Eduardo Di Capua (May 12, 1865 – October 3, 1917) was a
Neapolitan
Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to:
Geography and history
* Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city
* Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...
composer, singer and songwriter.
Biography
He was born in
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
in 1865.
He is best known for the song "
'O Sole mio
"O sole mio" () is a well-known Neapolitan song written in 1898. Its Neapolitan language lyrics were written by Giovanni Capurro and the music was composed by Eduardo di Capua (1865–1917) and Alfredo Mazzucchi (1878–1972).. The title transl ...
". In 1897, di Capua bought a collection of 23 melodies from an obscure composer,
Alfredo Mazzucchi
Emanuele Alfredo Mazzucchi (1878-1972) was an Italian composer and musician, known for being the co-author of some famous pieces of the Canzone Napoletana (Neapolitan songs) such as "'O sole mio" "Maria Marì" and " I' te vurria vasà".
Alfredo M ...
. Di Capua developed the piece, and then invited the poet
Giovanni Capurro
Giovanni Capurro (February 5, 1859 – January 18, 1920) was an Italian poet, best remembered today as the co-creator, with singer/composer Eduardo Di Capua, of the world famous song, "'O Sole mio".
Capurro was born in Naples. He made his li ...
to write lyrics for it. The resulting song has been recorded by many singers, both classical and popular, in both the original Neapolitan and the English adaptation.
He also wrote "Marie, Ah Marie" ("O Marie" in English), another Neapolitan song.
Eduardo Di Capua died in 1917 in Naples.
Eduardo di Capua
on ''Dizionario Biografico dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
The ''Enciclopedia Italiana di Scienze, Lettere e Arti'' (Italian for "Italian Encyclopedia of Science, Letters, and Arts"), best known as ''Treccani'' for its developer Giovanni Treccani or ''Enciclopedia Italiana'', is an Italian-language en ...
Treccani''
References
External links
*
*
Portrait of di Capua
*
Eduardo Di Capua recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings
The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...
.
1865 births
1917 deaths
19th-century Italian composers
19th-century Italian male singers
20th-century Italian composers
20th-century Italian male singers
Italian male composers
Italian male singer-songwriters
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