In addition to playing the popular hits of the day and light classical and operatic fare, the Guido composed his own original compositions. He wrote nearly fifty known pieces: fourteen marches, thirteen waltzes, four polkas, four foxtrots, three tangos, three rags, two mazurkas, one quadrille, and one extended semi-classical work, Egypto Fantasia, about half of which were published by Biaggio Quattrociocche of Steubenville, Ohio, beginning in 1916. Deiro had several hits: Deiro Rag was published in an arrangement for piano in 1913, and Kismet, the theme song for a hit Broadway musical which opened in 1911, was published in 1920 in an arrangement by Frank Henri Klickmann for voice and piano.

Apparently Guido did not write down his own compositions for publication; he simply played his music and his publisher transcribed the notes to music staff paper. Quattrociocche explained, “Guido Deiro had such a wonderful genius for composition. We had arranged that he would play whatever came to his mind, and I would write it down to create new compositions.”

Guido’s gift was crafting beautiful melodies. Galla-Rini explained, “Guido had a very fine touch with his hand on the keyboard, so much so, that a simple melody would sound like a sublime inspiration! Someone said, rightly so, that he had a million dollar touch!”

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