Lovers of early music owe a debt of thanks to a very unlikely hero.

For although he may be best known for his exuberant tone poems, The Pines of Rome and The Fountains of Rome, Ottorino Respighi's greatest achievement may have been the restoration of Renaissance and Baroque music to scholarly and public consciousness--including the works of Monteverdi and Vivaldi, which he edited and published in several volumes early in the 20th century.

In fact, if the Roman tone poems have lost some of their luster in recent decades, Respighi's compositions based on early music manuscripts have earned him new popularity and respect--particularly three orchestral suites he wrote between 1917 and 1932.

In this hour, Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances--and the original Renaissance lute pieces that inspired him.

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