Santa Lucia
Sign in to saveNeapolitan song written and composed by Teodoro Cottrau
Key facts
- Language
- Neapolitan , Italian
- Songwriter
- Unknown
- Lyricist
- Teodoro Cottrau (Italian)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Genre
- canzone napoletana
- Composer
- Teodoro Cottrau
- Performer
- Elisa's
- Tonality
- C major
- Lyrics by
- Teodoro Cottrau
- Image
- Santa Lucia.png
Show 5 more facts
- language of work or name
- Neapolitan
- Commons category
- Santa Lucia (song)
- publication date
- 1849-00-00
- title
- Santa Lucia
- form of creative work
- song
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
"Santa Lucia" ( Italian: [ˈsanta luˈtʃiːa], Neapolitan: [ˈsandə luˈtʃiːə]) is a traditional Neapolitan song. It was translated by Teodoro Cottrau (1827–1879) from Neapolitan into Italian and published by the Cottrau firm, as a barcarola, in Naples in 1849, during the first stage of the Italian unification. Significantly, it is the first Neapolitan song to be translated to Italian lyrics. Its transcriber, who is often miscredited as its composer, was the son of the French-born Italian composer and collector of songs Guillaume Louis Cottrau (1797–1847). Various sources credit A. Longo with the music, 1835.
The original lyrics of "Santa Lucia" celebrate the picturesque waterfront district Borgo Santa Lucia in the Gulf of Naples, with an invitation (sales pitch) from a boatman to take a ride in his boat to better enjoy the cool evening.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Santa Lucia” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.