This song, even for those who seldom listen to classical music, will probably be familiar. Recently, it was used as an advertising soundtrack by a fast food. Those who have studied music in

, especially vocal music, are more familiar with it. It is said that this is often the first

Italian song that vocal music students study regularly. Although its melody is simple, it is extremely beautiful, and some people even call it the most beautiful

song in Italy.

However, the popularity of the song is accompanied by the author's obscurity today. It is generally believed that the author is Giuseppe Giordan

i, but some people have verified that the author is a Tommaso Giordani with the same surname but no relation. Even the former, which was more famous at that time, is rarely remembered today. According to the information I have consulted, he died in 1798, but there are different opinions on the date of birth

, and sometimes he is even confused by Umberto Giordano (composer of opera Andrea Chenier and Fedo

ra) who is more than 1 years behind him.

In the middle and late 17th century, this kind of Italian "art songs" was very popular, and there are quite a few excellent works that have been passed down to this day. Nowadays,

, people usually call them "Italian songs", but there are no specialized nouns such as "chanson" and "lieder". I haven't verified whether they are related to Napoli folk songs in later generations, but at least, later masters such as Doni

zetti and Rossini also wrote many beautiful and short "Italian songs".