«Your Excellency, I am very sorry…» Unissued documents on Respighi, the teacher, at the Central State Archives

Abstract

This essay discusses unissued documents sitting at the Central State Archives and concerning Ottorino Respighi’s and his colleagues’ activity at the, then, Liceo Musicale di Santa Cecilia, Rome (now Conservatory). Respighi had been a composition teacher from 1912-13, chairman in 1924-25, then again a teacher in the Conservatory’s master classes from 1928 to his death (1936). These documents allow to clarify, and occasionally fix, information provided by his widow, Elsa Olivieri Sangiacomo, in her Respighi biography. They also highlight the composer’s relationship with the Fascist regime and contextualize the dispute between Santa Cecilia institutions (Conservatory and Academy) about master classes. At the end of the essay, a few documents attest Elsa Respighi’s repeated contacts with Mussolini — after the composer’s death and until 1942 — to promote performances of her husband’s works.

Traduzione inglese di Marcello Piras