Neapolitan music
| Music of Italy | |
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| Music media | Music media in Italy |
| Nationalistic and patriotic songs | |
| National anthem | "Il Canto degli Italiani" |
| Regional music | |
Naples has played an important and vibrant role over the centuries not just in the music of Italy, but in the general history of western European musical traditions. This influence extends from the early music conservatories in the 16th century through the music of Alessandro Scarlatti during the Baroque period and the comic operas of Pergolesi, Piccinni and, eventually, Rossini and Mozart. The vitality of Neapolitan popular music from the late 19th century has made such songs as 'O Sole mio and Funiculì Funiculà a permanent part of our musical consciousness.
In the mid-16th century, the Spanish throne established church-run conservatories in its vice-realm of Naples. These institutions were on the premises of four churches in the city of Naples: Santa Maria di Loreto, Pietà dei Turchini, Sant'Onofrio a Capuana, and I Poveri di Gesù Cristo.
At the time, these institutions were called "conservatories" because they "conserved"—that is, they sheltered and educated—orphans. Since music was such an integral part of the training of the children, by the early 17th century "conservatory" had come to mean "music school" and became used in that meaning in other European languages.
The Neapolitan conservatories enjoyed a considerable reputation throughout Europe as training grounds not only for young children to be trained in church music, but, eventually, as a feeder system into the world of commercial music and opera once those areas opened up in the early 17th century. This primed Naples to become one of the most important centers of musical training in Europe.
By the 18th century, Naples was nicknamed the "conservatory of Europe" and was home and workshop to composers such as Alessandro Scarlatti, Pergolesi, Niccolò Piccinni, Domenico Cimarosa, Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, etc.
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Wikipedia