Today in class Dr. McGrath asked the question, “What is the oldest song you know?” Most people probably had no idea, but don’t we all know Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and the alphabet song? As Dr. McGrath mentioned, Mozart did work with the melody, but it is suspected that the melody originated 20 years before Mozart used it. The tune is thought to be of French origin, first titled “Ah! Vous Dirai-Je, Maman” (“Shall I tell you, Mother?”), and first appearing without words in 1761. The lyrics to the song came from Jane Taylor’s poem “The Star” published in 1806, but the first evidence of the melody and lyrics put together dates to about 1838.
I find the evolution of this song very intriguing. Beginning as just a melody, later adding lyrics from a poem, and surviving for hundreds of years. Many different works have developed from the original as well, the “ABCs,” “Baa, Baa Black Sheep.” If this simple children’s song can live on for this long, then what other works that are so present in our lives also have such a long history and how have they changed through the centuries?