Italian composer Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) bridged the Romantic and early Modern periods. He began violin lessons when only eight and was an excellent viola player by twenty. He began serious work as a composer by age twenty-one, writing instrumental pieces and operas. The Roman trilogy of Fontane di Roma (Fountains of Rome), Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome), and Feste Romane (Roman Festivals) are his most famous works, the last of which marks him as one conversant in the dissonances, effects and orchestrations of the post-Romantic years.
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