Sending Thoughts Home in Verdi's Va, pensiero
The Best Moments
Va, pensiero
Welcome, I am Giuseppe Verdi, and right here I want to share the finest moments of my chorus Va, pensiero. You will hear how a quiet, unified melody grows into a rich lament for a lost homeland that moved all of Italy. On this site, the other composers and I also help you recognize our music whenever it plays, so feel free to visit our Trainer and test yourself.
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Everybody on the same page for once
When I start Va, pensiero in Nabucco, I have the orchestra set up a gentle, rocking accompaniment, like a rowboat drifting along the Euphrates while nobody has the energy to pick up an oar. Over that quiet sway, I ask the sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses to sing the opening melody together on the very same tune, which is about the only time you will ever get a whole crowd of opera singers to agree on anything.
Four voices and a loud sigh
After repeating that calm opening melody, I let the middle section blossom into full four-part harmony so the chorus can pour out their longing for their lost homeland. The voices swell and rise together like a dinner table conversation where everyone suddenly remembers the same delicious meal from years ago, before settling back down again.
Leaving on a whisper
To wrap things up, I bring that first gentle melody back one last time and follow it with a short instrumental ending that lets the music fade away into thin air. Instead of finishing with a big, noisy bang to wake the neighbors, the voices drift off so softly that the Milan audience at the 1842 premiere probably had to hold their breath just to catch the final notes.
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I hope you have enjoyed walking through my favorite moments in Va, pensiero with me. Even in a short chorus like this one, there is still plenty more to discover about how it came to be and the life it took on outside the theater. If you are curious to hear the rest of the story, just follow the links on this page to explore Va, pensiero a little further.
Recording: Istituto centrale per i beni sonori ed audiovisivi, CC BY-SA 4.0