In 1915, although Europe could not know it at the time, World War I had only just begun. Also in its infancy at that time was the use of silent film reels as a means of recording the events of war; it was this that inspired Italian composer Alfredo Casella's musical work Pagine di guerra ("Pages of War") for piano, four hands, Op. 25 (1915). Each of the four pieces in Pagine di guerra, which Casella describes as "short impressions," was suggested by a specific cinematic image of wartime Europe, as noted by Casella in the titles and subtitles.

The first is "Nel Belgio: sfilata di artiglieria pesante tedesca"; it concerns itself with the Germans' heavy artillery use in Belgium. The second, "In Francia: davanti alle rovine della cattedrale di Reims," translates as "In France: in front of the ruins of the Cathedral of Reims." No. 3 provides an image of Cossack cavalrymen and is titled, "In Russia: carica di cavalleria cosacca"; and the last "impression" is simply called "In Alsazia: croci di legno..."—"wooden crosses...."

Pagine di guerra is of the bitingly dissonant and rhythmically punctuated style that Casella began to explore about a dozen years into the new century. The two pianists combine their strengths to create (in No. 1) a sharply percussive juxtaposition of staccato and legato; the march of men and artillery is made plain through the music. Parallelisms of the sort found throughout Debussy's work—fifths in the secondo part and entire chords in the primo part—draw the ancient and now-ruined Cathedral of Reims to life, while a lively Allegro molto vivace, at first quiet and "staccatissimo" but growing ever louder and more furious as the army draws nearer, calls the Cossack cavalry into musical existence. For the "wooden crosses..." music, Casella keeps things texturally simple and transparent; a lightly swaying berceuse and an ethereal final sonority (E major in the lower voices, D sharp major in the upper) remember the victims of war.

Casella fashioned an orchestral version of Pagine di guerra in 1918.

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