Authors of the Neapolitan songs

Nicola Valente, Italian composer, was born on 28th August 1881 in Naples. He was the firstborn of the composer Vincenzo Valente, one of the founders of Neapolitan song. The father's house was frequented by the main authors of the Neapolitan song, so little Nicola became involved in music at an early age for which he showed abilities. His father wanted his son to become a concert pianist and enrolled him in the San Pietro a Majella Conservatory, where Nicola studied piano and composition.

After graduating from the Conservatory, Nicola Valente became an excellent pianist and was invited to Malta for a series of concerts. This was the beginning of his career as a pianist, which he soon interrupted because of nostalgia for his city. After returning to Naples, Nicola Valente devoted himself to composing songs.

Nicola Valente wrote his first Neapolitan songs, the satirical "macchiettas", at the age of 17 for comedian Nicola Maldacea. Among them were "Sò semp' 'o stesso!" (I'm always the same!), "Don Pippetto" and "Fanny!" which was awarded with a diploma of honor at the Piedigrotta Competition in 1899.

In 1912, Nicola Valente signed a contract with the Polyphon publishing house, which gave him a stable income and his first successes: "'E ffigliole" (The girls) (lyrics by Rocco Galdieri), "Tutta mia!" (Only mine!) (lyrics by Antonio Barbieri), "Parole d'ammore" (Words of love) and "Serenata a 'na vicina" (Serenade to my neighbour) (lyrics by Salvatore Di Giacomo).

Unlike his father, who was inelegant, stocky and rude, Nicola Valente was handsome, sagacious and ironic, but at the same time a restless, hurried man. The Polyphon publishing house described his character in this way: "He leaves his house in a hurry. He sees a carriage passing by and jumps into it. He rushes to a passerby to ask for matches and gets back into the carriage, then immediately gets out of it. He bursts into the Polyphon publishing house, throws his straw hat on the table, throws open the windows, rushes to the piano, hits the keys powerfully, suddenly runs into another room and, suffocating from the intense heat, throws off his jacket in one movement. In a loud voice he asks for a cold drink and, seeing that no one is paying attention, he shakes his head nervously, runs to the balcony and shouts to a passing corporal: "Corporal, don't take that as an order… go to the bar downstairs and bring me a cup of hot coffee!" All this "earthquake" was caused by Nicola Valente".

During the same period, Nicola Valente also wrote works for the musical theater, starting with the revue "Madama Europa" (1916) and the comedy "La moglie nascosta" (The hidden wife) to a libretto by Rocco Galdieri (also 1916). Then he moved on to operetta: in 1918 he wrote "La bella Mara" ((The beautiful Marah) (three acts, libretto by Zecchi). After his father's death, Nicola Valente completed in 1923 his operetta "Nemesi" (Nemesis) (three acts, libretto by Alfredo Napolitano), which was republished with changes in 1925 under the title "Lo shimmy verde" (The green shimmy). In 1928, together with Ernesto Tagliaferri, he wrote the music for the operetta "Mugika" (three acts, libretto by Alfredo Napolitano).

Returning to the Neapolitan songs in the 1920s, Nicola Valente entered a successful period. With equal skill and genius, he touched upon all genres of composition, from the dramatic ("Malandrino" (A brigand), "Manname 'e cunfiette!" (Send me the sweets!)) to the romantic ("Anema nera" (Black soul), "Siente, Marì!" (Listen, Maria!)), from the comic ('N'accordo in "Fa" (The Fah chord), "'A casciaforte" (The safe)) to the satirical ("'O sciopero d' 'e ffemmene" (Women's strike), "Tutto è pronto" (Everything is ready)).

He collaborated with the publishing houses "Gennarelli", "Canzonetta", "Santa Lucia" until 1934, when he founded the publishing house "La bottega dei Quattro " (The Studio of the Four) together with Libero Bovio, Gaetano Lama and Ernesto Tagliaferri. All subsequent songs by Nicola Valente were published in this publishing house, among which were "'E bbuscie" (The lies), "Fantasia" (Fantasy) and the famous song "Passione" (Passion), written together with Ernesto Tagliaferri.

In 1903, Nicola Valente married Gemma Ceravolo, with whom he had no children. He suffered from gambling addiction and often returned home very late after playing cards, which angered his wife. One day, after finishing a game at tresette at dawn, before returning home, he went to fishermen and bought a kilogram of fish. His wife was waiting for him, already awake, and Nicola, to calm her anger, handed her the fish and said: "I've been waiting a long time for the nets to be pulled out to bring you this fish".

He collaborated with many poets of that time, with whom he wrote wonderful songs: "Core signore" (Noble heart) (with Salvatore Baratta), "'A zingara" (The gipsy) (with Domenico Furnò), "Fantasia 'e surdato" (Soldier's fantasy) (with Beniamino Canetti), "Nun è Carmela mia" (She's not my Carmela) (with Francesco Fiore), "Torna!" (Come back!) (with Pacifico Vento).

Together with Libero Bovio, Nicola Valente wrote other successful songs, among which were: "E tu chi sì?" (But who are you?), "Brinneso" (Toast), "Ll'addio" (The farewell), "Napule d' 'e ccanzone" (Singing Naples), "Tatonno se ne va!" (Antonio goes away!) and the famous "Signorinella" (Signorina), which Nicola wrote in ten minutes, returning home after a sleepless night in a card club and another loss in poker. And even if he did not reach the level that his father reached, but in all the years of his activity, Nicola Valente has never been rejected by the public and not a single one of his songs has been criticized.

In 1944, during the Second World War, Nicola Valente achieved another success with the song "Simmo 'e Napule, paisà!" (We are from Naples, countrymen!) with lyrics by Peppino Fiorelli. His last success was the song "Addio, mia bella Napoli!" (Good-bye, my beautiful Naples!) with lyrics by Tito Manlio. As if anticipating the inevitable end of his life, Nicola wrote this touching music. It was his farewell song.

Nicola Valente spent the last months of his life in bed, but still found the strength to get up and reach his piano.

Nicola Valente died on 16th September 1946 at the age of 65. His song "'E denare" (The money) became his last song, which was published in 1947 after his death.