[3] In early 1904, Sibelius labored on his first concertante work, the Violin Concerto in D minor, the premiere of which he had promised, in autumn 1903, to the German violinist Willy Burmester.

[4] However, Sibelius—who needed cash in order to fund the construction of his new home, Ainola—opted to premiere the concerto at a concert of his works set for 8 February, even though Burmester was unavailable.

[3] In its revised form, Cassazione is scored for the following instruments,[6] organized by family (woodwinds, brass, and strings): The original version of the piece called for much larger orchestral forces, including 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, timpani, and five additional brass players (2 horns, 1 trumpet, and 2 trombones).

[2] The beginning of the music, in a chromatic "suspense-filling way", has been compared to the similar opening of Monty Norman's Dr No, the first James Bond film from 1962.

"[8] The Estonian-American conductor Neemi Järvi and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra made the world premiere studio recording of Cassazione in 1989 for BIS.