Introduction
"It's Now Or Never" was released by Elvis in 1962. It is of course new lyrics to the famous Neapolitan song "O Sole Mio", and followed on from other original Neapolitan songs recently recorded in English by singers such as Dean Martin. The main era of Neapolitan songs was the turn of the Twentieth Century. The big singer of that time was Enrico Caruso, and, like Pavarotti today, he added Neapolitan songs to his main repertoire, operatic arias. Caruso's records, some from as early as 1902, sound very good on CD. There is a lot of color.
Before this time, however, The Neapolitan song was already an institution: from the 1830s there had been an annual songwriting contest for the Festival of Piedigrotta, a Neapolitan church (the Madonna of Piedigrotta). The first winner was a song written by the opera composer Donizetti, this indeed "linking" opera and Neapolitan song from the start.
Naples being the source of so much song is not surprising in view of the fact that the city had been a major centre of music in Europe two hundred years before. Alessandro Scarlatti, who helped develop the modern concerto, was significantly based there, and in the 1700s a series of famous composers followed him iin Naples, Piccinni, Paisiello, Cimarosa and Pergolesi amongst others. In the 1500s "conservatories" had been set up by the invading Spanish in Naples to house orphans, and by the early 1600s these had become effectively music schools, as musical training was a big part of the care of the children. These schools became a major European training ground for music, and by the 1700s Naples was called "the conservatory of Europe".
As suggested above, leading composers continued to arise there in the 1800s: not just Donizetti but also Rossini and Bellini.
The Neapolitan Song Era
The main Neapolitan songwriters lived from, in general, about 1840/60 to 1920. Thus, a large amount of the biggest Neapolitan songs were written around 1900. Famous writes included Eduardo di Capua, ho wrote "O Sole Mio" (Giovanni Capuro wrote the lyrics), Ernesto de Curtis, and Paolo Tosti. Tosti wrote many hits including "Marechiae". A reviewer wrote a review of the song that sums up Neapolitan song as a whole: "(Tosti's) latest work is one of the many souvenirs of Southern Italy, that enchanting place were popular songs spring forth spontaneously and melodiously .... his recently published song is one of his best .... it is called 'Marechiare', after a little village on the coast, and the delightful words are by Salvatore Di Giacomo, that accomplished poet of popular verse ...."
Paolo Tosti
Two of the most famous Neapolitan songs are of course "Funiculi Funicula" (Luigi Denza) from 1880, written to celebrate a new railway, and "Torna a Sorrento" (de Curtis, 1902; the lyrics re written by his brother Giambattista), almost as famous as "O Sole Mio". The latter is, in English, "Come back to Sorrento": "come back ... see the sea ...feel the breezes ..."
"Torna a Sorrento"
This [dubbed] recording is by Luciano Pavarotti/Orchestra of the Teatro Communale Bologna conducted by Anton Gaudagno (Decca)
The Singers
An astonishing list of recordings of "Torna a Sorrento" is at
Scanning the list will reveal the major operatic tenors who can be found singing Neapolitan songs: the first "three tenors" Caruso, Gigli and Bjorling, and of course more recently Pavarotti. In addition, a special favorite of fans is Giuseppe Di Stefano. The Testament label has more recently released compilations of his records. Another great is Tito Schipa.
The Question Of "Yesterday"
In July, 2006 it was reported that:
"Lilli Greco, a song-writer famous during the 1960s and 1970s, played a version of Piccere' Che Vene a Dicere' on Italian television late Tuesday.
The song, composed in Naples in 1895, appeared remarkably similar to Paul McCartney's composition.
Greco said McCartney and fellow band-member John Lennon had an 'encyclopaedic knowledge' of world music and were particularly fond of Neapolitan songs."
(Antara News)
So, is "Yesterday una copia?" Well, MyMusicDiscovery has not yet heard "Piccerè che vene a dicere", but is tracking it down. It can be said, however, that when the Beatles were in Hamburg, they scoured record shops, flea markets, etc for everything musical they could find. They searched out old records everywhere. "He who has the best record collection writes the best songs" (Keith Richards). Paul McCartney may well have heard the song, though he may have forgotten this by 1965 when "Yesterday" was written. The Beatles also listened to a lot of classical music, and also a lot of modern jazz. They sought out all the music, of any type, as does any (future) potentially brilliant songwriter when he is 18, 19 or 20.
However, the major key change in the verse of "Yesterday", amd the same brilliant melody at this point, is to be found in Tarrega's Capriche Arabe, a guitar piece that may have been copied by the writer of "Piccere' Che Vene a Dicere".
Whatever the result, the significance and general influence of Neapolitan song carries on.
Copyright Simon J Harper 2008