Anvil_Chorus
Anvil Chorus
Chorus from the opera Il trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi
The "Anvil Chorus" is the English name for the Coro di Zingari[1] (Italian for "Gypsy chorus"), a chorus from act 2, scene 1 of Giuseppe Verdi's 1853 opera Il trovatore. It depicts Spanish Gypsies striking their anvils at dawn – hence its English name – and singing the praises of hard work, good wine, and Gypsy women. The piece is also commonly known by its opening words, "Vedi! Le fosche".
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Zingari e zingare: |
Gypsy men and women: |
External audio | |
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You may hear Rockin' the Anvil by John Serry as recorded in 1956 Here on Archive.org |
Thomas Baker wrote Il Trovatore Quadrille (1855) for piano, which includes a movement based on this chorus.[3] Similarly, pianist/composer Charles Grobe wrote variations on the Anvil Chorus for piano in 1857.[4]
A swing jazz arrangement by Jerry Gray for the Glenn Miller Orchestra released on RCA Bluebird in 1941 reached #3 on the U.S. Billboard charts.[5][6]
The melodic theme also served as the inspiration for "Rockin' the Anvil" for swing jazz ensemble and accordion on John Serry Sr.'s 1956 album Squeeze Play. [7][8]
The tune of the chorus was closely parodied in "The Burglar's Chorus" ("With cat-like tread") in Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 comic opera The Pirates of Penzance, and soon after became a popular song with the lyrics Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here.[9]
- "Billboard Magazine (USA) Weekly Single Charts For 1941". Hits of All Decades. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
- Richard Taruskin (14 August 2006). "12". Music in the Nineteenth Century: The Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford University Press. pp. 596–597. ISBN 978-0-19-979602-1. Retrieved 23 October 2018.