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Luigi Denza

Born: 24th February 1846, Castellammare di Stabia, Naples, Italy

Died: 27th January 1922, London UK

Nationality: Italian

Luigi Denza was an Italian composer. Denza was born at Castellammare di Stabia, near Naples. He studied music under Saverio Mercadante and Paolo Serrao at the Naples Conservatory. In 1884 he moved to London, taught singing and became a professor of singing at the Royal Academy of Music in 1898.

Denza is best remembered for "Funiculì, Funiculà" (1880), a humorous Neapolitan song inspired by the inauguration of a funicular to the summit of Vesuvius. Neapolitan journalist Peppino Turco contributed the lyrics and may have prompted the song by suggesting that Denza compose something for the Piedigrotta song-writing competition.

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