Liszt: Canzone Napolitana - Notturno, S248ii (Hug)

The origins of the charming little notturno-like Canzone napolitana remain a mystery. It seems that the tune is not a folksong, and it clearly has the air of a composed salon piece of some kind. Liszt was not in Italy in the year of its composition (1842), although he had certainly been to Naples earlier and at length, and there are no clues to the work’s provenance in the published correspondence. However, the music is staightforward enough, and delicately laid out for the piano in (the first version) F sh