Chorus of Hebrew Slaves (from Nabuco)

Chorus of Hebrew Slaves (from Nabuco) by Giuseppi Verdi. First performed at La Scala in 1842, overwhelming success. Made Verdi a reknowned figure, and the strong simple melody in choral unison, became the unofficial anthem of Italy’s liberation movement – a coded statement of defiance.

Text, evocative of Psalm 137 ("by the waters of Babylon")
by Temistocle Solera:


Va, pensiero, sull’a li dorate;
Va, ti posa sui clivi, sui colli,
Oveolezzano tepidee molli
L’aure dolci del suolo natal!


Journey homeward, desires of our nation;
Tell the hills, tell the dales of our yearning,
That with you we may all be returning
To the land of our fathers so dear

Del Giordano le reive saluta,
Di Sionne le torri atterrate...
Oh mia patria si bellae perduta!
Oh membranza si cara e fatal!

Greet the Jordan, the Lord’s sacred river,
Greet the ruins of once mighty Zion...
May we keep their rememberance forever
In the grief of our banishment here!


Arpa d’or dei fatidici vati,
Perche muta dal salice pendi?
Le memorie nel petto racendi,
Ci favella del tempo che fu!

Golden harps of the prophets and sages,
Now you hang from the willows beside us.*
Play in the memory of joys long denied us
As we tell of the times that are gone.

O simile di solima ai fati
Traggi un suono di crudo lamento,
O t’ispiri il Signore un concento
Che ne infonda al patire virtu,
Che ne infonda al patire virtu!
Al patire virtu!

Like an echo of far distant ages,
Sing of sorrow, of pain unrelenting.
God above if you hear our lamenting,
Raise our hearts and in faith make them strong.

__________________

Cf. Blake, drew/painted instruments in the trees.