His grandson Giorgio writes to us: I remember that when I was little, after grandfather Demetrio died, I asked my father with surprise and barely concealed admiration: “Grandpa transcribed a funeral march by the one who wrote the Fifth Symphony (for me, at the time, the alpha and omega of music)? Grandpa must have been really good. Only thing is, Beethoven is named Ludwig and Beethoven is spelled with an H.”

He explained to me that it was an assignment given to him at the Nunziatella music school, and at the time all words were Italianized. Years later (I had by then explored Ludwig’s known works, thanks also to the global celebrations for the bicentennial and the beautiful radio broadcasts and the numerous publications—we’re in 1970, I was 14), I played it on the piano and expressed my doubts about its authenticity.

I was told that Nunziatella is a military academy where they didn’t “mess around” and that Grandpa was a serious person (in 8 years I never saw him laugh, even though he was kind to me and took me on long walks, where we didn’t talk, but ate wild fruits—what could be more delightful for a child?) and that if he had written “Beethoven,” then the march must have been his.