Minuetto

Ottorino Respighi's (1879-1936) Six Pieces for Piano was first published in 1903, while Respighi was twenty-four years old, and still very early in his career. These six pieces demonstrate a great variety of styles from the young composer; a salon style valse, a canon, an impressionist nocturne, a neoclassical minuet, a flashy simmering studio, and a lyrical adaptation of an aria from Respighi's first opera. While Respighi is most known for his masterful orchestration with his Roman tone poems; Fountains of Rome (1916), Pines of Rome (1924), and Roman Festivals (1928) his work here with the Six Pieces for Piano demonstrates a young composer in command of harmony and form. Minuetto very rigidly adheres to traditional three-part form (minuet-trio-minuet) (Mm.1-32, 33-80, and 1-32). The first section of the minuet (Mm. 1-16) is clever and playful as it implies a 3/2 meter in its opening measures throwing off the audienceis ear. The second section of the minuet (Mm.17-32) is brisk with its new Poco piu vivace tempo but is still playful as each section builds dynamically only to pull back to piano at the last second. Measures 33-40 repeat the first eight bars of the first section as a small codetta. The trio (Mm. 41-80) is devious as it abruptly changes key to c minor and greatly increases the tempo to Un poco piu mosso with more of a one beat per bar feeling. This devious trio is remarkable in its length being longer than the regular minuet. It works as a constant crescendo, building quite a bit of excitement before the work proceeds through its minuet for the last time.