This was at the time when cigarettes were the most powerful weapon of barter between army personnel & the civilian population. Italians, and therefore Italian orchestras were zoned. They could only travel within a very restricted area it being impossible, for instance, to take an orchestra from Rome to Naples or vice versa. This meant that I had dealings with a large number of Italian orchestral musicians. They were very fine fellows although one had to keep a wary eye out to avoid being waylayed in the street with the constant cry of ‘Bon jouro [sic] Maestro – cigaretto please? – molto grazie, maestro.’ On the other hand I got several extra orchestral rehearsals by giving each member of the orchestra 5 cigarettes at the end. I need hardly say that the Italian Musicians Union did not function very efficiently in ‘43 and ‘44.

Towards the end of World War II, when British and American forces occupied Italy as far north as Ravenna, I called on Casella … His wife opened the door and told me she was doubtful if her husband could see me as he had been ill, on and off, for the past two years.