Santa Lucia is a Neapolitan song published in 1849, with music by Teodoro Cottrau (1827–1879), the now traditional Italian lyrics by Enrico Cossovich (1822–1912), and Neapolitan lyrics by Baron Michele Zezza (1780–1867).
Dante Musica Viva follows a typical practice of singing only the first, second and fifth of the original six verses and corresponding choruses. It usually sings the choruses in a 4-part harmony arranged by its director, Professor Francesco Sofo.
Resources
undated score of Francesco’s arrangement in B♭
Rehearsal files
The following audio files contain the parts for the chorus. The music begins at the beginning of the second-last bar of the verse.
All: m4a midi
Sopranos: m4a midi
Altos: m4a midi
Tenors: m4a midi
Basses: m4a midi
Scores on other sites
Pdf scan of Teodoro Cottrau’s original vocal score in B♭, with lyrics in Italian and Neapolitan, from IMSLP.
Alternative vocal score in C, in pdf format, at the site artsongcentral.com.
Performances on YouTube
Italian lyrics
Strofa 1a:
Sul mare luccica l’astro d’argento,
placida è l’onda, prospero è il vento.
Ritornello 1o:
Venite all’ agile barchetta mia,
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
Strofa 2a:
Con questo zeffiro così soave,
O, com’ è bello, star sulla nave!
Ritornello 2o:
Su passeggeri, venite via,
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
Strofa 5a:
O dolce Napoli, o suol beato,
Ove sorridere volle il creato!
Ritornello 5o:
Tu sei l’impero dell’ armonia,
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
English translation*
The silvery star shines on the sea,
The waves are gentle, the wind favourable.
Come to my nimble little craft,
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
With such a balmy breeze,
Oh, how pleasant it is to be out on a boat!
Passengers aboard, come away,
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
Oh sweet Naples, oh blessed soil,
Where creation wanted to smile.
You are the empire of harmony,
Santa Lucia! Santa Lucia!
2018
*This translation, by David Wilson, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
