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German composer [[Richard Strauss]] heard the song while on a tour of [[Italy]] six years after it was written. He thought that it was a traditional Neapolitan folk song and incorporated it into his ''{{lang|de|[[Aus Italien]]}}'' tone poem. Denza filed a lawsuit against him and won, and Strauss was forced to pay him a royalty fee.<ref name=Foreman/> Russian composer [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov]] also mistook "Funiculì, Funiculà" for a traditional folk song and used it in his 1907 "{{lang|ru|Neapolitanskaya pesenka}}" (Neapolitan Song).<ref name=Slonimsky/> Cornettist [[Herman Bellstedt]] used it as the basis for a theme and variations titled ''Napoli''; a transcription for [[euphonium]] is also popular among many performers. Modernist composer [[Arnold Schoenberg]] arranged a version for ensemble in 1921.<ref name=USC/>
German composer [[Richard Strauss]] heard the song while on a tour of [[Italy]] six years after it was written. He thought that it was a traditional Neapolitan folk song and incorporated it into his ''{{lang|de|[[Aus Italien]]}}'' tone poem. Denza filed a lawsuit against him and won, and Strauss was forced to pay him a royalty fee.<ref name=Foreman/> Russian composer [[Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov]] also mistook "Funiculì, Funiculà" for a traditional folk song and used it in his 1907 "{{lang|ru|Neapolitanskaya pesenka}}" (Neapolitan Song).<ref name=Slonimsky/> Cornettist [[Herman Bellstedt]] used it as the basis for a theme and variations titled ''Napoli''; a transcription for [[euphonium]] is also popular among many performers. Modernist composer [[Arnold Schoenberg]] arranged a version for ensemble in 1921.<ref name=USC/>


Over the years the song has been performed by many artists including [[Erna Sack]], [[Anna German]], [[Mario Lanza]], [[Beniamino Gigli]], [[The Mills Brothers]], [[Connie Francis]], [[Haruomi Hosono]] (with lyrics translated into Japanese), [[The Grateful Dead]],<ref name=Trager /> [[Luciano Pavarotti]], [[Andrea Bocelli]], [[Alvin and the Chipmunks]], and [[Il Volo]].
Over the years the song has been performed by many artists including [[Erna Sack]], [[Anna German]], [[Mario Lanza]], [[Beniamino Gigli]], [[The Mills Brothers]], [[Connie Francis]], [[Haruomi Hosono]] (with lyrics translated into Japanese), [[The Grateful Dead]],<ref name=Trager /> [[Luciano Pavarotti]], [[Andrea Bocelli]], [[Alvin and the Chipmunks]], and [[Il Volo]]. It is frequently used in media to evoke Italian culture or when an Italian character is introduced.


In the "[[Mickey and the Beanstalk]]" segment of the Disney film ''[[Fun and Fancy Free]]'', [[Donald Duck]] and [[Goofy]] sing "Eat Until I Die," a song expressing their longing for food, set to the melody of "Funiculì, Funiculà."
In the "[[Mickey and the Beanstalk]]" segment of the Disney film ''[[Fun and Fancy Free]]'', [[Donald Duck]] and [[Goofy]] sing "Eat Until I Die," a song expressing their longing for food, set to the melody of "Funiculì, Funiculà."

Revision as of 02:42, 7 September 2018

"Funiculì, Funiculà"
Song
LanguageNeapolitan
Written1880
Published1880
GenreCanzone Napoletana
Composer(s)Luigi Denza
Lyricist(s)Peppino Turco
Audio sample
Funiculì Funiculà

"Funiculì, Funiculà" (IPA: [funikuˈli ffunikuˈla]) is a famous Neapolitan song composed in 1880 by Luigi Denza to lyrics by Peppino Turco. It was written to commemorate the opening of the first funicular cable car on Mount Vesuvius. It was presented by Turco and Denza at the Piedigrotta festival the same year. The sheet music was published by Ricordi and sold over a million copies within a year. It has been widely adapted and recorded since its publication.

History

The Mount Vesuvius funicular in the 19th century

"Funiculì, Funiculà" was composed in 1880 in Castellammare di Stabia, the home town of the song's composer, Luigi Denza; the lyrics were contributed by journalist Peppino Turco.[1] It was Turco who prompted Denza to compose it, perhaps as a joke,[1] to commemorate the opening of the first funicular on Mount Vesuvius in that year.[2][a] The song was sung for the first time in the Quisisana Hotel[b] in Castellammare di Stabia.[citation needed] It was presented by Turco and Denza at the Piedigrotta festival during the same year and became immensely popular in Italy and abroad.[5] Published by Casa Ricordi, the sheet music sold over a million copies in a year.[1]

Adaptations and unintentional plagiarism

German composer Richard Strauss heard the song while on a tour of Italy six years after it was written. He thought that it was a traditional Neapolitan folk song and incorporated it into his Aus Italien tone poem. Denza filed a lawsuit against him and won, and Strauss was forced to pay him a royalty fee.[6] Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov also mistook "Funiculì, Funiculà" for a traditional folk song and used it in his 1907 "Neapolitanskaya pesenka" (Neapolitan Song).[7] Cornettist Herman Bellstedt used it as the basis for a theme and variations titled Napoli; a transcription for euphonium is also popular among many performers. Modernist composer Arnold Schoenberg arranged a version for ensemble in 1921.[8]

Over the years the song has been performed by many artists including Erna Sack, Anna German, Mario Lanza, Beniamino Gigli, The Mills Brothers, Connie Francis, Haruomi Hosono (with lyrics translated into Japanese), The Grateful Dead,[9] Luciano Pavarotti, Andrea Bocelli, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Il Volo. It is frequently used in media to evoke Italian culture or when an Italian character is introduced.

In the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" segment of the Disney film Fun and Fancy Free, Donald Duck and Goofy sing "Eat Until I Die," a song expressing their longing for food, set to the melody of "Funiculì, Funiculà."

In 1960, Robert B. and Richard M. Sherman wrote a new set of English lyrics to the melody of "Funiculì, Funiculà" with the title "Dream Boy".[10][11][12] Annette Funicello included the song on her album of Italian songs titled Italiannette and also released it as a single, becoming a minor hit.[13]

In the 2001 VeggieTales episode "Lyle the Kindly Viking", it was adapted into a lyrical song called "Larry's High Silk Hat" portraying the tragic destruction of Larry the Cucumber's prized silk headwear.

The 2004 video game Spider-Man 2 featured an instrumental of the melody of "Funiculì, Funiculà," that would play during the game's pizza delivery missions.

In Girls und Panzer an instrumental of the song is used by Anzio Girls High School.

Lyrics

Original Neapolitan lyrics

In Turco's original lyrics, a young man compares his sweetheart to a volcano, and invites her to join him in a romantic trip to the summit.

Neapolitan lyrics[14]
Aissera, oje Nanniné, me ne sagliette,
tu saje addó, tu saje addó
Addó 'stu core 'ngrato cchiù dispietto
farme nun pò! Farme nun pò!
Addó lu fuoco coce, ma se fuje
te lassa sta! Te lassa sta!
E nun te corre appriesso, nun te struje
sulo a guardà, sulo a guardà.
(Coro)
Jamme, jamme 'ncoppa, jamme jà,
Jamme, jamme 'ncoppa, jamme jà,
funiculì, funiculà, funiculì, funiculà,
'ncoppa, jamme jà, funiculì, funiculà!
Se n'è sagliuta, oje né, se n'è sagliuta,
la capa già! La capa già!
È gghiuta, po' è turnata, po' è venuta,
sta sempe ccà! Sta sempe ccà!
La capa vota, vota, attuorno, attuorno,
attuorno a tte! Attuorno a tte!
Stu core canta sempe nu taluorno:
Sposamme, oje né! Sposamme, oje né!
(Coro)
Jamme, jamme 'ncoppa, jamme jà,
Jamme, jamme 'ncoppa, jamme jà,
funiculì, funiculà, funiculì, funiculà,
'ncoppa, jamme jà, funiculì, funiculà!
English translation[14]
I climbed up high this evening, oh, Nanetta,
Do you know where? Do you know where?
Where your ungrateful heart no longer pains me
With teasing wiles! With teasing wiles!
Where fire burns, but if you run away,
It lets you be, it lets you be!
It doesn't follow after nor torment you
Just with a look, just with a look.
(Chorus)
Let's go, let's go! To the top we'll go!
Let's go, let's go! To the top we'll go!
Funiculi, funicula, funiculi, funicula!
To the top we'll go, funiculi, funicula!
The car has climbed up high, see, climbed up high now,
Right to the top! Right to the top!
It went, and turned around, and came back down,
And now it's stopped! And now it's stopped!
The top is turning round, and round, and round,
Around yourself! Around yourself!
My heart is singing the same refrain:
We should be wed! We should be wed!
(Chorus)
Let's go, let's go! To the top we'll go!
Let's go, let's go! To the top we'll go!
Funiculi, funicula, funiculi, funicula!
To the top we'll go, funiculi, funicula!

Traditional English lyrics

Edward Oxenford, a lyricist and translator of librettos,[15] wrote lyrics with scant relationship to the original that became traditional in English-speaking countries.[9] His version of the song often appears with the title "A Merry Life".

Sheet music version

Some think the world is made for fun and frolic,
And so do I! And so do I!
Some think it well to be all melancholic,
To pine and sigh; to pine and sigh;
But I, I love to spend my time in singing,
Some joyous song, some joyous song,
To set the air with music bravely ringing
Is far from wrong! Is far from wrong!
Harken, harken, music sounds a-far!
Harken, harken, with a happy heart!
Funiculì, funiculà, funiculì, funiculà!
Joy is everywhere, funiculì, funiculà!

Ah me! 'tis strange that some should take to sighing,
And like it well! And like it well!
For me, I have not thought it worth the trying,
So cannot tell! So cannot tell!
With laugh, with dance and song the day soon passes
Full soon is gone, full soon is gone,
For mirth was made for joyous lads and lasses
To call their own! To call their own!
Harken, harken, hark the soft guitar!
Harken, harken, hark the soft guitar!
Funiculì, funiculà, funiculì, funiculà!
Hark the soft guitar, funiculì, funiculà!

Notes

  1. ^ The funicular was later destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in 1944.[3]
  2. ^ According to one source, Denza was the son of the proprietor of the Quisisana.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Meloncelli, Raoul (1990). "Luigi Denza". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (in Italian). Retrieved 26 January 2015 – via Treccani.it.
  2. ^ Fuld, James J. (2000). The Book of World-famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk (5th ed.). Courier. p. 240. ISBN 978-0-486-41475-1.
  3. ^ Smith, Paul (March 1998). "Thomas Cook & Son's Vesuvius Railway" (PDF). Japan Railway & Transport Review: 10–15. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  4. ^ Nuova Antologia di Lettere, Scienze ed Arti (in Italian). Direzione della Nuova Antologia. 1908. p. 576.
  5. ^ Randel, Don Michael (1996). The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. Harvard University Press. pp. 209–210. ISBN 978-0-674-37299-3.
  6. ^ Foreman, Edward (2001). Authentic Singing: The history of singing. Pro Musica. ISBN 978-1-887-11712-8.
  7. ^ Slonimsky, Nicolas (2004). Slonimsky Yourke, Electra (ed.). Nicolas Slonimsky: Russian and Soviet music and composers. Routledge. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-415-96866-9.
  8. ^ "273. Denza: Funiculi, funicula". Schoenberg Archives. Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ a b Trager, Oliver (1997). The American Book of the Dead. Simon and Schuster. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-684-81402-5.
  10. ^ Catalog of Copyright Entries Series 3. June 1960. p. 106. Dick Sherman and Bob Sherman. NM; 'new words to P.D. tune"
  11. ^ "The Cashbox Pick of the Week". Cashbox. 22 (19): 16. 21 January 1961.
  12. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Joel Whitburn Presents Across the Charts: The 1960s. Record Research. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-89820-175-8.
  13. ^ "Annette Funicello Dream Boy Chart History". Billboard. 27 February 1961. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  14. ^ a b Bivona, Mike (2013). Traveling Around the World with Mike and Barbara Bivona. iUniverse. p. 119. ISBN 978-1-4917-1041-8.
  15. ^ Eyles, F. A. H. (1889). Popular Poets of the Period. Griffith, Farran, Okeden, and Welsh. p. 148.
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