“CHOPSTICKS,” “Arthur de Lulli” (Euphemia Allen)–1877

“Chopsticks,” that quick little waltz that anyone can play, and which drives parents who own pianos to distraction, seems–like jump-rope rhymes–to be something passed down from one generation to another. It is hard to believe that it was composed. But it was. Its creator was Euphemia Allen, a 16-year-old British girl, who published the tune under the pseudonym of Arthur de Lulli and never, so far as we know, wrote anything else. The tune appeared in 1877 in London and Glasgow as “The Celebrated Chopsticks Waltz, arranged as a Duet and Solo for the Pianoforte.” On page 3 were these instructions: “This part (primo part of the duet) must be played with both hands turned sideways, the little fingers lowest, so that the movements of the hands imitate the chopping from which this waltz gets its name.”

Here is Chopsticks on the Uke by John King: