ABC's: A Song History
The alphabet song shares its melody with “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” and according to The Conversation it is now sung by most children acquiring English literacy.[1] Sources differ on the melody’s age: The Conversation dates its oldest published version, which had no words, to 1761, while the Morgan Library says it was written around 1765, and both call the composer unknown.[1][2] Mozart wrote twelve keyboard variations on the tune, K. 265, under the French song title “Ah, vous dirai-je, maman”; the Morgan Library dates the autograph manuscript to Vienna, 1781–1782, and the Henle edition assigns the work to 1781.[2][3]
Miss L. E. M. Jones, Alphabet Book Design (Letters C and K), graphite, ca. 1830. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public domain (CC0). Shown for its subject; it has no connection to the song.
A Boston print dated 1835, The A.B.C., a German Air with Variations for the Flute with an Easy Accompaniment for the Piano Forte, was issued by C. Bradlee of 107 Washington Street and is credited to L. Lemaire.[4] The Newberry Library’s copy carries an 1835 copyright entry in Bradlee’s name at the District Court of Massachusetts, and its catalogers note that “the theme is that used by Mozart for his piano variations.”[4] The catalog describes it as a work for flute and piano, so it links the alphabet title to the tune rather than documenting the sung words.[4] Sources differ on the song’s first copyright: a Curious Kids explainer from The Conversation says Charles Bradlee registered it in 1834 under the title The Schoolmaster, which the sources consulted here do not reconcile with the 1835 print.[1]
The same explainer connects the song’s spread to the growing importance of reading and writing, as more young children learned it to remember their letters.[1] It links the song’s usefulness to memory, saying melody and rhyme aid recall, in part because attention to timing and speed draws on more of the brain.[1]
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Sources
- The Conversation: "Curious Kids: Who made the alphabet song?".
- The Morgan Library & Museum: "Twelve variations on the French folk song 'Ah! vous dirai-je, maman' K. 265" (audio guide stop 418).
- G. Henle Verlag: "12 Variations sur Ah vous dirai-je Maman K. 265 (HN 165)".
- Newberry Library catalog: "The A.B.C., a German air with variations for the flute with an easy accompaniment for the piano forte" (Boston: C. Bradlee, 1835).