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The aim of this article is to provide a balanced assessment of the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi and his work within the socio-cultural context of Italy during the Mussolini regime, and to determine how the artist's apolitical stance made him a hostage to circumstances under the fascist dictatorship. The research methodology is based on a combination of the principles of historicism, cultural and systemic approaches, general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, generalization), and musicological tools (holistic and comparative analysis). The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that, drawing on foreign sources regarding cultural history and Italian music, as well as the results of a comprehensive comparative analysis of Respighi's musical heritage, the composer's creative biography and music are analyzed for the first time in domestic musicology within the socio-cultural context of 1920s and 1930s Italy. The article reveals how the artistic content of Respighi's music was manipulated by the leaders of the fascist dictatorship, leading to its integration into the process of myth-making and the reinforcement of the cult of personality. Conclusions. Respighi's reliance on national tradition exemplified the centripetal forces in the development of European music in the first half of the 20th century. The cultivation of the national spirit, the inherent decorativeness of the composer's music, and Benito Mussolini's admiration for it led to accusations of «grand nationalism». However, the composer's focus on early Italian music was directed toward genre, style, and content rather than the pursuit of nationalist ideologies. The tragedy of Ottorino Respighi's persona and his music lies in the fact that his traditionalist style and references to Roman history resonated with fascist ideals. It was precisely this resonance that for a long time prevented a balanced assessment of the composer and his creative legacy.
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