"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" is a popular English nursery rhyme by Jane Taylor. The poem, which is in couplet form, was first published (as "The Star") in 1806 in Rhymes for the Nursery, a collection of poems by Taylor and her sister Ann. It is often sung to the tune of the French melody "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman" (first published in 1761)^[1]. For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... A nursery rhyme is a traditional song or poem taught to young children, originally in the nursery. ... Jane Taylor (September 23, 1783−April 13, 1824), was an English poet and novelist. ... For the Angel episode, see Couplet (Angel episode). ... Ann Taylor (June 30, 1782 - December 20, 1866), later Mrs. ... 1761 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Lyrics

The English lyrics have five verses. The repetition of the first two lines at the end of each verse is not in the original, but is needed to fit the usual melody. Below is the whole text,^[2][3] without the repetition of the first two lines added. Look up Repetition in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are!

Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky!

When the blazing sun is gone,

When he nothing shines upon,

Then you show your little light,

Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the traveler in the dark,

Thanks you for your tiny spark,

He could not see which way to go,

If you did not twinkle so.

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.

As your bright and tiny spark,

Lights the traveller in the dark,—

Though I know not what you are,

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

The short version commonly sung today:

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!

Melody

Many think that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was the original composer of this melody, a misconception^[4] reinforced by its appearance as a "correct answer" in the original edition of Trivial Pursuit. However, Mozart wrote twelve variations for piano on the melody (Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman"), now catalogued as K. 265/300e in the Köchel-Verzeichnis. Image File history File links 12_Variations_Tema. ... Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (January 27, 1756 – December 5, 1791) was one of the most significant and influential of all composers of Western classical music. ... Pianoforte redirects here. ... “Mozart” redirects here. ... Trivial Pursuit is a board game where progress is determined by a players ability to answer general knowledge, popular culture questions. ... (For a selective list organized by genre, with commentary, see List of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) The Köchel-Verzeichnis is a complete, chronological catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which was originally created by Ludwig von Köchel. ...

Sheet music notation for Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Image File history File links Twinkle. ... Image File history File links Twinkle. ...

Appearances of the melody

Many songs in various languages have been based on the "Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman" melody. In English, "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" shares its melody with the "Alphabet Song" from 1834, and "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep". The alphabet song is a popular tool used to help teach children the English alphabet, commonly known by children as the A-B-Cs. ... See also: 1833 in music, other events of 1834, 1835 in music, and the list of years in music. // Events Statue of Jean-Jacques Rousseau is erected in his birthplace of Geneva. ... This article is about the nursery rhyme. ...

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", and the Dutch "Altijd is Kortjakje ziek". For the short novel by Charles Dickens, see A Christmas Carol. ... August Heinrich Hoffmann, who used Hoffmann von Fallersleben as his pen name, was a German poet. ... For the short novel by Charles Dickens, see A Christmas Carol. ...

Several classical compositions have been inspired by the tune:

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman" (K. 265 / K. 300e)
• Camille Saint-Saëns, Carnival of the Animals, 12th movement (Fossiles) quotes the tune
• Ernő Dohnányi, Variations on a Nursery Tune
• Erwin Schulhoff, Ten Variations on 'Ah! vous dirai-je, maman' and Fugue
• John Corigliano, The Mannheim Rocket
• Franz Liszt, Album Leaf: "Ah vous dirai-je, maman" (S.163b)
• Theodor von Schacht, 3rd movement (Allegretto con variazioni) of his clarinet concerto in B flat major

“Mozart” redirects here. ... Charles Camille Saint-Saëns () (9 October 1835 – 16 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor, and pianist, known especially for his large-scale orchestral works The Carnival of the Animals, Danse Macabre, Samson et Dalila, and Symphony No. ... The Carnival of the Animals (Le carnaval des animaux in the original French) is a musical suite of 14 movements by the French Romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns. ... Ernő Dohnányi, also known as Ernst von Dohnányi or Dohnányi Ernő (July 27, 1877 – February 9, 1960) was a Hungarian conductor, composer, and pianist. ... Subtitled For the enjoyment of humorous people and for the annoyance of others, Ernő Dohnányis Variations on a Nursery Tune, Op. ... Erwin Schulhoff (Prague, June 8, 1894; Wülzburg concentration camp, near Weißenburg, Bavaria, August 18, 1942) was a Czech composer and pianist of German-Jewish origin. ... John Corigliano (b. ... Liszt redirects here. ... This is a thematic list of works by Franz Liszt, based on the catalogue of Humphrey Searle - The Music of Liszt, 1966; and on the additions by Sharon Winklhofer and Leslie Howard. ... A clarinet concerto is a concerto for clarinet and orchestra (or concert band). ...

First appearances of the melody and the original French text 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 differing versions of what could 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

In these versions a girl confides a secret to her mother: that she has been seduced by "Silvandre". Only in one version cited above did the girl apparently make a narrow escape ("Je m'échappai par bonheur"^[5]), in the other versions the girl appears to have been "beaten" by L'Amour ("Love").

As for the history of the melody and the non-nursery rhyme version(s) of the French text:^[6][7]

• 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.

As for the composition date of Mozart's Variations, for a time the variations were thought to have been composed in 1778, while Mozart stayed in Paris from April to September in that year, the assumption being that the melody of a French song could only have been picked up by Mozart while residing in France. For this presumed composition date, in the chronological catalogue of Mozart's compositions the composition was renumbered from K. 265 to K. 300e.^[7] Later analysis of Mozart's manuscript of the composition by Wolfgang Plath rather indicated 1781-1782 as the probable composition date.^[8] A manuscript (Latin manu scriptus, written by hand), strictly speaking, is any written document that is put down by hand, in contrast to being printed or reproduced some other way. ... (For a selective list organized by genre, with commentary, see List of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) The Köchel-Verzeichnis is a complete, chronological catalogue of compositions by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which was originally created by Ludwig von Köchel. ... Audio samples: Tema ( file info) — Tema of Variations on Ah vous dirais-je, Maman, piano solo Variation I (file info) — First Variation of Variations on Ah vous dirais-je, Maman, piano solo Problems playing the files? See media help. ... Audio samples: Tema ( file info) — Tema of Variations on Ah vous dirais-je, Maman, piano solo Variation I (file info) — First Variation of Variations on Ah vous dirais-je, Maman, piano solo Problems playing the files? See media help. ...

French "nursery rhyme" version

Origin unknown.

The French "nursery rhyme" version also appears with slight variations:

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. This article is about the musical term. ...

Other text versions

The song is a popular target for parodies. "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat," a parody of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" recited by the Mad Hatter during the mad tea-party, in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. It reads: In contemporary usage, a parody (or lampoon) is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. ... Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Bat is a poem recited by the Mad Hatter in Lewis Carrolls Alices Adventures in Wonderland. ... The Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (IPA: ) (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by the pen name Lewis Carroll (), was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican clergyman and photographer. ... Alice in Wonderland redirects here. ...

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—

The Mad Hatter is interrupted in his recitation. "The Bat" was the nickname of Professor Bartholomew Price, one of the Dons at Oxford, a former teacher of Carroll's and well known to the Liddell family. It is one of the few parodies in the Alice books of which the original is still widely known. Bartholomew Price (1818 - 29 December 1898) was an English mathematician and educator. ...

A Latin translation appears in Mary Mapes Dodge's When life is young (1894): For other uses, see Latins and Latin (disambiguation). ... Mary Mapes Dodge Mary Mapes Dodge (26 January , 1831– 21 August 1905) was an American childrens writer and editor, best known for her novel Hans Brinker. ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

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.

Another parody appeared in Sesame Street.^[4] In a short skit, Muppet composer Don Music, overcoming writer's block, struggles to pen the nursery rhyme. Sesame Street is an American educational childrens television series for preschoolers and is a pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard, combining both education and entertainment. ... John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together The Muppets are a group of puppets and costume characters created by Jim Henson and the company he created. ... Don Music Composer Don Music was a character on the childrens television show Sesame Street who would become frustrated by his inability to think of the final line to songs such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Mary Had a Little Lamb, and react by banging his head on... For other uses, see Writers block (disambiguation). ...

The Elegants released a single adapted from this song called Little Star, which made #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1958. The Elegants is a doo-wop band that was started in 1958 by Vito Picone, Arthur Venosa, Frank Tardogano, Carmen Romano and James Mochella in South Beach, Staten Island. ... Little Star is the name of a song recorded by The Elegants. ... “Hot 100” redirects here. ...

An anonymous astronomy parody, quoted in Violent Universe by Nigel Calder (BBC, 1969), refers to pulsars and quasars. A different version of this parody attributed to George Gamow and Nigel Calder was published in Galaxies in the Universe: An Introduction by Linda Sparke and John Gallagher (Cambridge University Press, 2000 - ISBN 0-521-59740-4). Nigel Calder (born December 2, 1931) is a British science writer. ... This article is an overview article about the Crown chartered British Broadcasting Corporation formed in 1927. ... Also: 1969 (number) 1969 (movie) 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... It has been suggested that Radio pulsar be merged into this article or section. ... This article is about the astronomical object. ... George Gamow (pronounced GAM-off) (March 4, 1904 – August 19, 1968) , born Georgiy Antonovich Gamov (Георгий Антонович Гамов) was a Ukrainian born physicist and cosmologist. ... Nigel Calder (born December 2, 1931) is a British science writer. ... John Patrick Gallagher (July 16, 1916-December 16, 1998) was a Canadian geologist and businessman. ... The headquarters of the Cambridge University Press, in Trumpington Street, Cambridge. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

Another parody was used on Degrassi: The Next Generation episode Voices Carry, where Liberty (Sarah Barrable-Tishauer) and J.T. (Ryan Cooley) made up as a protest song for a school play. They sang it in front of Mr. Raditch (Dan Woods) for which they got in trouble. Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian television series, which follows the lives of a group of high school students. ... Sarah Barrable-Tishauer (born July 6, 1988) is a Canadian actress. ... Ryan Cooley (born May 18, 1988) is a Canadian television actor from Ontario, best known for his role as J. T. Yorke on Degrassi: The Next Generation. ... Daniel Dan Raditch was a fictional character in the Degrassi series. ... Dan Woods was born on June 20, 1959 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ...

Another parody was used in the Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends episode "The Big Cheese", where Cheese sang, "Sprinkle sprinkle little bar, what I wonder is a cat!" Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends (sometimes called Fosters for short, and abbreviated as FHIF/FHFIF) is an Emmy Award-Winning American animated television series created and produced at Cartoon Network Studios by animator Craig McCracken, who also created The Powerpuff Girls. ...

The Girl Scouts of the USA placed a full page ad in the March 19th 2006 New York Times containing a version of the rhyme that was "resung by science" as part of their "Girls Go Tech" campaign. The Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA) is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ...

Another version runs:

Twinkle twinkle chocolate bar,

My dad drives a rusty car.

Push the button, pull the choke,

Off we go in a cloud of smoke.

References

1. ^ "The melody was first known as 'Ah! Vous Dirai-Je, Maman,' the music of which appeared (without words) in 1761 in 'Les Amusements d'une Heure et Demy' by Mr. Bouin (Paris), p. 1." [1]
2. ^ Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (2nd edition, 1997)
3. ^ The Star, Representative Poetry Online (RPO), University of Toronto, 2005
4. ^ ^{a b} http://bdb.co.za/shackle/articles/twinkle.htm
5. ^ See http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Thierry_klein/ahvousdi.htm
6. ^ 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
7. ^ ^{a b} (in German:) Neue Mozart-Ausgabe, IX/26: Variationen für Klavier, Kritischer Bericht (Fischer, 1962), p. 58-59
8. ^ Based on booklet notes by Robin Golding, 1991 for Daniel Barenboims Mozart: The Complete Piano Sonatas and Variations, EMI Classics 8 CD box No. 5 73915 2

The Bärenreiter study score reprint (2006) of the Neue Mozart-Ausgabes volumes containing all of Mozarts piano concertos. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... EMI Classics is a record label of EMI. It was formed in 1990 in order to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogs for internationally distributed classical music releases. ...

External links

• Twinkle, Little Star Video and MP3 Karaoke http://www.singme.com/songinfo.php?row_id=171
• BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour article (with audio): http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/04/2006_35_wed.shtml
• The lyrics, the tune and an mp3 recording of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, also a score and a French Translation