Salvatore Gambardella (Naples, November 17, 1871 - December 29, 1913) was the author of songs that beautifully express all the feelings of people, which he felt since he was a child. His songs melodies are characterized by unparalleled simplicity and immediacy, yet they never lack acute depths. Son of a simple porter in a palace on the Montecalvario Road, young Gambardella is soon obliged to use the help of his uncle Luigi Napoletano to find a job that allows him to honestly earn a living.
And so the future musician begins to work as an apprentice at La Bottega di Ferramenta di Vincenzo Di Chiara (Naples, June 22, 1864 - Bagnoli, January 12, 1937), a well-known author of Neapolitan songs. At Di Chiara's workshop, Gambardella, who has always been intensely passionate about music, creates the famous song Marenariello of 1893, words by Gennaro Ottaviano (Naples, July 25, 1874 - August 25, 1936). After the song is rejected by the publisher Santojanni, Fr Ferdinando Bideri takes this talented young man under his wing and guides him to becoming a professional.
Bideri introduces him to Achille Longo (Melicuccà, 1816 - Naples, 190?), Music Master at the Conservatory of St. Peter at Majella of Naples, who patiently transcribes all the music mentioned on the mandolin or by Gambardella’s whistling. It is said that one day at the Casa Editrice Ricordi, the renowned Master Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, December 22, 1858 - Brussels, November 29, 1924) was impressed by the songs of Gambardella and gave him a piano to encourage him to devote himself to studying the instrument. Paradoxically, however, the knowledge of music in the academic sense loses spontaneity to his work which caused him to publish only a very few other successful songs, including The Sunset or Sun (1911). The musician died in poverty at forty years of age in 1913.