"Chopsticks" (original name "The Celebrated Chop Waltz") is a simple, widely known
waltz
The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position.
History
There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...
for the
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...
. Written in 1877, it is the only published piece by the British composer Euphemia Allen (under the
pen name
A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name.
A pen na ...
Arthur de Lulli). Allen—whose brother, Mozart , was a music publisher—was sixteen when she composed the piece, with arrangements for solo and duet.
The title "Chop Waltz" comes from Allen's specification that the
melody
A melody (from Greek μελῳδία, ''melōidía'', "singing, chanting"), also tune, voice or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combina ...
be played in two-part harmony with both hands held in a vertical orientation, little fingers down and palms facing each other, striking the keys with a chopping motion.
The similar "The Coteletten
Polka" also was first heard in 1877, with the piano collection ''Paraphrases'' elaborating on the theme by 1879.
Tati-tati and ''Paraphrases''

An equivalent of this rudimentary two-finger piano exercise was known in Russia in
duple meter
Duple metre (or Am. duple meter, also known as duple time) is a musical metre characterized by a ''primary'' division of 2 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 2 and multiples ( simple) or 6 and multiples ( compound) in the upper figure of the t ...
as "tati-tati" or the "
Cutlet
Cutlet (derived from French ''côtelette'', ''côte'', " rib") refers to:
# a thin slice of meat from the leg or ribs of mutton, veal, pork or chicken
# a dish made of such slice, often breaded (also known in various languages as a '' cotole ...
Polka". This version alternates the notes between the hands, rather than playing them at the same time in harmony.
In 1877,
Alexander Borodin
Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin ( rus, link=no, Александр Порфирьевич Бородин, Aleksandr Porfir’yevich Borodin , p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr pɐrˈfʲi rʲjɪvʲɪtɕ bərɐˈdʲin, a=RU-Alexander Porfiryevich Borodin.ogg, ...
's daughter Gania played "The Coteletten
Polka", with four bars of music similar to the beginning of de Lulli's work, though there is no hard evidence of a common source between the two pieces.
In 1878–1879,
César Cui
César Antonovich Cui ( rus, Це́зарь Анто́нович Кюи́, , ˈt͡sjezərʲ ɐnˈtonəvʲɪt͡ɕ kʲʊˈi, links=no, Ru-Tsezar-Antonovich-Kyui.ogg; french: Cesarius Benjaminus Cui, links=no, italic=no; 13 March 1918) was a Rus ...
,
Anatoly Lyadov
Anatoly Konstantinovich Lyadov (russian: Анато́лий Константи́нович Ля́дов; ) was a Russian composer, teacher, and conductor.
Biography
Lyadov was born in 1855 in St. Petersburg, into a family of eminent Russian ...
, Borodin,
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov . At the time, his name was spelled Николай Андреевичъ Римскій-Корсаковъ. la, Nicolaus Andreae filius Rimskij-Korsakov. The composer romanized his name as ''Nicolas Rimsk ...
, and
Nikolai Shcherbachov
Nikolai Vladimirovich Shcherbachov (in Cyrillic, Никола́й Влади́мирович Щербачёв; 12 August ( N.S. 24 August) 1853 – 1 October 1922) was a Russian composer and pianist.
Born in St. Petersburg, Shcherbachov was an ...
each wrote
variation
Variation or Variations may refer to:
Science and mathematics
* Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon
* Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individual ...
s for
piano duet
According to the ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', there are two kinds of piano duet: "those for two players at one instrument, and those in which each of the two pianists has an instrument to themself." In American usage the former is ...
on the
theme
Theme or themes may refer to:
* Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work
* Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos
* Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...
, published together under the title ''Paraphrases''. A supplementary paraphrase by
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
was later appended to the collection. In Borodin's version, the first four bars begin in a similar way to de Lulli's, but are nevertheless distinct. According to Fuld's book ''World-Famous Music'', no common origins for the "Chop Waltz" and the "Coteletten Polka" have yet been discovered.
In cinema, music and television

* "Chopsticks" was used as the introductory music to
Edgar Kennedy
Edgar Livingston Kennedy (April 26, 1890 – November 9, 1948) was an American comedic character actor who appeared in at least 500 films during the silent and sound eras. Professionally, he was known as "Slow Burn", owing to his ability to po ...
's series of short comedies made at the
RKO Studios
RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...
, from 1931 until his death in 1948.
* American composer and educator
John Sylvanus Thompson
John Sylvanus Thompson (8 March 1889 – 1963) was an American pianist, composer, and educator. He was born in Williamstown, Pennsylvania, to James C. Thompson, a merchant in a general store, and his Welsh wife, Emma J. Thompson (née Hall). ...
published a set of variations on "Chopsticks" in 1941.
* The first three
Pooch the Pup
Pooch the Pup is a cartoon animal character, an anthropomorphic dog, appearing in Walter Lantz cartoons during the studio's black-and-white era. The character appeared in 13 shorts made in 1932 and 1933.
Biography
In 1931, Walter Lantz was enco ...
cartoons used "Chopsticks" as their opening music.
* In the 1946
William Wyler
William Wyler (; born Willi Wyler (); July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a Swiss-German-American film director and producer who won the Academy Award for Best Director three times, those being for '' Mrs. Miniver'' (1942), '' The Best Years o ...
film ''
The Best Years of Our Lives
''The Best Years of Our Lives'' (also known as ''Glory for Me'' and ''Home Again'') is a 1946 American epic drama film directed by William Wyler, and starring Myrna Loy, Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, Virginia Mayo and Harold Russe ...
'', composer
Hoagy Carmichael
Hoagland Howard Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and was among the firs ...
performs a duet of "Chopsticks" with
Harold Russell
Harold John Avery Russell (January 14, 1914 – January 29, 2002) was an American World War II veteran. After losing his hands during his military service, Russell was cast in the epic drama film ''The Best Years of Our Lives'' (1946), which e ...
, a World War II Navy veteran who lost both of his hands in combat. He played the simple piece (including variations) with Hoagy taking the lower part. Mr. Russell's
hooks that served as hands seemingly did not deter him from delivering a rendering of the tune, complete with a final
glissando
In music, a glissando (; plural: ''glissandi'', abbreviated ''gliss.'') is a glide from one pitch to another (). It is an Italianized musical term derived from the French ''glisser'', "to glide". In some contexts, it is distinguished from the ...
up the keyboard.
* While the 1946 Bugs Bunny short cartoon ''
Rhapsody Rabbit
''Rhapsody Rabbit'' is a 1946 American animated comedy short film in the ''Merrie Melodies'' series, directed by Friz Freleng and featuring Bugs Bunny. The short was originally released to theaters by Warner Bros. Pictures on November 9, 1946. ...
'' mostly features Liszt's "
Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2", at one point a mouse briefly plays the opening bars of "Chopsticks".
*
Liberace
Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...
plays a virtuoso "Chopsticks" accompanied by full orchestra early in the 1955 film ''
Sincerely Yours Sincerely Yours may refer to:
Film
* ''Sincerely Yours'' (film), a 1955 American romantic music comedy featuring Liberace
* '' Sincerely Yours...'', a 1985 Soviet comedy
Music
* Sincerely Yours (record label), a Swedish record label
Albums
* ' ...
''.
* The theme music for the television series ''
My Three Sons
''My Three Sons'' is an American television sitcom that aired from September 29, 1960, to April 13, 1972. The series was broadcast on ABC during its first five seasons, before moving to CBS for the remaining seasons. ''My Three Sons'' chroni ...
'' (1960–1972), written by Frank De Vol, was based on "Chopsticks", though key changes were added and the meter was changed to 4/4.
* In the 1955
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder (; ; born Samuel Wilder; June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian-American filmmaker. His career in Hollywood spanned five decades, and he is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Classic Holl ...
film ''
The Seven Year Itch
''The Seven Year Itch'' is a 1955 American romantic comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, from a screenplay he co-wrote with George Axelrod from the 1952 three-act play. The film stars Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell, who reprised his stage role ...
'',
Tom Ewell
Tom Ewell (born Samuel Yewell Tompkins, April 29, 1909 – September 12, 1994) was an American film, stage and television actor, and producer. His most successful and most identifiable role was that of Richard Sherman in ''The Seven Year Itch'' ...
played this together with
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...
and tried to kiss her, only to fail.
* In the 1955 season 4 episode of ''
I Love Lucy
''I Love Lucy'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes, spanning six seasons. The show starred Lucille Ball, her husband, Desi Arnaz, along with ...
'' "Ethel's Home Town", "Chopsticks" is played by Fred Mertz (
William Frawley
William Clement Frawley (February 26, 1887 – March 3, 1966) was an American vaudevillian and actor best remembered for playing landlord Fred Mertz in the American television sitcom '' I Love Lucy'', "Bub" O'Casey in the television comedy ser ...
).
* In the 1972 ''
Columbo
''Columbo'' () is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC f ...
'' episode "Etude in Black",
Columbo
''Columbo'' () is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC f ...
plays chopsticks as a way to get under the skin of the pompous murderer/conductor Alex Benedict (
John Cassavetes
John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and direc ...
).
* "Chopsticks" accompanied the sequence in the 1972
ABC Saturday Superstar Movie
''The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie'' — retitled ''The New Saturday Superstar Movie'' for its second season — is a series of one-hour animated made-for-television films (some of which also contained live action sequences), broadcast on the AB ...
''
Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter
''Popeye Meets the Man Who Hated Laughter'', also known as ''The Man Who Hated Laughter'', is a 1972 American animated one-hour television film that was part of ''The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie''. This film united characters from almost every new ...
'' in which
Beetle Bailey
''Beetle Bailey'' is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Mort Walker, published since September 4, 1950. It is set on a fictional United States Army post. In the years just before Walker's death in 2018 (at age 94), it was among the old ...
's comrade
Sergeant Snorkel piled a variety of food on top of a secret message he planned to eat,
Dagwood sandwich
A Dagwood sandwich is a tall, multilayered sandwich made with a variety of meats, cheeses, and condiments. It is named after Dagwood Bumstead, a central character in the comic strip '' Blondie'', who is frequently illustrated making enormous san ...
style.
* A simplified version of the tune is featured in the
Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's " For You", "Blinded by the Light" and "Spirit in the Night". After forming in 1971 and with a ...
version of the song "
Blinded by the Light
"Blinded by the Light" is a song written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen, a which first appeared on his 1973 debut album ''Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.'' A cover by British rock band Manfred Mann's Earth Band reached number one on the ' ...
", originally by
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
. The Springsteen version did not contain the tune.
* "Chopsticks" is the second song played by
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...
and
Robert Loggia
Salvatore "Robert" Loggia ( , ; January 3, 1930 – December 4, 2015) was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' Jagged Edge'' (1985) and won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for ...
in the famous piano scene at
FAO Schwarz
FAO Schwarz is an American toy brand and store. The company is known for its high-end toys, life-sized stuffed animals, interactive experiences, brand integrations, and games.
FAO Schwarz claims to be the oldest toy store in the United States ...
in the 1988 film ''
Big
Big or BIG may refer to:
* Big, of great size or degree
Film and television
* ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks
* ''Big!'', a Discovery Channel television show
* ''Richard Hammond's Big'', a television show presente ...
''.
* In the stage musical adaption of ''
The Lion King
''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, ...
'', "Chopsticks" can be heard in the song "Lioness' Hunt".
* In the episode "Blind Faith" Season 2 Episode 5 of ''
Quantum Leap
''Quantum Leap'' is an American science fiction television series, created by Donald P. Bellisario, that premiered on NBC and aired for five seasons, from March 26, 1989, to May 5, 1993. The series stars Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, a ph ...
'' first aired November 1, 1989
Scott Bakula
Scott Stewart Bakula (; born October 9, 1954) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in two science-fiction television series: as Sam Beckett on '' Quantum Leap'' and as Captain Jonathan Archer on '' Star Trek: Enterprise''. For ''Quant ...
leaps into a blind piano player on stage just in time for the encore performance. Bakula plays "Chopsticks" amusing the large audience in the music hall.
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0681108/?ref_=ttep_ep5]
* The character Ryan Sinclair plays chopsticks in "
The Haunting of Villa Diodati
"The Haunting of Villa Diodati" is the eighth episode of the twelfth series of the British science fiction television programme '' Doctor Who'', first broadcast on BBC One on 16 February 2020. It was written by Maxine Alderton, and directed by E ...
", an episode of ''
Doctor Who'' anachronistically set in 1816.
* The melody is quoted in
Hoyt Curtin
Hoyt Stoddard Curtin (September 9, 1922 – December 3, 2000) was an American composer and music producer, the primary musical director for the Hanna-Barbera animation studio from its beginnings with '' The Ruff & Reddy Show'' in 1957 until his ...
's theme to the 1960s
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer t ...
animated sitcom
An animated sitcom is a subgenre of the sitcom that is animated instead of live action and is generally made or created for adult audiences in most cases. ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', ''The Simpsons'', '' South Park'', and ''Family Guy'' are four of ...
''
The Jetsons
''The Jetsons'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. It originally aired in prime time from September 23, 1962, to March 17, 1963, on ABC, then later aired in reruns via syndication, with new episodes produced f ...
''.
* In the film ''
Lisztomania
Lisztomania or Liszt fever was the intense fan frenzy directed toward Hungarian composer Franz Liszt during his performances. This frenzy first occurred in Berlin in 1841 and the term was later coined by Heinrich Heine in a feuilleton he wrote on ...
'' (1975), the theme is a recurring joke each time
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
plays it in public.
* The melody is the basis of
J-pop
J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the ...
group
NiziU
NiziU ( ja, ニジュー; ko, 니쥬), stylized as NIZIU, is a Japanese girl group formed by JYP Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The group is composed of nine members: Mako, Rio, Maya, Riku, Ayaka, Mayuka, Rima, Miihi, and Nin ...
's 2021 single "Chopstick".
See also
* "
Heart and Soul", 1938 song by
Hoagy Carmichael
Hoagland Howard Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and was among the firs ...
with lyrics by
Frank Loesser
Frank Henry Loesser (; June 29, 1910 – July 28, 1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals '' Guys and Dolls'' and '' How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', among others. He won a To ...
with a similarly simple fingering
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
{{Authority control
1877 compositions
Compositions for solo piano
Compositions in C major