There’s a famous story about how a little boy found his way onto the great Ignacy Paderewski’s piano bench before a concert, and, oblivious to the audience, began playing Euphemia Allen’s world-famous 1877 hit Chopsticks. The ticket-holders in the seats were shocked, and angrily wanted the child removed. Paderewski, however, walked up behind the bench and added his mavelous skills to the mix, and kept whispering in the boy’s ear, “Keep going. Don’t quit, son. Keep playing. Don’t stop. Don’t quit.” I wish we could all be so encouraging and gracious!
However, this story is completely made up. What actually is truly historical is that this was the only published work by Euphemia Amelia Nightingale Allen, and that it has been played on practically every piano in existence. A salute to the enduring work on Euphemia Allen for being a one-hit wonder!
This arrangement for 3, 4, or 5 octaves has plenty of opportunities for shtick, including a section where the bass and treble stage an argument. That particular section is alleged to bring the difficulty to Level 6 – however, it should be noted that in this passage the treble is playing in C major and the bass is playing in F# major – so while those measures are insanely dissonant, there effectively are no accidentals until the transition back to comparative tonal unity.
This arrangement of Chopsticks is published by From the Top Music.
Here is a somewhat abridged performance of Chopsticks by Rezound!
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