The Tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” in Classical Music
In my last blog post I talked about how the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star was originally from France. Mozart was the first composer to set the tune to a classical piece of music in his 12 Variations (K. 265). It was written in 1781-82. Mozart weaves the tune throughout the 12 movements.
Recently, Gerard Raiti at Disney sent me a disc of Variations on a Nursery Tune by Ernő Dohnányi. This is another classical piece that plays with the Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star tune. Dohnányi’s Variations is much more complex than Mozart’s. It refers to several other classical works, including pieces by Brahms, Wagner, and Debussy. There are 13 variations. You might have to listen through this piece several times to start getting a handle on all of its nuances.
Here’s a link that gives an outline of the Variations.
-Lisa
Many thanks to Gerard Raiti for introducing me to the Variations on a Nursery Tune by Ernő Dohnányi!
July 19th, 2009 at 4:29 am
I would like to invite you to a new group I started to discuss Erno Dohnanyi. My hope is to unite ordinary listeners with conductors, players, etc, all of whom love this underappreciated composer.
July 19th, 2009 at 4:29 am
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com/group/Ernst_von_Dohnanyi_Appreciation/