When he came to work it into the finale of his grand symphonic fantasy “Aus Italien” (“From Italy”) in 1886, the 22 year-old Richard Strauss assumed “Funiculì, Funiculà” was a traditional Neapolitan folk song.

Imagine his chagrin when he learned that the song was actually composed in 1880, by one Luigi Denza, to lyrics by Peppino Turco.

The subject is a funicular cable car that used to service passengers to Mount Vesuvius, before it was predictably destroyed in an eruption in 1944. The song became a huge international success and sold over a million copies.

This meant that Strauss found himself embroiled in a lawsuit, which resulted in his having to pay a royalty fee every time “Aus Italien” was performed.

This would be irksome to any composer, but Strauss especially has often been singled out for his love of money. Stravinsky used to spell his name using dollar signs in place of the esses.

Fate seems to have been in on the joke. Strauss’ fortune was twice obliterated, by both world wars, and – also because of war – he was never paid for his opulent ballet “Josephs-Legende.”

Strauss was not the only composer to step wrong in regard to “Funiculì, Funiculà.” Rimsky-Korsakov used it as the basis for his “Neapolitan Song,” and Arnold Schoenberg transcribed it for string quartet. Whether Denza ever tried to sue Rimsky-Korsakov is unknown. Schoenberg clearly credited the original composer. Maybe he was just too scary to sue.

Join me this afternoon, when Luigi Denza (now in the public domain) will be among my birthday honorees, from 4 to 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.