Constantin von Sternberg (1852-1924) was born in the then Russian capital St. Petersburg of ethnic German parents. He was given piano lessons locally but then at the age of 13 entered the Leipzig Conservatory where he studied piano and composition with Ignaz Moscheles, Moritz Hauptmann, and Carl Reinecke. After two years, he left and as a mere 16 year old obtained conducting positions in various organizations in Leipzig and Wurzburg. In 1871, he moved to Berlin and took further piano lessons from Theodor Kullack after which he embarked on several concert tours taking throughout Europe, Asia and the United States where he settled in the early 1880s eventually becoming an American citizen. He became director of the College of Music in Atlanta and then in 1890 founded the Sternberg School of Music in Philadelphia.
Napolitana is the last of three pieces from a suite which Sternberg composed in 1912. The first piece was entitled In den Bergen, the second, Veneziana. The third and final piece, Napolitana opens with a rousing tarantella, a dance native to Naples and southern Italy, later a more lyrical Neopolitan song is brought forth before the tarantella returns to create an exciting finale.
