Ottorino Respighi's Siciliano from Antiche danze ed arie (per liuto) Suite 3, newly arranged for solo piano. Not as hard to play as the piano transcription by Respighi of his original arrangement for string orchestra, but equally effective.
 
Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) was one of the leading Italian composers of the early 20th century. His best known and most performed works are his three orchestral tone poems which brought him international fame: Fountains of Rome (1917), Pines of Rome (1924) and Roman Festivals (1928). Born in Bologna, he studied violin from an early age, later studying orchestration and composition with Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in St Petersburg. He was professor of composition at the Liceo Musicale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. His compositional work for strings is one of his most noted features. He died at the early age of 56, and his wife Elsa (14 years his junior, and who outlived him by almost 60 years) continued to champion her late husband’s works and legacy until her death in 1996.
 
In December 1917 the first of Respighi's three orchestral suites, Ancient Airs and Dances, premiered in Rome. Each suite features free transcriptions of pieces for lute by various 16th century Italian composers. This piece, Siciliana, comes from the third suite and is based on a dance tune found in Rarità musicali, published in 1884 by O. Chilesotti from Fabrizio Dear’s book, Nobilità di dame (pub. 1600). That book was itself a republishing of Il ballerina (from 1581), which was the first printed book on the subject of dance. Fabrizio Dear was a dance teacher and treatise writer (ca.1526-1605), noted in his time. Throughout this convoluted history, the original composer of Siciliana has remained unknown. 
 
Respighi’s own arrangement of Siciliano, for piano, was published in 1919. However, this Fullscore Publishing solo piano arrangement is slightly different from that of Respighi’s hand, in that it mimics the original setting for strings rather than his own (much harder) version (‘to which a running accompaniment is added - assuming greater power [and difficulty - ed.] when this turns into accompanying octaves and the embellishment of rapid scales’).
 
Recordings:
Konstantin Scherbakov plays Respighi’s extended solo piano version (with the much harder middle, faster section) on the NaxosCD label: Spotify
YouTube (video with animated solo piano arrangement reference score):
 
Karajan’s recording with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, of the original orchestral strings piece, on Spotify. 
YouTube (video with animated version of original orchestral score), played by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
 
Pianist Olga Scheps recorded a very stripped-down solo piano version on her CD ‘Family’ (2021). Hear it on Spotify here. It is the inspiration for the Fullscore (very) Easy Edition, included in this combined edition. Simple, yet beautiful, it was used in the soundtrack to Terrence Malick’s acclaimed fantasy/sci-fi film The Tree of Life (2011). 
 
YouTube video of Olga Scheps playing her arrangement live in an atmospheric, empty hall setting.
 
- Info source: CD notes for Konstantin Scherbakov’s recording on Naxos.
- Fabrizio Dear biography source.
- Read Respighi's biography on wikipedia.  
- Sheet music cover image: The Pines of Rome
- Arranged and engraved for solo piano by Nigel Edmund-Jones and Fullscore Publishing
- Published to celebrate International Piano Day, March 29 2025