MASCAGNI, PIETRO. – Composer, born in Livorno on 7 December 1863, died in Rome on 2 August 1945. He undertook his initial studies at the sacred-music school of maestro Bianchi, which he subsequently continued with Soffredini at the Cherubini Institute in Livorno, where he had his first compositions performed: several cantatas and two symphonies. Several sacred pieces, too, gave good promise of the young author, who, having entered the Conservatory of Milan, perfected his studies under Ponchielli and Saladino, with Puccini as a fellow student.
In 1888 he became director of the philharmonic society of Cerignola and composed a solemn Mass, which was performed successfully in Orvieto Cathedral. In 1890 he won the Sonzogno competition with La cavalleria rusticana, which opened the path to glory for M. About ten other theatrical works followed, enjoying complete success. He also wrote a Requiem Mass, numerous cantatas, various chamber-music works, and many articles for musical journals, revealing himself as a witty writer
and lively polemicist. From 1895 to 1902 he was director of the Musical Lyceum of Pesaro, where he established a chair for the teaching of sacred music in harmony with the requirements of the movement for its revival.
He was a member of the Academy of Italy from the time of its foundation. M. is one of the most popular representatives of contemporary theatrical music, and “his art excels in richness of cantabile, expressive command, liveliness of rough colors, and singular originality of harmonic movements and melodic imagination” (F. Abbiati, Storia della musica, V, Milan 1946, p. 35).