording during the 1920s and 30s.The facts surrounding the career of the conductor Lorenzo Molajoli are obscure. He was born in Rome in 1868 and studied there at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia...
and Ettore Panizza
Ettore Panizza
Ettore Panizza was an Argentinian conductor and composer, one of the leading conductors of the early 20th century. Panizza possessed technical mastery and was popular and influential during his time, widely admired by Richard Strauss.- Biography :Panizza was born in Buenos Aires, of Italian parents...
both made recordings with the Milan Symphony Orchestra; Molajoli's recording was released by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
and Panizza's recording was released by Odeon
Odeon
Odea, Odeon, or Odeum may refer to:* Odeon , ancient Greek and Roman buildings built for singing exercises, musical shows and poetry competitions-Modern era:* Cineplex Odeon, North America...
and Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
. In 1935, Piero Coppola
Piero Coppola
Piero Coppola , was an Italian conductor, pianist and composer.-Life and career:Coppola was born in Milan; his parents were both singers. He studied at the Milan Conservatory, graduating in piano and composition in 1910. By 1911 he was already conducting opera at La Scala opera house in Milan...
and the Paris Conservatory Orchestra recorded the music for EMI, released by in the U.K. by His Master's Voice and in the U.S. by RCA Victor on 78-rpm discs. Toscanini recorded the music with the NBC Symphony Orchestra
NBC Symphony Orchestra
The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra established by David Sarnoff of the National Broadcasting Company especially for conductor Arturo Toscanini...
in Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in 1953. The music was recorded in stereophonic sound
Stereophonic sound
The term Stereophonic, commonly called stereo, sound refers to any method of sound reproduction in which an attempt is made to create an illusion of directionality and audible perspective...
by Fritz Reiner
Fritz Reiner
Frederick Martin “Fritz” Reiner was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century.-Biography:...
and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...
in Orchestra Hall
Orchestra Hall
Orchestra Hall may refer to:*Symphony Center, home of Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Illinois*Orchestra Hall *Orchestra Hall...
in 1957, also for RCA Victor.
Use in film and elsewhere
An edited version was used to accompany "flying", frolicking humpback whales in the film Fantasia 2000Fantasia 2000
Fantasia 2000 is a 1999 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was the 38th feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and a sequel to 1940's Fantasia...
. The second movement of the piece is omitted, along with the English horn solo in the fourth movement.
The piece was also used in its entirety in A Movie
A Movie
A Movie is a 1958 experimental film in which Bruce Conner put together snippets of found footage, taken from B-movies, newsreels, soft-core pornography, novelty short films, and other sources, to a musical score featuring Respighi's The Pines of Rome....
(1958) by Bruce Conner
Bruce Conner
Bruce Conner was an American artist renowned for his work in assemblage, film, drawing, sculpture, painting, collage, and photography, among other disciplines.-Early life:...
.
The piece was used in Fireworks
Fireworks
Fireworks are a class of explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display. A fireworks event is a display of the effects produced by firework devices...
, an avant-garde film directed by Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger
Kenneth Anger is an American underground experimental filmmaker, occasional actor and author...
.
The very opening of the work was used at the beginning of the 1983 song "City of Love" released on the album 90125
90125
-Yes:*Jon Anderson – lead vocals*Tony Kaye – keyboards*Trevor Rabin – guitars, additional keyboards, backing vocals*Chris Squire – bass, backing vocals*Alan White – drums, percussion, backing vocals- Studio personnel :...
by rock group Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
.
In addition to Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
and Gustav Holst
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
, film composer John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
cites Respighi as a great influence and his music for the Planet Krypton, early on in Superman (film), was strongly modeled after the fourth movement of this piece.
Film composer Basil Poledouris
Basil Poledouris
Vassilis Konstantinos "Basil" Poledouris was a Greek-American music composer who concentrated on the scores for films and television shows...
, in his score for Conan the Barbarian was influenced by various other musical works, including Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Nevsky
Alexander Nevsky was the Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Vladimir during some of the most trying times in the city's history. Commonly regarded as the key figure of medieval Rus, Alexander was the grandson of Vsevolod the Big Nest and rose to legendary status on account of his military...
cantata, the choral music of Carl Orff
Carl Orff
Carl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...
, i.e. Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana , Latin for "Songs from Beuern" , is the name given to a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces were written principally in Medieval Latin; a few in Middle High German, and some with traces...
, and this piece. Poledouris' work on that score is reminiscent of Respighi's second movement in particular, with its rumbling tam-tam, strong brass harmony, rising bass lines, and building string ostinati.