Too much craziness going on in the world, so perhaps readers will forgive me for taking a lighter tone this week.
I came across the article below on Italian songs via a travel website (Select Italy Tours). The angle it took intrigued me: Top Ten Songs dedicated to specific cities or regions of Italy—Rome, Venice, Sardinia, etc. O Sole Mio is obviously the most well-known. The others may surprise you.
Along with brief summaries of the songs, there are links to video presentations of them, such as Luciano Pavarotti interpreting the above-mentioned Neapolitan classic. It’s too bad there wasn’t more room in the introductions. O Sole Mio, for instance, was originally attributed to Eduardo di Capua who, while touring in 1898 with a band in Odessa (yes, that Odessa—this is what I mean by craziness), was depressed by the dreary skies of the Black Sea and longed for his Neapolitan sun.
But over the decades, his contribution to the work got muddied. Here is what we learn on WIKI:
For nearly 75 years after its publication, the music of ‘O sole mio had generally been attributed to Eduardo di Capua alone. According to the traditional account, di Capua had composed it in April 1898 in Odessa, while touring with his father’s band. It has turned out, however, that the melody was an elaboration of one of 23 which di Capua had bought from another musician, Alfredo Mazzucchi, in the preceding year.
In November 1972, shortly after her father’s death, Mazzucchi’s daughter lodged a declaration with Italy’s Office of Literary, Artistic and Scientific Property, which sought to have her father recognized as a co-composer of 18 of di Capua’s songs, including O Sole Mio.
In October 2002, Maria Alvau, a judge in Turin, upheld the declaration, ruling that Mazzucchi had indeed been a legitimate co-composer of the 18 songs, because they included melodies he had composed and then sold to di Capua in June 1897, with a written authorization for the latter to make free use of them.
At the time of the decision, therefore, the melody of O Sole Mio had not yet—as had been widely supposed—entered into the public domain in any country that was a party to the Berne Convention during the relevant period. In most countries where copyright in a work lasts for 70 years after any of its authors’ deaths, the melody will remain under copyright until 2042.
Another fun fact: The melody of O Sole Mio is recognizable to Elvis fans via the King’s famous song, It’s Now or Never. Play both songs back-to-back and see if this isn’t a stretch. Enjoy! -BDC
Italian Music and Destinations: 10 Passionate Songs – It’s All About Italy
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