Preface
Pensieri su "Un Ballo in Maschera" op. 8, 1873
The only four handed composition for piano by the young Giuseppe Martucci was published in 1873 with the title Thoughts on the opera “Masked Ball" op. 8.
Curiously Martucci was one of the few Italian composers of his era who did not engage in the composition of Operas, although he was among the pioneers who promoted Wagner's music in Italy as a conductor; among his first compositions there is also the Fantasy op.1 still dedicated to one of Verdi’s operas (La forza del destino), a sign that the charm of theater must have played an important role at least in the first part of his musical studies.