Chopsticks (music)

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Chopsticks (original name The Celebrated Chop Waltz) is an extremely well-known simple waltz for the piano. It was written in 1877 by Euphemia Allen under the pseudonym of Arthur de Lull (alternatively, Lulli). Allen, who was the sister of a music publisher, was supposedly only sixteen when she composed the piece, with arrangements for solo and duet. The title Chop Waltz comes from Allen's specification that the melody be played in two-part harmony with both hands held sideways, little fingers down, striking the keys with a chopping motion. This name suggests the piece should be played in 3/4 (waltz) metre, although it is also commonly heard with the stresses as in 6/8 time.

An equivalent of this rudimentary two-finger piano exercise was known in Russia in duple meter as "tati-tati" or the "Cutlet Polka." This version alternates the notes between the hands as follows:

rather than playing them at the same time in harmony. A group of Russian composers — specifically Alexander Borodin, César Cui, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and Anatoly Lyadov, and Nikolai Vladimirovich Shcherbachov (with a modest addition by Franz Liszt) — composed four-hand piano music on this theme for Borodin's daughter Gania. (Modest Mussorgsky did not participate, thinking that the composition would be meaningless.) The original edition of this collection dates from 1879 under the title Paraphrases; over the next several years it was expanded to a set of 24 variations and 17 other pieces.

In the highly praised 1946 William Wyler film of The Best Years of Our Lives, a story chronicling the difficulties facing returning servicemen from overseas, the famous song composer Hoagy Carmichael performs a duet of Chopsticks with Harold Russell, an authentic WWII Navy veteran who lost both of his hands in combat and won an Academy Award for his sensitive portrayal of Homer.

He played the simple piece (including variations) with Hoagy taking the lower part. Mr. Russell's hooks that served as hands seemingly did not deter him from delivering a superb rendition of the tune, complete with a finale glissando up the keyboard.

[edit] Cultural references

In the 1955 film The Seven Year Itch, Marilyn Monroe plays a naive seductress who starts a relationship with a "home alone" married man by proudly showing him that she can play "Chopsticks".
In the 1960 film Tormented, Sandy plays "Chopsticks." In the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version, Joel and the bots sing it when the main character first sits down to the piano.
The 1969/1970 film Lost in the Desert opens with a small boy, Dirkie Hayes, playing "Chopsticks" as a duet with his father, who is a concert pianist.
The 1975 film Lisztomania by Ken Russell parodies a modern-day rock concert in which the character of Franz Liszt humorously mixes music from "Chopsticks" and the overture to Richard Wagner's Rienzi.
The 1978 Manfred Mann's Earth Band cover of Blinded by the Light features the melody in the instrumental bridge.
The 1988 film Big famously features the piece being played on a giant foot-operated piano, preceded by "Heart and Soul".
During the 90's, Chopsticks was the soundtrack of a famous brazilian TV advertisement. In Brazil, Chopsticks is usually knwon as "Danoninho's Song"
The 1994 Liz Phair song "Chopsticks", from the album Whip-Smart, features lyrics sung over the "Chopsticks" piano melody.
In the late 1990s animated TV series Histeria!, the character Cho-Cho had "Chopsticks" as her theme music.
In the film "The Notebook" (2004), the character Allie plays "Chopsticks" twice.
A remix of the song by Sonic Dimension entitled Chopstix appears on the dance games Pump it Up Pro and Pump it Up NX2.