Alfredo Casella's War Pages

Alfredo Casella (1883–1947) wrote his Pagine di guerra (War Pages) for two pianos in 1915, giving them the programmatic sub- title “four musical films.” Inspired by contemporary movies, the original version of this brief work was made up of four pieces evoking scenes of war in different countries: Belgium, France, Russia, and Alsace; in 1918 Casella added a fifth “War Page” set in Italy. In this set he experimented in a new musical language based on polytonality and polyrhythms that were influenced by Stravinsky, Bartók, and Schönberg. While it is difficult to identify which films may have directly influenced Casella, it seems likely that he was inspired by war footage shown in movie newsreels to write a work that was not composed expressly for a soundtrack, but which possesses elements of a cinematographic telling.