The band's early work evoked a feel somewhere between beat and psychedelic rock,[1] similar to what was coming out of the United Kingdom at the time.

One of their first major performances was on 2 June 1966, when they and other local bands accompanied a British beat group, The Rokes, at the Teatre Corso in Mestre.

[2] In 1967, the day after recording their first single, "Fiori e Colori", for Milan's CAR Juke Box label (having been rejected by EMI), Rebeschini left for the military.

An evolution in their sound towards more richness and complexity can already be heard in a non-album single the band would publish in 1970, "Il Profumo delle Viole / I Ricordi Più Belli".

Thanks to its promotion through the RAI radio program Per voi giovani, the album was quickly successful, earning a top 10 placing in the Italian charts.

It was with their next album however, Felona e Sorona, considered to be one of the "finest examples of Italian progressive rock",[6] that Le Orme truly gained prominence beyond their home country.

In 1975 Neil Kempfer-Stocker's Cosmos imprint issued Beyond Leng, a largely instrumental compilation to introduce the band to a wider American audience.

The resulting Smogmagica, boasting a cover by Paul Whitehead, was significantly more commercially oriented than their previous work, and was largely viewed as a disappointment by fans.

The following album, however, Verita nascoste, was a return to form and would prove to be a high point as the band would soon suffer from the downturn in progressive rock's popularity.

[9] The result was 1979's Florian in which the band members traded in their electric instruments for classical ones, emerging with a sound more akin to chamber music than rock.

[13] In 2011 the group released La via della seta a concept album inspired by the Silk Road, with lyrics written by Maurizio Monti, former collaborator of Patty Pravo, Mina and Riccardo Cocciante.