Ildebrando Pizzetti was hailed in 1921 by The Musical Times as ‘doubtless the greatest musician in Italy today’. Composed in 1918–19, the powerful Violin Sonata opens with a turbulent evocation of war and continues with a prayer for the innocent before concluding in a hopeful mood. The radiant Piano Trio (1925) was inspired by Pizzetti’s experience of meeting and courting his second wife, Irene, known as Rirì. Tre Canti (Three Songs, 1924), originally for cello and piano and arranged by the composer for violin, are relatively unadorned, touching miniatures dedicated to his daughter, Maria Teresa.