"finished"
-- for now!
Click on the song title.1. Funiculì Funiculà 2. Marechiare 3. Maria, Marì! (Oj, Marì! )
4. Anema e core 5. 'O Sole Mio 6. Torna a Surriento
7. 'O Surdato 'Nnamurato 8. Te Voglio Bene Assaje! 9. Santa Lucia
Article on the Neapolitan language,
itself: here.
Article about the Neapolitan Song, here.
On that page, above, see the second item, on the work of Antonio Grande.
Article about the Neapolitan Song, here.
On that page, above, see the second item, on the work of Antonio Grande.
1. Funiculì Funiculà (the story of this song is at this entry) Aissera, Nanninè, me ne sagliette |
ABOUT THE SONG: (From the
"At this entry" link, directly
above. Please read it! ) "Everyone
has had the experience of being obsessed
with a melody, most likely a little jingle
that somehow slipped down behind the sofa
cushions of your mind once upon a time.
... Suddenly you have no control over your
brain. A zombie tune-smith is throwing the
switches of your limbic system, rerouting
the same melody over and over and over.
... High on list of songs you'll need an
exorcist to get rid of is one of the
national anthems of Naples. Unlike many
Neapolitan songs that dwell on unrequited
love or warm evenings spent trying to find
the requited kind, Funiculì Funiculà
is a snappy happy little march about going
up the side of a volcano. Almost everyone
knows the melody and at least some version
of the lyrics, many of which were written
by sniggering boy–scouts and are,
therefore, quite unrepeatable around high
class folks like yourselves." A
suitable English translation for this
joyous piece of nonsense is:
2. Marechiare |
3. Maria, Marì! (Oj, Marì! ) Also see this item. |
ABOUT THE SONG:
We enter here upon
the baffling Neapolitan-Yiddish crossover
department! Although the published title is Maria,
Marì, the song is generally called | 4. Anema
e core music: Salve
D'Esposito ; lyrics: Tito
Manlio (1951) For
audio click or tap on the audio scroll
bar below
to top of page to music portal |
ABOUT THE
SONG: Soul and Heart. The
translated title in English has usually
been With all my Soul and Heart (probably
to avoid confusion with the similarly
titled Heart and Soul).
It comes very late in the history of the
traditional Neapolitan Song, the most
famous of which are around the turn of
19th to 20th century. When it was
played, even though it was in Neapolitan
dialect, it was regarded more as a dance
tune. It is, in fact, a straight 4/4
foxtrot, more typical of American
popular music of the 1940s and 50s. In
any event, it is claimed to be the most
widely recorded "Neapolitan song" abroad
-- a claim that is hard to substantiate
-- but is has been translated into
almost all European languages. So, in
spite of what Neapolitan purists may
think, this foxtrot, this dance
tune, is "Neapolitan music" to
everyone else. It was also used to plug
a 1952 film of that name, released
in English as My heart sings. The
plot of the film has nothing to do with
the lyrics of the song, and the
image on the right is not a film poster,
but apparently one of a series of "film
music scores." You open that cover and
see the sheet music to the song. Note
that one of the Italian actors has the
unlikely name of Dorian Gray. I don't
know what that means. (He had a solid
B-film career, though, since his
appearance never changed!) A suitable
English prose translation of the first
verse is:
|
6. Torna a Surriento
|
text: G.B. De Curtis -
Music: E. De Curtis (1904)
 7. 'O
Surdato 'Nnamurato text: Aniello Califano - music:
Enrico Cannio For audio click or tap
on the audio scroll below- perf. by
Massimo Ranieri
ABOUT THE SONG: Words and music are from 1915, the year of Italy's entry into WWI. The title means A Soldier in Love and describes the sadness of a soldier at the front during World War I pining for the woman he loves. The song was iconic for Italy in WWI in the same way as Over There was for U.S. troops in the same war, or, in WWII, Lili Marlene for the Germans and We'll Meet Again for the British. There are many wartime songs that capture the moment. This one does. It has had significant recorded versions, among which are Mario Lanza in 1958 and Anna Magnani's performance in the film La sciantosa (1971). A suitable English prose translation of the first verse and refrain is: Staje luntana da stu core to top of page to music portal
|
| 8. Te
Voglio Bene Assaje!
(1835)
text: R. Sacco - music: G.
Donizetti (see this
entry) For audio click or tap
on the audio scroll below. Perf. R. Murolo
|
ABOUT THE SONG: (I
encourage you to read "see this entry,"
above.) This is what started it all.
Music historians claim that this is
where folk music turned into the
"composed Neapolitan song," (the local
version of Tin Pan Alley!) the popular canzone
napoletana, that conjures up
"Italy" in the minds of millions the
world over. That commercial genre dates
back to the first Festival of | 9. Santa Lucia (source uncertain - pub. 1849) (see this entry) For audio, click or tap on the audio
scroll below. Perf. R.Murolo
Comme se frícceca la luna chiena! |
ABOUT THE SONG:
The entire complicated history of this
song is at the "see this entry" link,
above. Please read it. Readers may know
that Santa Lucia is the name of a popular
Neapolitan song about the area of that
name in Naples. In older literature, the
quarter used to be referred to as "a small
fishing village outside of Naples."
Indeed, even in recent material by people
who have never been there, it has been
called "a town near Naples." Nothing of
the sort; it is precisely the area across
from the famous Egg Castle of Naples. That
area, however, is not what it used to be;
the original fishing port of Santa Lucia
was filled in and built over with
fashionable hotels around 1900 as part of
the urban renewal of the city known as the
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