by Pines of Rome is structured in four movements played without pause so that the music flows uninterrupted from beginning to end. The first movement, “The Pines of Villa Borghese,” features rambunctious tunes that depict children at play in the pine groves. For contrast, the second movement “Pines near a Catacomb,” sets hymnlike phrases against a dark tapestry of mostly string tones. A lighter mood returns for the third movement, “The Pines of the Janiculum,” in which Respighi imagines a moonlit scene with nightingales singing. Respighi asked that a specific recording of a nightingale be played at the end of the movement. The final movement, “The Pines of the Appian Way,”closes the piece with a depiction of the Roman army marching into the city accompanied by trumpet fanfares and a pounding timpani beat. Britanica
