I wrote:
>and Mozart's immortal "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star"
>"Wally asked:
>is that a mozart melody?
Wrong, said Fred:
> No, it isn't. According to The Book of World Famous Music by James J.
Fund,
> it first appeared without words as "Ah! Vous Dirai-Je, Maman" ("Shall I
tell
> you, Mother?") in Les Amusements d'une Heure et Demy by M. Bouin in Paris
in
> 1761. Mozart did compose 12 variations on the melody.
Now I say:
Yes, it is.
Let's put the thread back in its original context. The question was: "which
songs evoke the strongest childhood memories for you?" My "Twinkle Twinkle
Little Star" response was based on childhood recollections of my mother
playing Mozart's "Theme and Variations K265" (1781 or 1782) on solo grand
piano before tucking me into bed when I was four or five years old, while we
were living in Ansbach, Germany. I still have the sheet music and the
wondrous memories.
I could've said, "Themes and Variations...etc," but I chose to use the
"Twinkle Twinkle..." title to tap in to the universal familiarity and
childhood innocense evoked. I never meant to suggest that Mozart wrote the
lyrics, nor were there any lyrics to his composition when written. The
title "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" did not become associated with the
melody until a poem written by Brit sisters Jane and Ann Taylor called
"Star," appeared in a book called _Rhymes for the Nursery_ in 1806 and
became inextricably linked as lyrics to the melody, which was overwhelmingly
attributed to Mozart at that time.
Now, Fuld's book (not "Fund" btw) cited by Fred does espouse the
conventional wisdom on the origin of the melody, but it's not by any means
the definitive derivation explanation. Another authoritative sources
(_Compleat Mozart: A Complete Guide to the Works of Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart_, Zaslaw and Neal, editors, 1990) say the theme originated as a
popular French air called "Les amours de Silvandre (Silvandre's Loves)" in
1761.
I would love to hear "Ah! Vous Dirai-Je, Maman" played from _Les Amusements
d'une Heure et Demy_ to see how closely it resembles Mozart's variations.
Fred?
-Julius
