• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Language / Where Did the Melody For “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” Come From and How Did the Nursery Rhyme Originate?

Where Did the Melody For “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” Come From and How Did the Nursery Rhyme Originate?

February 23, 2020 by Karen Hill

In 1806, Jane Taylor published “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” simply as “The Star.”

The tune was already in use for “Baa Baa Black Sheep” and the Alphabet Song.

The melody for all three came from a French rhyme called “Ah! Vous dirais-je Maman” in 1765.

Both Mozart and Haydn have incorporated the melody into two of their classical compositions, Haydn in “Surprise” Symphony No.94 and Mozart in Theme and Variations K265.

Related Facts

  • Why Do the Stars Twinkle In the Sky?
  • Why Do Stars Twinkle and What Causes Stars and Planets To Twinkle At Night?
  • Did composer Salieri really try to swindle Mozart out of the Requiem like in the movie Amadeus?
  • How Did Mozart’s Pet Bird Serve As Inspiration for His Compositions When He Played?
  • Where Did the Nursery Rhyme “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” Originate and What Does it Mean?
  • What Makes the Stars Twinkle?

Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « What Does the Expression “Go Fly a Kite” Mean and Where Did the Idiom Come From?
Next Post: What Does the Phrase “Goody Two Shoes” Mean and Where Did the Saying Originate? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2020 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy