Gustav Lange: Io te voglio bene assaje (I love you very much indeed), Op.232 No.83

#83 from 'Centi-Folie', Op.232 (1875–83)
----------------------------------------------
Phillip Sear plays one of an incomplete(?) set of '100 Fantasies on Popular Folk Songs in a Light and Brilliant Style' by the German composer Gustav Lange (1830–89).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lange was very popular in the 19th century for 'Blumenlied', 'Edelweiss' and other salon pieces. Unlike many of his contemporary composers for the parlour and salon who racked up apparently large catalogues of works by giving individual opus numbers to short pieces, Lange was genuinely prolific. For example, his Op. 171 'Lieder Blüthen' is a set of some 59 fantasies on popular songs of the day, by composers including Franz Abt, Reichardt and Conradin Kreutzer which might well take over four hours to perform in its entirety—maybe a good subject for a piano marathon! Op.232 would also take a long time to perform. Only 84 of the projected 100 pieces seem to have been published, but a performance of all of them would also take at least four hours.

"Io te voglio bene assaje" is a classic Neapolitan song from the early 19th century, often considered a foundational piece in the canzone napoletana tradition. The song won the inaugural Festival of Piedigrotta songwriting competition in Naples in 1830, dedicated to the Madonna of Piedigrotta. at one time it was attributed to Donizetti. The lyrics express deep romantic affection in Neapolitan dialect, capturing the passionate style typical of early Neapolitan songs. Along with "Santa Lucia," it helped establish the genre's widespread popularity across Europe. (information from Perplexity AI, 09 January 2026).

Thumbnail image generated by Gemini (within Google Slides).
#germanmusic #neapolitansong
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Played by Phillip Sear
http://www.psear.co.uk (Email: piano4@psear.33mail.com
WhatsApp: http://wa.me/441444483794 ) TikTok:   / pianogems  
***See all my latest videos here: https://tinyurl.com/phillip210 ***