Twinkle twinkle little star
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"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is one of the most popular English nursery rhymes. It combines the tune of the 1761 French melody "Ah ! vous dirai-je, Maman" with an English poem, "[The Star]", by Jane Taylor. The poem, which is in couplet form, was first published in 1806 in Rhymes for the Nursery, a collection of poems by Taylor and her sister Ann.
The English lyrics are normally as follows:
- Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
- How I wonder what you are!
- Up above the world so high,
- Like a diamond in the sky.
- Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
- How I wonder what you are!
Contents
Misconceptions
A common misconception, reinforced by its appearance as a "correct answer" in the original edition of Trivial Pursuit, is that the music was written by Mozart. Mozart did not compose the original French melody, but he did write 12 variations on it; these variations are listed as K. 265 (later K. 300e - see below) in the Köchel-Verzeichnis.See http://bdb.co.za/shackle/articles/twinkle.htmAnother misconception appears to be that all versions of the song could be qualified as nursery rhymes. On the contrary, the original French version of the text was not intended for children's ears, see below.
Melody
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in ABC notation, C major:- CCGGAAG
- FFEEDDC
- GGFFEED
- GGFFEED
- CCGGAAG
- FFEEDDC
- d d s s l l s
- f f m m r r d
- s s f f m m r
- s s f f m m r
- d d s s l l s
- f f m m r r d
Appearances of the melody
Many songs in various languages have been based on the French original, "Ah ! vous dirai-je, Maman". In English, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" shares its melody with the "Alphabet song" from 1834, and "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep". The German Christmas carol "Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann" with words by Hoffmann von Fallersleben also uses the melody, as does the Hungarian Christmas carol "Hull a pelyhes fehér hó" (the first two lines repeated with different lyrics) and the Dutch "Altijd is Kortjakje ziek".Several famous classical compositions have been inspired by the tune:
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Theme and Variations (K265)
- Camille Saint-Saëns, Carnival of the Animals, 12th movement (Fossiles) quotes the tune
- Ernő Dohnányi, Variations on a Nursery Tune
French lyrics
French original version
The original French rhyme Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman, was far from a children's rhyme. Apparently it originated in the first half of the 18th century. As there was no published version of the text before 1774, several slightly differring versions of what would have been the "original" version exist:- ["La confidence" (anonymous)]
- [AH! VOUS DIRAI-JE MAMAN?], as published in the early 20th century in a collection of French songs by Jean Gilleguin.
- [Comparing two versions of "La Confidence" with the nursery rhyme version]
As for the history of the melody and the non-nursery rhyme version(s) of the French text:The chronology is based on an [account by Bob Kosovsky, librarian at the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 2001]
- 1761: first publication of the music (without lyrics) of Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman in "Les Amusements d'une Heure et Demy" by Mr. Bouin (Paris), p. 1.
- Around 1765, the words and music appear in a manuscript entitled "Recueil de Chansons" under the title "Le Faux Pas", p. 43.
- 1774: earliest known printed publication of the lyrics together with the music in volume two of "Recueil de Romances" by M.D.L. (De Lusse) published in Brussels, under the title "La Confidence – Naive" (p. 75).
- Around 1780 (Paris): the words and music appear in sheet music under the title "Les Amours de Silvandre".
- 1785: First publication of Mozart's Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman variations.
French nursery rhyme version
Origin unknown.
| French lyrics | English translation |
|---|---|
|
Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman, Ce qui cause mon tourment Papa veut que je raisonne, Comme une grande personne. Moi, je dis que les bonbons Valent mieux que la raison |
Ah! I shall tell you, mum, what causes my torment. Papa wants me to reason Like an adult. Me, I say that candy Is worth more than reason. |
The French nursery rhyme version also appears with slight variations:
| French lyrics | English translation |
|---|---|
| A variation | |
|
Ah ! vous dirai-je, Maman, ce qui cause mon tourment Papa veut que je demande de la soupe et de la viande... Moi, je dis que les bonbons valent mieux que les mignons. |
Ah! I would tell you, Mama, what causes my torment. Papa wants me to ask for soup and for meat Me, I say that candy is worth more than (filets) mignons |
| Another variation | |
|
Ah ! vous dirai-je, Maman, ce qui cause mon tourment Papa veut que je retienne des verbes la longue antienne*... Moi, je dis que les bonbons valent mieux que les leçons. |
Ah! I shall tell you, Mama, what causes my torment. Papa wants me to remember The words of a long text. Me, I say that candy is worth more than lessons. |
Notes: *An antienne is literally an antiphon, a short liturgical text chanted or sung alternately by two choirs preceding or following a psalm or canticle.
Complete lyrics of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Perhaps it is little known that Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star actually consists of 5 verses, with the fifth verse rarely sung. Here's the complete 5 verses, taken from the Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (2nd edition, 1997), with the repetition of the first two lines added to fit the melody.
- Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
- How I wonder what you are!
- Up above the world so high,
- Like a diamond in the sky.
- Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
- How I wonder what you are!
- When the blazing sun is gone,
- When he nothing shines upon,
- Then you show your little light,
- Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.
- Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
- How I wonder what you are!
- Then the traveller in the dark,
- Thanks you for your tiny spark,
- He could not see which way to go,
- If you did not twinkle so.
- Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
- How I wonder what you are!
- In the dark blue sky you keep,
- And often through my curtains peep,
- For you never shut your eye,
- Till the sun is in the sky.
- Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
- How I wonder what you are!
- As your bright and tiny spark,
- Lights the traveller in the dark,—
- Though I know not what you are,
- Twinkle, twinkle, little star.
- Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
- How I wonder what you are!
Other text versions
The song is a popular target for parodies. A parody of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", recited by the Mad Hatter, appears in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It reads:
- Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
- How I wonder what you're at!
- Up above the world you fly,
- Like a teatray in the sky.
- Twinkle, twinkle—
A Latin translation appears in Mary Mapes Dodge's When life is young (1894):
- Mica, mica, parva stella,
- Miror quaenam sis tam bella.
- Super terra in caelo,
- Alba gemma splendido.
- Mica, mica, parva stella,
- Miror quaenam sis tam bella.
An anonymous astronomy parody, quoted in Violent Universe by Nigel Calder (BBC, 1969), refers to pulsars and quasars.
Another parody was used on episode Voices Carry, where Liberty (Sarah Barrable-Tishauer) and J.T. (Ryan Cooley) made up as a protest song for a school play. They sung it in front of Mr. Raditch (Dan Woods) in which they got in trouble.
References
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