- “Va, Pensiero” (Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves) is from Verdi’s third opera, Nabucco, about the famed Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar. Temistocle Solera wrote the libretto.
- Solera based his libretto on the 1936 play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornue, as well as Antonio Cortesi’s 1838 ballet, both titled Nabuccodonosor.
- The opera premiered at La Scala in Milan on March 9, 1842.1
- The chorus from the opera has become more famous than the opera itself and is frequently heard as a standalone piece. In fact, the chorus became the unofficial anthem of the Italian nationalist movement during Verdi’s lifetime.
- Fun fact – during Verdi’s funeral procession, the massive crowd sang a rendition of “Va, Pensiero.”3
Libretto (translated to English):
Go thought on wings of gold,
go rest on the slopes, on the hills
where the warm, soft breezes of our native land
spread their fragrant aroma.
Greet the banks of the Jordan,
The fallen towers of Zion…
Oh my homeland so beautiful and lost!
Oh remembrance so dear and fatal!
Golden harp of the prophetic bards,
Why do you hang silent from the willow?
Re-kindle memories in our breast.
Speak to us of times past!
Mindful of Jerusalem’s fates
Either give forth a sound of crude lamentation,
Or let the Lord inspire you to a harmony
Which instills in us the virtue to suffer4
Sources
- Roger Parker, “Verdi, Giuseppe,” Grove Music Online (2002), accessed January 31, 2023, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-500000817.
- “What to Expect from Nabucco,” Metropolitan Opera (2016), accessed January 31, 2023, https://www.metopera.org/globalassets/discover/education/educator-guides/nabucco/nabucco.16-17.guide.pdf.
- Roger Parker, “Verdi, Giuseppe,” Grove Music Online.
- Victor DeRenzi, “’Va pensiero,’ A Chorus for All Time,” Sarasota Opera, accessed January 31, 2023, https://www.sarasotaopera.org/va-pensiero-chorus-all-time.
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