"Va pensiero" from Verdi's Nabucco

“Va, pensiero” has become an important piece of music at Sarasota Opera. Over the years we have performed it many times at many diverse events. Like all great music this chorus can be enjoyed on many levels, the most immediate being its unforgettable melody. But Verdi’s melodies grow from the words, and it is those words that help create the emotional depth that connects his music to humanity.

Go, thought, on golden wings;
Go rest on the slopes and the hills,
Where the sweet breezes of our native land
Smell soft and fragrant!

Greet the banks of the Jordan
And Zion’s fallen towers.
Oh my country so beautiful and lost!
Oh remembrance so dear and fateful!

Golden harp of the prophetic bards,
Why do you hang mute on the willow?
Re-kindle memories in our breast
Speak to us of times that were!

Mindful of the fate of Jerusalem,
Either give forth a sound of crude lamentation
Or let the Lord inspire you to a harmony,
Which infuses us with the virtue to bear our sufferings!

The Hebrews in captivity sing of their “Patria”, their homeland. But homeland is as much a community as it is a place. It is the memories we share that bring us together. They, and we, must remember our history and endure our hardships, so that we can survive.