'O sole mio

Neapolitan song written in 1898 March 2021 the 1946 film O sole mio (film) the operatic trio from New Zealand Sol3 Mio O sole mio O sole mio 1st edition cover.jpg First edition sheet music coverDel Bosco 2006 Caption to plate 1, facing p. 112. Neapolitan 1898 Eduardo di CapuaAlfredo Mazzucchi Giovanni Capurro "nap O sole mio no" (nap o ˈsoːlə ˈmiːə Neapolitan:) is a 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).Del Bosco 2006 54–57, 115–18. The title translates literally as "my sun" or "my sunshine".How To Pronounce O sole mio" The lyrics have been translated to other languages. Authorship and copyright For nearly 75 years after its publication, the music of O sole mio" was generally attributed to Eduardo di Capua alone. According to the traditional account, he had composed it in April 1898 in Odessa, while touring with his father's band.Del Bosco 2006 20, 42, 43. It turned out, however, that the melody was an elaboration of one of 23 he had bought from 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 recognised 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 authorisation for the latter to make free use of them.A declaration to that effect, signed by Mazzucchi, and dated 6 June 1897, was tendered as evidence in the case Del Bosco 2006 116.Antonio Tricomi O Sole mio spunta un giallo it O sole mio" produces a thriller La Repubblica 9 October 2002 http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2002/10/09/sole-mio-spunta-un-giallo.htmlEnzo D'Errico Il grande affare di O sole mio" it The vast affair of O sole mio" Corriere della Sera 9 October 2002 38 http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2002/ottobre/09/grande_affare_sole_mio__co_0_0210092644.shtml dead https://archive.today/20120708044853/http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2002/ottobre/09/grande_affare_sole_mio__co_0_0210092644.shtml 8 July 2012 At the time of the decision, therefore, O sole mio" had not yet entered into the public domain in any country that was a party to the Berne Convention during the relevant period, which it would have done in Italy if di Capua had been the sole composer of the music.In which case the copyright would have expired there at the end of 1970.Ponticello 2015 435 In most countries where copyright on a work lasts for 70 years after the death of its last surviving creator, the melody will remain under copyright until 2042. Lyrics Neapolitan lyricshttp://www.napoletanita.it/canz1.htm O sole mio Umberto de Fabio Napoletanita 12 January 2018 noneScores at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) and Art Song Central websites: di Capua Eduardo Capurro Giovanni Alfredo Mazzucchi Henry G. Chapman Eduardo di Capua Giovanni Capurro 1904 1898 O Sole Mio sheet music in Neapolitan and English, plate No. 17481 New York G. Schirmer http://petruccilibrary.us/scores/Mazzucchi_Alfredo_1972/Di%20Capua%20-%20O%20sole%20mio.pdf di Capua Eduardo Capurro Giovanni Alfredo Mazzucchi George Cooper Eduardo di Capua Giovanni Capurro George Cooper (poet) 1918 1898 O Sole Mio (musical score in Neapolitan and English) Elson Louis C. Herbert Victor Wilson Mortimer de Vore Nicholas de Segurola Andrea Perestrelló La Mejor Musica del Mundo 7 New York The University Society http://artsongcentral.com/wp-content/uploads/osolemio2.pdf di Capua Eduardo Capurro Giovanni Alfredo Mazzucchi Nathan Haskell Dole Eduardo di Capua Giovanni Capurro Nathan Haskell Dole 1909 1898 O Sole Mio (musical score in Neapolitan and English) Favilli Mario Echoes of Naples – Thirty Neapolitan songs Oliver Ditson Company http://artsongcentral.com/wp-content/uploads/osolemio1.pdf di Capua Eduardo Capurro Giovanni Alfredo Mazzucchi Sven Nyblom Eduardo di Capua Giovanni Capurro 1901 1898 Du är min sol! sheet music in Neapolitan, Swedish and Italian, Catalog No. 4456 Naples Bideri it Casa Editrice Ferdinando Bideri http://ks.imslp.net/files/imglnks/usimg/0/02/IMSLP344429-PMLP207061-Du_ar_min_sol.pdf none 29 January 2018 30 May 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190530120219/http://ks.imslp.net/files/imglnks/usimg/0/02/IMSLP344429-PMLP207061-Du_ar_min_sol.pdf dead Del Bosco 2006 17http://www.naplesldm.com/napsongtexts.php Texts & Audio to Neapolitan Songs Jeff Matthews Naples: Life, Death & Miracles 10 January 2018English translationCapurro di Capua Mazzucchi Chapman 1904 online copy; Capurro di Capua Mazzucchi Cooper 1918 online copy Capurro di Capua Mazzucchi Dole 1909 online copy. The English lyrics found in these scores are not literal translations. Their meanings sometimes stray quite far from that of the original Neapolitan.Del Bosco 2006 119, 120, 124–26. Pages 119 and 120 contain a literal translation into standard Italian, and Capurro's own rendering into a non-literal poetic version in that language, respectively. Pages 124 to 126 contain three non-literal versions of lyrics in English.  nap Che bella cosa na jurnata 'e sole, n'aria serena doppo na tempesta! Pe' ll'aria fresca pare già na festa... Che bella cosa na jurnata 'e sole. Refrain: nap   Ma n'atu sole cchiù bello, oi ne',Literally, "Oh baby (girl)", but commonly used, as here, by a suitor as a term of endearment when addressing his sweetheart, the term "ne'" being a contraction of "nenna", and meaning "baby girl", or "young girl" Del Bosco 2006 103. The widely circulated rendering of this as "non c'è" in Italian (i.e. "there is not" in English) is an error Del Bosco 2006 101–2. 'o sole mio sta nfronte a te! 'o sole, 'o sole mio sta nfronte a te, sta nfronte a te! Lùceno 'e llastre da fenesta toia; 'na lavannara canta e se ne vanta e pe' tramente torce, spanne e canta, lùceno 'e llastre da fenesta toia. (Refrain) nap Quanno fa notte e 'o sole se ne scenne, me vene quasi 'na malincunia; sotto 'a fenesta toia restarria quanno fa notte e 'o sole se ne scenne. (Refrain)What a beautiful thing is a sunny day! The air is serene after a storm, The air is so fresh that it already feels like a celebration. What a beautiful thing is a sunny day! But another sun, even more beauteous, oh my sweetheart, My own sun, is there in your face! This sun, my own sun, Is there in your face; It is there in your face! Your window panes shine; A laundress is singing and boasting about it; And while she's wringing the clothes, hanging them up to dry, and singing, Your window panes shine. When night comes and the sun has gone down, I almost start feeling melancholy; I'd stay below your window When night comes and the sun has gone down. English versions In 1915, Charles W. Harrison recorded the first English version of O sole mio". In 1921, William E. Booth-Clibborn wrote lyrics for a hymn using the music, entitled "Down from His Glory". In 1949 U.S. singer Tony Martin recorded "There's No Tomorrow" with lyrics by Al Hoffman, Leo Corday, and Leon Carr, which used the melody of O sole mio". About ten years later, while stationed in West Germany with the U.S. Army, Elvis Presley heard the recording and put to tape a private version of the song. Upon his discharge, he requested that new lyrics be written especially for him, a job that was undertaken by the songwriting duo of Aaron Schroeder and Wally Gold, with a demo by David Hill. The rewritten version was entitled "It's Now or Never" and was a worldwide hit for Presley. When performing it in concert in the mid-1970s, Elvis would explain the origin of "It's Now Or Never" and have singer Sherrill Nielsen perform a few lines of the original Neapolitan version before commencing with his version. Bing Crosby included the song in a medley on his album 101 Gang Songs (1961). Actor John Schneider also had a hit with it in 1981. It was on the Billboard Pop charts at number 14 and the Country charts at number 4. In 2026, Scottish singer Susan Boyle released a dance version of the song titled "Just One (ReMAXed Remix)" as part of Cornetto's summer advertising campaign.Susan Boyle unveils surprise new collaboration https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2026/0601/1576224-susan-boyle-reveals-new-project-after-unveiling-new-look/ rte.ie 13 June 2026 en 1 June 2026 Recordings thumb|"'O sole mio", performed by Jānis Vītiņš O sole mio" has been performed and covered by many artists, including Luciano Pavarotti, Enrico Caruso, Rosa Ponselle and her sister Carmella, Andrea Bocelli,Rosa Ponselle: American Diva Mary Jane Phillips-Matz Mary Jane Phillips-Matz 107 University Press of New England 1997 9781555533175 https://books.google.com/books?id=5stjCul4ctcC&pg=PA107 Beniamino Gigli, Richard Tucker,Audio recording: Songs From Sunny Italy: Richard Tucker and Alfredo Antonini performing "O Sole Mio" in 1950 on Archive.org Jan Peerce and Mario Lanza. Sergio Franchi recorded this song on his 1962 RCA Victor Red Seal debut album Romantic Italian Songs.https://www.discogs.com/Sergio-Franchi-Romantic-Italian-Songs/master/270799 Sergio Franchi – Romantic Italian Songs Discogs 12 January 2018 none Luciano Pavarotti won the 1980 Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance for his rendition of O sole mio". Legacy At the opening ceremony of the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, O sole mio" was played in place of the Italian national anthem, whose sheet music had not been delivered to the band.Del Bosco 2006 6, 23. A series of television commercials for Cornetto ice cream, broadcast regularly in Britain during the 1980s, used a jingle ("Just One Cornetto ...") set to the melody of O sole mio". The jingle was widely reported as having been performed by Renato Pagliari,https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/aug/05/renato-pagliari-obituary Sweeting Adam The Guardian 6 August 2009 14 January 2018 Renato Pagliarihttps://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/renato-pagliari-singer-who-had-a-no-1-record-across-europe-alongside-ren-e-1777160.html https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220501/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/renato-pagliari-singer-who-had-a-no-1-record-across-europe-alongside-ren-e-1777160.html 1 May 2022 subscription live Clayson Alan The Independent 25 August 2009 14 January 2018 Renato Pagliari: Singer who had a No 1 record across Europe alongside Renéehttps://www.thetimes.com/sunday-times-rich-list/profile/article/renato-pagliari-voice-behind-just-one-cornetto-advert-dies-s57hbbpzsf6 Gray Sadie The Times 6 August 2009 16 January 2018 Renato Pagliari, voice behind Just One Cornetto advert, dies but after Pagliari's death in 2009, his son denied this.https://www.ft.com/content/7c9e7874-1bad-11e7-a266-12672483791a https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/7c9e7874-1bad-11e7-a266-12672483791a 10 December 2022 subscription live McCann Ian Financial Times 10 April 2017 14 January 2018 O sole mio: from Neapolitan ballad to football chant, via Elvis In January 2025 Mark Steyn profiled the song, including its origins, in his Song of the Week series.O Sole Mio: Steyn's Serenade Radio Song of the Week :: SteynOnline https://www.steynonline.com/14960/o-sole-mio 2025-07-28 www.steynonline.com References Sources Paquito Del Bosco O sole mio – Storia della canzone più famosa del mondo it O Sole Mio – History of the most famous song in the world Donzelli Editore it Rome 2006 Maurizio Ponticello Forse non tutti sanno che a Napoli... – [Maybe not everyone knows that in Naples...] Newton Compton Rome 2015 Further reading Gaetano Santangelo O sole mio ha un nuovo papà it O Sole Mio" has a new father Amadeus (magazine) it Amadeus (rivista) Amadeus 11 October 2002 https://www.belviveremedia.com/amadeus/o-sole-mio-ha-un-nuovo-papa-con-una-premessa-del-settembre-1997 https://web.archive.org/web/20170809211930/https://www.belviveremedia.com/amadeus/o-sole-mio-ha-un-nuovo-papa-con-una-premessa-del-settembre-1997 9 August 2017 none External links nap 'O sole mio O sole mio (di Capua, Eduardo) "O sole mio" Sheet music for O sole mio" collapsed Category:1898 songs Category:Neapolitan songs Category:Compositions by Eduardo di Capua Category:Songs with lyrics by Giovanni Capurro Category:1890s quotations Category:Quotations from music