Anvil Chorus
Encyclopedia
The Anvil Chorus is the English
term for the Coro di zingari (Italian
Gypsy chorus), a piece of music
from Act 2, Scene 1 of Giuseppe Verdi
's Il trovatore
(The Troubador, 1853) which depicts Spanish Gypsies striking their anvil
s at dawn – hence its English name – and singing the praises of hard work, good wine, and their Gypsy women. Most recordings will list this as Vedi! Le fosche notturne.
from the face of the sky when the sun shines, its brightness beaming;
just as a widow, discarding her black robes,
shows all her beauty in brilliance gleaming.
So, to work now!
Lift up your hammers!
Who turns the Gypsy's day from gloom to brightest sunshine?
His lovely Gypsy maid!
Fill up the goblets! New strength and courage
flow from lusty wine to soul and body.
See how the rays of the sun play and sparkle
and give to our wine gay new splendor.
So, to work now!
Who turns the Gypsy's day from gloom to brightest sunshine?
His lovely Gypsy maid!
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
term for the Coro di zingari (Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
Gypsy chorus), a piece of music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
from Act 2, Scene 1 of Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
's Il trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
(The Troubador, 1853) which depicts Spanish Gypsies striking their anvil
Anvil
An anvil is a basic tool, a block with a hard surface on which another object is struck. The inertia of the anvil allows the energy of the striking tool to be transferred to the work piece. In most cases the anvil is used as a forging tool...
s at dawn – hence its English name – and singing the praises of hard work, good wine, and their Gypsy women. Most recordings will list this as Vedi! Le fosche notturne.
Translation
See how the clouds melt awayfrom the face of the sky when the sun shines, its brightness beaming;
just as a widow, discarding her black robes,
shows all her beauty in brilliance gleaming.
So, to work now!
Lift up your hammers!
Who turns the Gypsy's day from gloom to brightest sunshine?
His lovely Gypsy maid!
Fill up the goblets! New strength and courage
flow from lusty wine to soul and body.
See how the rays of the sun play and sparkle
and give to our wine gay new splendor.
So, to work now!
Who turns the Gypsy's day from gloom to brightest sunshine?
His lovely Gypsy maid!
In popular culture
- Only a quarter-century after the premiere of Il trovatore, W.S. Gilbert and Arthur SullivanArthur SullivanSir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
musically spoofed the Anvil Chorus in their 1879 operettaOperettaOperetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
The Pirates of PenzanceThe Pirates of PenzanceThe Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
. Portions of the pirates' boisterous number "With Cat-Like Tread" copy the melody of the Anvil Chorus almost note-for-note, although with deliberately ironic lyrics such as "A fly's footfall would be distinctly heard." - In American sporting events of the early twentieth century, the Anvil Chorus was commonly sung by the spectators or played by a band when a player, especially an opponent, committed an error, or to "rub it in" to the losing side. References to this occur frequently in the sports verse of Grantland RiceGrantland RiceGrantland Rice was an early 20th century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio.-Biography:...
. - In the 1929 Marx BrothersMarx BrothersThe Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act, originally from New York City, that enjoyed success in Vaudeville, Broadway, and motion pictures from the early 1900s to around 1950...
film The CocoanutsThe CocoanutsThe Cocoanuts is the first feature-length Marx Brothers film, produced by Paramount Pictures. The musical comedy stars the four Marx Brothers, Oscar Shaw, Mary Eaton, and Margaret Dumont. Produced by Walter Wanger and the first sound movie to credit more than one director , and was adapted to the...
, HarpoHarpoHarpo may refer to:*Harpo Marx, an actor and musician best known as a member of the Marx Brothers*Harpo Productions, a multimedia company founded by Oprah Winfrey...
and ChicoChico-Given name:* Chico Marx , actor and one of the Marx Brothers* Chico Buarque , Brazilian singer and writer* Chico DeBarge , R&B singer* Chico Ejiro, Nigeria film director* Chico Mendes , Brazilian environmental activist...
play the Anvil Chorus on a hotel's cash register. In their next film, Animal CrackersAnimal crackersAnimal crackers are a children's snackAnimal Crackers may also refer to:* Animal Crackers , the 1928 Broadway play by George S...
, in 1930, Chico plays a segment on the piano while Harpo clangs two horseshoes together. Later, in 1935's A Night at the OperaA Night at the Opera (film)A Night at the Opera is a 1935 American comedy film starring Groucho Marx, Chico Marx and Harpo Marx, and featuring Kitty Carlisle, Allan Jones, Margaret Dumont, Sig Ruman, and Walter Woolf King. It was the first film the Marx Brothers made for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer after their departure from...
, the chorus is sung as part of a performance of Il trovatore as the police and the opera's general manager chase after Harpo and Chico backstage and onstage. - Glenn MillerGlenn MillerAlton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
and his orchestra recorded a big band jazzBig bandA big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
version of this chorus. - In the 1950s, a home permanent by the brand name "ToniToniToni is a given name. In English, it is often female, the male version being Tony. In Finnish, it is a male name, a form of Anttoni. In Bulgarian, Toni [Тони] may refer to either a male or a female. Tony and Toni have no separate equivalents in Bulgarian since the Cyrillic alphabet has one letter...
" used the Anvil Chorus as a jingle in its television commercials: "The wave (clang) that gives (clang) that natural look is T-O-N-I Toni!" - In the film Bad SantaBad SantaBad Santa is a 2003 American screwball black comedy film directed and co-written by Terry Zwigoff, produced by the Coen brothers, and starring Billy Bob Thornton as the title character and Tony Cox as his partner in crime. Actors Bernie Mac and John Ritter co-star...
, Billy Bob ThorntonBilly Bob ThorntonBilly Bob Thornton is an American actor, screenwriter, director and musician. Thornton gained early recognition as a cast member on the CBS sitcom Hearts Afire and in several early 1990s films including On Deadly Ground and Tombstone...
and Tony Cox bludgeon a safe and a mannequin, with Thornton using a sledgehammer on the safe and Cox a golf club on the mannequin, along to the Anvil Chorus. - The chorus is often parodied in the Tiny Toons cartoons.
- An Easter EggEaster eggEaster eggs are special eggs that are often given to celebrate Easter or springtime.The oldest tradition is to use dyed or painted chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs, or plastic eggs filled with confectionery such as jelly beans...
in PixarPixarPixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
's The IncrediblesThe IncrediblesThe Incredibles is a 2004 American computer-animated action-comedy superhero film about a family of superheroes who are forced to hide their powers. It was written and directed by Brad Bird, a former director and executive consultant of The Simpsons, and was produced by Pixar and distributed by...
DVD contains the Anvil Chorus, as the soundtrack to a bonus video featuring every button push, door opening, and explosion in the film. - In an episode of M*A*S*H (TV Series), when Major Charles Emerson Winchester III's life is save by Corporal Max Klinger (when a sterilizer over-pressures and explodes), Winchester performes some of Klinger's daily labors in appreciation for Klinger risking his life on his behalf. While using a rubber stamp on multiple papers (in quick succession), he hums the Anvil Chorus, striking each page at the same time an anvil is struck in the piece.