This beautiful Neapolitan song is the most famous song from Giambattista de Curtis (1860-1925) - brother of the great Neapolitan composer Ernesto de Curtis (1875-1937). Giambattista was mainly painter and poet, but he wrote occasionally also music.
This song is often mistaken to be from Ernesto de Curtis. It has very interesting history.
Supposedly, the subject of the song came from a conversation Giambattista had in the lobby of a hotel in Sorrento with a rich young girl; de Curtis asked the girl what she usually did, and she responded, "I sleep". This inspired de Curtis to write a song -
"Sleep Carme! (Carmela), the most beautiful thing in life is to sleep!" /
Canzone Napoletana - "Carmela" / "Carme" / "Duorme Carme!" |