Eldo Di Lazzaro (21 February 1902 - 29 November 1968) was an Italian composer, mainly successful during the 1930s.
Life and career
Born in
Trapani
Trapani ( , ; scn, Tràpani ; lat, Drepanum; grc, Δρέπανον) is a city and municipality (''comune'') on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an impor ...
, Di Lazzaro grew up in
Trivento
Trivento is a ''comune'' (municipality) and Catholic episcopal see in the Province of Campobasso in the southern Italian region Molise, located about northwest of Campobasso.
Trivento borders the following municipalities: Castelguidone, Castelm ...
, in the
Molise
Molise (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Neapolitan, Mulise) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy. Until 1963, it formed part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise, alongside the region of Abruzzo. The split, which did not become effe ...
region.
[Campi, Paola (1991).]
Di Lazzaro, Eldo
. ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani
The ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' ( en, Biographical Dictionary of the Italians) is a biographical dictionary published by the Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, started in 1925 and completed in 2020. It includes about 40,000 biograp ...
'', Volume 40. Treccani
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 ...
. After having learned to play the piano from his father,
he started his career as a pianist in ballrooms.
[Giannelli, Enzo (1990). "Di Lazzaro, Eldo". Gino Castaldo (edited by). ''Dizionario della canzone italiana''. Curcio Editore. p. 560.]
Di Lazzaro started composing songs and
incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...
in the early 1920s, and had his breakout in 1932 thanks to the song "Campane".
His style was known as "canzone alla Di Lazzaro" ('Di Lazzaro's style song'), and mixed the classical Italian style with folk influences.
His best-known composition was "Regginella campagnola", which
Glenn Miller
Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Arm ...
successfully covered in English as "
The Woodpecker Song
"The Woodpecker Song" (''Reginella Campagnola'') is originally an Italian song. The music was written by Eldo Di Lazzaro in 1939, while the Italian lyrics were written by Bruno Cherubini (pseudonym "C. Bruno"). The English lyrics were written by H ...
" and later became a widely spread
football chant
A football chant or terrace chant is form of vocalisation performed by supporters of association football, typically during football matches. Football chanting is an expression of collective identity, most often used by fans to express their p ...
.
Other hits include "
Chitarra romana", "La piccinina" (covered in French as "Toi que mon coeur appelle" and in English as "Ferryboat Serenade"), "Rosabella del Molise" and "Il passerotto", which was finalist at the
third edition of the
Sanremo Music Festival
The Sanremo Music Festival, officially the Italian Song Festival () and commonly known as just (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria. It is the longest-running annual ...
.
A heart patient, he died on 29 November 1968, at the age of 66.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Di Lazzaro, Eldo
1902 births
1968 deaths
People from Trapani
20th-century Italian composers
Italian male composers