Fly on golden wings!
Announcing the updated edition of the Va’ Pensiero by Giuseppe Verdi, arranged for Cello Ensemble
The first public performance of the opera Nabucco, in 1842, marks the year when Giuseppe Verdi (Roncole, 1813—Milano, 1901) achieved the utmost success and recognition as an opera composer. The Va’, pensiero, specifically, taken from the third act of the opera, is one of the most popular choruses in the history of music: at the time of its composition Italy, not yet unified as a single state, was still under the yoke of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and for a long time after that this chorus has been read as a metaphor of the Italian condition.
The allegorical writing of the text by poet Temistocle Solera (Ferrara, 1815—Milano, 1878) manages to avoid Vienna’s censorship basing its words on the Salm 137 (Super flumina Babylonis), while remaining hard to misunderstand in the poet’s country.
In later years the Va’, pensiero would be proposed as the Italian national anthem as well, but the proposal would be rebuked as the singing of a chained and defeated people will not be considered appropriate for a newly born and free nation.
From the musical standpoint the initial melody is sung by the whole chorus in unison, up to the climax at “Arpa d’or dei fatidici vati” where the harmony gets expanded with dramatic forcefulness, just to fade out once more in the final pianissimo.
This arrangement for cello octet (four voices very often divided in two) stems from a new collaboration with the Brazilian cello master Marcio Carneiro, my personal cello teacher at the time of the HEMU of Sion, Switzerland. Its premiere, performed from manuscript paper, was given in 2012 and the wish to create a proper edition out of that has been a strong one ever since.
The full score is proposed as a faithful adaptation of Verdi’s original text, allowing scholars and performers alike to analyse the voices’ distribution within the eight cellos.
The separate parts, instead, are for the first time given in two different versions: one faithful to the original range and more suitable for a group of cello virtuosi and a more simplified one to allow good amateurs to enjoy this marvellous piece as well.
Dynamics, left untouched in the full score, have been slightly adapted in the separate parts to better achieve a balanced sonority. The same can be said for slurs and articulations.
Fingering and bowing suggestions follow a careful study of Verdi’s phrasing and, for further help, every part is adorned with the text of the chorus where the cello has the same melodic line.
Once more my deepest and most heartfelt thanks go to Maestro Carneiro for the invaluable help of all these years.
Revision
In September 2022, a new version in G major (a half-step higher) has been added to make its reading easier. It is available under plate number ASE 0093.
The Editor
Michele Galvagno
Saluzzo, October 29th, 2024
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