"Chopsticks" (original name "The Celebrated Chop Waltz") is a simple, widely known
waltz for the
piano. Written in 1877, it is the only published piece by the British composer Euphemia Allen (under the
pen name Arthur de Lulli).[1] Allen—whose brother, Mozart Allan, was a music publisher—was sixteen when she composed the piece, with arrangements for solo and duet.[2] The title "Chop Waltz" comes from Allen's specification that the
melody be played in two-part harmony with both hands held in a vertical orientation, little fingers down and palms facing each other, striking the keys with a chopping motion.[2] The similar "The Coteletten
Polka" also was first heard in 1877, with the piano collection Paraphrases elaborating on the theme by 1879.[2]
Tati-tati and Paraphrases
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, rather than playing them at the same time in harmony.
In 1877,
Alexander Borodin's daughter Gania played "The Coteletten
Polka", with four bars of music similar to the beginning of de Lulli's work, though there is no hard evidence of a common source between the two pieces.[2] In 1878–1879,
César Cui,
Anatoly Lyadov, Borodin,
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, and
Nikolai Shcherbachov each wrote
variations for
piano duet on the
theme, published together under the title Paraphrases.[3] A supplementary paraphrase by
Franz Liszt was later appended to the collection. In Borodin's version, the first four bars begin in a similar way to de Lulli's, but are nevertheless distinct. According to Fuld's book World-Famous Music, no common origins for the "Chop Waltz" and the "Coteletten Polka" have yet been discovered.[2]
In cinema, music and television
"Chopsticks" was used as the introductory music to
Edgar Kennedy's series of short comedies made at the
RKO Studios, from 1931 until his death in 1948.[citation needed]
American composer and educator
John Sylvanus Thompson published a set of variations on "Chopsticks" in 1941.[4]
In the 1946
William Wyler film The Best Years of Our Lives, composer
Hoagy Carmichael performs a duet of "Chopsticks" with
Harold Russell, a World War II Navy veteran who lost both of his hands in combat. 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 rendering of the tune, complete with a final
glissando up the keyboard.[citation needed]
Liberace plays a virtuoso "Chopsticks" accompanied by full orchestra early in the 1955 film Sincerely Yours.[5]
The theme music for the television series My Three Sons (1960–1972), written by Frank De Vol, was based on "Chopsticks", though key changes were added and the meter was changed to 4/4.[citation needed]
In the 1972 Columbo episode "Etude in Black",
Columbo plays chopsticks as a way to get under the skin of the pompous murderer/conductor Alex Benedict (
John Cassavetes).[6]
The audience of pubescent girls attending the first
Franz Liszt concert in
Ken Russell's Lisztomania demand that he play "Chopsticks", which he intersperses throughout a fantasia plaed on the piano based on themes from a
Richard Wagner opera, which forces a disgusted Wagner to walk out.
In the stage musical adaption of The Lion King, "Chopsticks" can be heard in the song "Lioness' Hunt".[citation needed]
In the episode "Blind Faith" Season 2 Episode 5 of Quantum Leap first aired November 1, 1989
Scott Bakula leaps into a blind piano player on stage just in time for the encore performance. Bakula plays "Chopsticks" amusing the large audience in the music hall.[11]
Singer-songwriter
Liz Phair opens the song “Chopsticks”, from her 1991 album Whip-Smart, with the waltz played on piano and the theme continues through the song.
The tune was played in the Laverne & Shirley episode "Breaking Up And Making Up".