ROME — Emma Bonino had wrapped up the keynote speech at a rally in a Rome convention center to begin her campaign for Parliament in Italy’s national elections on March 4, and the cheery, generic background music had just come on.

At that, Ms. Bonino whirled around, grabbed the microphone and protested: “Play the Ninth. Find me Beethoven’s Ninth.”

Moments of D.J. angst followed, but, finally, the last movement of the symphony — better known as “Ode to Joy” — boomed through the speakers.

Her demand wasn’t simply a whim.

“Ode to Joy” is also the anthem of the European Union, and Ms. Bonino has placed Italy’s commitment to the bloc at the center of her new political movement, which she has named “Più Europa,” or More Europe.