There’s much more to Ottorino Respighi than The Pines of Rome and The Fountains of Rome. This week we’ll hear his connections with the music of Brazil, touch on his experiences in war-torn Europe, and see how this violinist, musicologist, and composer artfully moved Italian music into the 20th century. We will hear The Birds (Gli Uccelli) where a number of birds are characterized by Respighi. Bill samples the “cuckoo” sound heard within this suite. In Friday’s episode we meet an American woman, Elizabeth Coolidge, who in 1927 lands Respighi a commission to write Botticelli Triptych (Trittico Botticelliano).