Ottorino Respighi (1879 - 1936) had already begun to attract international attention for his orchestral tone poem Fontane di Roma (Fountains of Rome) (1917) when he wrote his Ballata delle Gnomidi, a grotesque orchestral work that was destined to remain virtually unknown. This transcription of the symphonic poem, made by José Schyns, became one of the highlights at the Kerkrade WMC in 2005.