Authors of the Neapolitan songs

Libero Bovio, an Italian poet, writer and playwright, was born in Naples on 8th June 1883. His father was Giovanni Bovio, a famous philosopher and patriot, and his mother Bianca Nicosia was a pianist. Born in Trani, Giovanni Bovio came to Naples to give philosophy lectures at the university and remained there forever.

He was a leader of the Irredenta Association of Italy which promoted the annexation of territories to Italy, historically belonging to it, but under the control of other states. As a man who follows his ideals Giovanni Bovio convinced his wife Bianca to give unusual names to their two sons: the first son was named Corso (literally "Corsican") as if declaring the Italian identity of the island of Corsica, subordinate to the French; the second one was named Libero ("Libero" literally "Free" in Italian) as a wish for freedom to all ethnic Italians living in areas controlled by the Austrian Empire and France. The students of his course joked: "Now Professor Bovio has to give birth to a daughter to call her Philosophy".

Libero Bovio grew up as a calm and affable child. His mother Bianca stubbornly wanted him to be a doctor. At first he liked his mother's idea, but when his cousin, a good surgeon, brought him to the operation, Bovio learned the harsh reality of the operating room and lost consciousness when the surgeon's scissors pierced the patient's body. He flatly refused to connect his life with medicine.

After his father's death in 1903 twenty-year-old Libero Bovio had to go to work to contribute to the family budget, but he dreamed of poetry. His mother tried to discourage his ambitions; a good pianist, she played Beethoven for him to convince her son that this was real music, unlike the music of Tosti and Di Capua! But after discovering a crumpled piece of paper of her son's first poem sadly entitled "Malatella" (A sick girl) and facing the inevitable, Bovio's mother gave up, and twenty-year-old Bovio became a reporter for "Don Marzio", a daily newspaper that was as glorious as it was poor. The newspaper's editors paid the newcomer a salary of two lire a month, but Bovio received more: his mother paid the difference secretly to encourage her young son to work. However Libero Bovio was tired of journalism which, in his opinion, took up too much time from poetry. He moved to a clerkship at the National Museum which gave him much more time to write.

Already in his youth Bovio wrote songs. The first song was "'Nu mistero" (The mystery) set to music in 1902 by Giulio Del Vecchio and appeared in "Del Vecchio's Album". A year later he wrote "'A vita è 'nu suonno" (Life is a dream) set to music by Salvatore Gambardella and "Ddoje staggione" (Two seasons). In the same period he wrote works for the theater ("Chitarrata" (Guitarata) and "Mala nova" (Bad news) in 1902) in which he demonstrated the possibility of creating a theater in the Neapolitan dialect.

Soon his name became known in Naples. Libero Bovio began to collaborate with many Neapolitan composers: "'A muntanara" (The girl, living on the mountain) with Ernesto De Curtis, "Napulitana" (Neapolitan girl) and "'Na cammarella" (Little room) with Rodolfo Falvo, "Si chiagnere me siente" (If you hear me crying) with Salvatore Gambardella, "Si 'sta chitarra" (If this guitar) with Evemero Nardella. The definitive success came in 1909 with the song "Canta pe' mme!" (Sing to me!) with Ernesto De Curtis and then with the song "Surdate" (Soldiers) with Evemero Nardella. Bovio also ventured creatively into the criminal world but he did it in his own way with sad irony in his song "Guapparia" (A gathering of bandits).

During the First World War, being a patriot, Bovio supported his country with arms in hand and described the pain of mothers in his song "'A guerra" (The war) and the suffering of soldiers in "Canzona 'e surdate" (Song of soldiers). The horrors at the front did not prevent his poetry: Bovio wrote "Napule canta" (Naples sings) with Ernesto Tagliaferri, "Tu ca nun chiagne" (You who don't cry) with Ernesto De Curtis and "'A canaria" (The canary) with Gaetano Lama.

Already in 1913, Bovio wrote poetry in Italian: his song "Amor di pastorello" (Herder's love) with music by Emanuele Nutile was a success. In 1917, in collaboration with Gaetano Lama, one of his masterpieces was born: the song "Reginella" (Regina) in the Neapolitan dialect. Some time later, Libero Bovio translated the lyrics of this song into Italian. Being always a joker, he pretended to be indignant and asked Gaetano Lama: "Who is that scoundrel who translated my song?". Libero Bovio continued in this direction and wrote songs in Italian "Cara piccina!" (Dear babe!), "Piccola bruna" (Little brunette), "Pallida mimosa" (Pale mimosa) in tandem with Gaetano Lama, "A, bi, ci" (A, b, c) to the music of Mario Cosentino, up to the famous "Signorinella" (Signorina) of 1931 in collaboration with Nicola Valente.

Libero Bovio often demanded – and always obtained it – to personally choose the singers to whom he entrusted his compositions. It was not a whim; Bovio, like no one else, could assess the abilities of a singer. He was convinced that the voice, along with poetry and music, is the third important component of success.

Bovio was always one of the first to be invited to theatrical premieres, but having a sense of humor, even in such cultural places, he amused others with witty answers and jokes. He was witty even in life situations. Everyone was afraid of his brilliant, sharp, but never malicious jokes. All of Naples recognized Bovio as a master. They immediately recognized him and took off their hats when his carriage passed. Many people came to Bovio's working room to chat, express their opinions and joke.

In 1919 Libero Bovio married Maria Di Furia with whom he had two children: daughter Bianca and son Aldo.

In 35 years of poetic work – according to the calculation of his son Aldo – Bovio wrote over 600 songs. His most famous songs are: "'Ncopp' a ll'onna" (On the wave), "'O mare canta" (The sea sings), "Silenzio cantatore" (Melodious silence), the comic tragedy "Brinneso" (Toast), the poignant song "Chiove" (It's raining), dedicated to the languishing existence of the singer Elvira Donnarumma, "L'addio" (The farewell), "Carcere" (A prison), which is an attack on injustice, "Zappatore" (A digger), in which Bovio touched on the theme of ungrateful children, "'O paese d' 'o sole" (The land of the sun) from 1925, written in tandem with Vincenzo d'Annibale. In the same year, 1925, in collaboration with Francesco Buongiovanni he wrote "Lacreme napulitane" (Neapolitan tears), an extraordinary contribution to the cycle of mournful songs about emigration.

In the 1930s the consolidation of fascism coincided with the decline of the Neapolitan song. Libero Bovio defied that time by founding the Publishing House "La Bottega dei 4" (The Studio of the Four) in 1934 together with Ernesto Tagliaferri, Nicola Valente and Gaetano Lama. Even the meager earnings were shared between the four of them. In the small rooms of that publishing house overlooking Roma Street the unforgettable song "Passione" (Passion) and the evil "L'ultima tarantella" (The last tarantella) were born. In 1937 Ernesto Tagliaferri died and Bovio dedicated to him the song "Chitarra nera" (Black Guitar). "Busciarda, me vuò bbene!" (Liar, you love me!), in the same year, became the final song of Libero Bovio.

In the autumn of 1941 the ever-imaginary sick Bovio really got sick. Locked in his house on Duomo Street, he treated himself with irony. When the doctor, thin and pale, told him: "Don't worry, you will be as well as me!", the ironic Bovio replied: "Better to die!". He died on 26th May 1942 at the age of almost 59 in his house, the walls of which were shaking from the bombing. Two hours before his death, Libero Bovio wrote his last poem "Addio a Maria" (Goodbye to Maria), which he dedicated to his beloved wife Maria Di Furia. Lines from this poetry were later engraved on his tomb.

His son Aldo Bovio also became an author of the lyrics to some Neapolitan songs written in the 1950s.