Ottorino Respighi

Adoration of the Magi

The beautiful orchestral work from which this arrangement comes is the Trittico Botticelliano by Ottorino Respighi, a set of three musical pieces based on three paintings by Sandro Botticelli -Spring, Adoration of the Magi, and The Birth of Venus. This work comes from the beginning and end of the Adoration of the Magi, which is based on the painting depicting the visit of the Biblical 'wise men from the East' to the stable where Jesus was born. Notable about the original Respighi setting is its mystical quality and its lovely resetting of the familiar Advent hymn - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.