Mascagni (1863-1945) is a prime example of what is often rather cruelly called a one work composer. That work is the one act opera Cavalleria Rusticana. His talent as a composer was discovered at an early age and although his father protested vigorously, he ultimately succeeded in continuing his serious music studies with Alfredo Soffredini. He later entered the music conservatoire in Milan, although he did not graduate and instead was drawn into the world of theatre, contracting with the Dario Acconci's company. In the same year 1885, Acconci staged Mascagni's first success of any note, the operetta Il Re a Napoli. For the next year, Mascagni travelled Italy as the conductor of the touring troop, but when the repertory company collapsed in 1886, he settled in Cerignola and undertook a post as a teacher and conductor. In 1888, he laid aside his first version of his opera Gugliemo Ratcliff on which he has been working for six years continuously, and began swiftly penning an entry to a competition for a one act opera, organised by the Sonzogno company. His choice for a theme fell on Giovanni Verga's book of short stories Cavalleria Rusticana. These tales concern the events of simple Sicillians, one of which is a gripping tale, a true peasant tragedy so beloved by Italian naturalism (verismo.) Mascagni succeeded in transplanting peasant simplicity into the music with a melodic flare approaching folk romances and a refined use of harmony. He did it so convincingly and movingly that of the 72 submitted operas, Cavalleria Rusticana was awarded first place. It was premiered in Rome in 1890, at the Teatro Constanzi and was a tremendous success. Soon Macagni was acclaimed in Vienna, Paris, London and other world cities, as both conductor and composer.

Although he returned to earlier 19th century operatic traditions, with discrete numbers, which Verdi had abandoned earlier, Mascagni managed to create a dramatic unity in his one act opera through his original ideas. Immediately at the start of the work, in the Overture which we expect to be so ordinary and run of the mill, we hear all the main melodies of the action. Indeed, there is even an aria within it, the serenade of the peasant Turiddu. In Cavalleria Rusticana there is a perfect  balance between different elements; each device serves to flexibly depict the dramatic characters: melodic invention with the power of the new, and supreme orchestration. At the highpoint of the dramatic tension, after Santuzza informs Alfio that his wife, Lola, has cheated on him with Turiddu, and Alfio swears bloody revenge, the stage becomes empty for a few moments. Macagni virtually suspends the process of the drama, and he then condenses the preparation for the rapidly ensuing tragedy into a musical interlude (Intermezzo sinfonico). Following the murder of Turiddu, in the orchestral conclusion, Macagni underlines the consequences of the fateful event with a recollection of what was heard at the beginning.