abstract:Roman Festivals (Italian: Feste Romane) is work for large symphonic orchestra composed in 1928 by the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi. It is the third work in his "Roman Trilogy" of symphonic poems, preceded by Fountains of Rome (1916) and Pines of Rome (1924).
In their heyday, the ancient Olympics before Macedonian warlords and Roman politicians sullied them had more in common with one of today's free open-air music festivals than with the corporate carnival planned for London this year.