Duration: 8 minutes
Composer: Giuseppe (Fortunino Francesco) Verdi (Born in Roncole, near Parma, Italy in 1813; died in Milan, Italy in 1901)
World premiere: first performed with the entire opera at La Scala in Milan on March 9, 1842
Instrumentation: 2 flutes (one also playing piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba (originally written for “cimbasso,” a predecessor to the tuba), timpani, bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, strings
In the years before Giuseppe Verdi wrote what would become one of his most important masterpieces, the opera Nabucco and its beloved Overture, Verdi had suffered both personal tragedies and professional defeat. His two infant sons died in 1838 and 1839, and then in 1840 his wife, Margherita, died too. Heaping up even more pain, Verdi’s second opera, Un giorno di regno (1840) was a dismal failure. These events pushed Verdi to stop composing and instead concentrate on his second love, farming. Fortunately, the director of the famous Italian opera house, La Scala, beseeched Verdi to please write just one more opera, and that one more opera was Nabucco, which relaunched Verdi’s composing career. Verdi remembered it this way:
“With this opera it is fair to say that my artistic career
began. And despite the difficulties I had to contend
with, Nabucco was born under a lucky star.”
Nabucco was an instant success and it solidified Verdi’s career as a major voice in Italian opera. Thanks to Verdi’s keen sense of drama and uncanny talent for great lyrical melodies, Nabucco has remained a staple of the opera repertoire ever since its premiere in 1842. And no less popular is Nabucco’s masterpiece Overture that on its own has become one of Verdi’s most popular and beloved works.
The Overture is typical in that it pulls its themes from the opera itself, and yet, it’s remarkable in the way that Verdi so concisely and excitingly crafts those themes to mirror the opera’s plot line. Nabucco is ultimately a love story, based on an ancient story from the Old Testament, but it is also filled with mid-19th Century Italian political allusions. Set in Jerusalem and Babylon in 586 B.C., the King of Babylon, Nabucco (the Italian name of Nebuchadnezzar II), is at war with the Hebrews and their allies. Fenena (Nabucco’s daughter) is currently a prisoner in Jerusalem and is in love with Ismaele (the son of Zedekiah, the King of Jerusalem); meanwhile, Abigaille (Nabucco’s other daughter) is also in love with Ismaele, but that affection is unrequited. Love triangles, intrigue, betrayal, near executions, and lightning strikes ensue. The old story, as seen through the dramatic lens of opera, ends with conversions, suicides, redemption, and freedom for the Hebrews.
The Overture opens with a beautifully lyrical and prayer-like brass chorale, representing the Hebrew’s faith that is steadfast despite the fact that Nabucco has enslaved them. One of the most beautiful and famous themes that Verdi ever wrote appears in this Overture after about two-and-a half minutes; it’s first heard as a duet played by the oboe and clarinet. This is the famous theme of the chorus from Act 3, Scene 2, “Va, pensiero, sull ali decorate” when the Hebrews lament their enslavement, and sing longingly to see home again:
“Fly, my thoughts, on wings of gold;
go settle upon the slopes and the hills,
where, soft and mild, the sweet airs
of my native land smell fragrant!”
This chorus was so cherished by the Italians that it became, and has remained, a kind of second Italian national anthem. Indeed, in 1901, the more than 100,000 mourners attending Verdi’s funeral spontaneously sang it in memory of their beloved opera composer. But “Va, pensiero” has become not only musically cherished, but a universal anthem for strength amidst grief. One particularly poignant performance happened in the United States 100 years after Verdi’s funeral. In 2001, two weeks after the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, the Metropolitan Opera opened that year’s opera season by having its choir sing “Va, pensiero” in honor of those who perished in the attacks.
Following this chorus, the Overture moves into quick-paced, snare drum-driven music, bringing it all to an exhilarating close. This final portion evokes the battles and the interior intrigue between Nabucco and his daughters, Abigaille and Fenena, as well as the blistering conflict between the Babylonians and the Hebrews. The concluding bars are packed with excitement, as Verdi keeps ramping up the tempo, driving it to its thrilling final chords.