In later years, Petrassi's open musical mind and acute personality led him to experiment with different post-Webernian influences and a wide range of poetic materials, from Latin hymns to Ariosto's La follia d'Orlando and Ritratto di Don Chisciotte (Portrait of Don Quixote), based on the Miguel de Cervantes literary character. All these influences are present in a remarkable series of eight Concerti for Orchestra which he composed between 1934 and 1972.
