Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Roman festivals
Sponsored Links Festivals
Check Out the Hottest Fall Events. Get Dates, Info & More!
www.metromix.com
Rome Event Guide
Know what's going on in Rome Search events by date or interest
www.Frommers.com
2 reference results for: Roman festivals
Wikipedia
Roman holidays generally were celebrated to worship and celebrate a certain god or mythological occurrence, and consisted of religious observances, various festival traditions and usually a large feast. The most important festivals were the Saturnalia, the Consualia, the Lupercalia and the rites of the Bona Dea. Among the most useful sources for Ancient Roman holidays is Ovid's Fasti, a poem that documents in detail the festivals of January to June at the time of Augustus.

The list below is organized by date. Some of these festivals were instituted in different eras. When possible, the initial date is stated.

Ianuarius

Februarius

Martius

Aprilis

Maius

Iunius

Iulius

Augustus

September

October

November

December

See also

References

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Wednesday June 25, 2008 at 02:49:11 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
Sponsored Links Festivals
Check Out the Hottest Fall Events. Get Dates, Info & More!
www.metromix.com
Rome Event Guide
Know what's going on in Rome Search events by date or interest
www.Frommers.com
Wikipedia
Feste Romane (English “Roman Festivals”) 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. It is now considered a part of the Roman Trilogy of symphonic poems along with Pini di Roma, and Fontane di Roma, which are orchestral pieces set to a specific theme, tale or setting. This work is the longest and most demanding of the trilogy, thus it is less-often programmed than its companion pieces. It is also the least known of the three.

Within the first movement called Circenses or Circuses, the music presents the theme of an ancient contest in which gladiators battle to the death, to the sound of trumpet fanfares. Strings and woodwinds suggest the plainchant of the first Christian martyrs which are heard against the snarls of the beasts against which they are pitted. The movement ends with violent orchestral chords, complete with organ pedal, as the martyrs succumb. Next, the Gubileo, or Jubilee, portrays the fiftieth year of festivals in Roman tradition. Pilgrims approach Rome catching a breath-taking view from Mt. Mario, as church bells ring in the background. L’Ottobrata, or the Harvest of October, represents the harvest and hunt in Rome. The French horn solo celebrates the harvest as bells portray love serenades. The final movement, called La Befana, or the Epiphany, takes place in the Piazza Navona. Trumpets sound again and create a different clamour of Roman songs and dances, including a drunken reveler depicted by a solo tenor trombone.

Arturo Toscanini and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra premiered the music in Carnegie Hall in 1929. Toscanini recorded it with the Philadelphia Orchestra in the Academy of Music in 1942 for RCA Victor. He recorded it again with the NBC Symphony Orchestra in Carnegie Hall in 1949, again for RCA. Both recordings were issued on LP and CD. Although they lack the fidelity of modern recordings such as Telarc's sonic digital spectacular with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jesus Lopez Cobos, the Toscanini performances have an authenticity and excitement that still impress the listener. Indeed, the 1949 performance pushed the very limits of the recording equipment of the time as Toscanini insisted the engineers capture all of the dynamics of the music, especially in Circuses and Epiphany.

Leonard Bernstein is also known for having recorded the piece with the New York Philharmonic.

Movements

  • 1. Circenses (Circuses)
  • 2. Giubileo (Jubilee)
  • 3. L’Ottobrata (Harvest of October)
  • 4. La Befana (The Epiphany)

Instrumentation

Feste Romane is scored for a large symphony orchestra consisting of 3 flutes (3rd doubling piccolo), 2 oboes, English horn, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, E-flat clarinet, 2 bassoons,contrabassoon, 4 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 buccine, 3 trombones, 2 pianos, organ, mandolin, timpani, bells, chimes, cymbals, bass drum with cymbals, field drum, snare drum, horse hooves, ratchet, sleigh bells, tambourine, tam-tam, triangle, high and low wood blocks, xylophone and strings.

Appearances

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Monday May 05, 2008 at 14:37:57 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT
Share This:Share This: digg.comShare This: ma.gnolia.comShare This: www.stumbleupon.comShare This: del.icio.usShare This: FacebookShare This: favorites.live.comShare This: www.technorati.comShare This: furl.netShare This: myweb2.search.yahoo.comShare This: www.google.com
Sponsored Links Festivals
Check Out the Hottest Fall Events. Get Dates, Info & More!
www.metromix.com
Rome Event Guide
Know what's going on in Rome Search events by date or interest
www.Frommers.com