La Marseillaise
| English: 'The Marseillaise' | |
|---|---|
_par_Rude,_Arc_de_Triomphe_Etoile_Paris.jpg) The Marseillais volunteers departing, sculpted on the Arc de Triomphe | |
National anthem of France | |
| Also known as | « Chant de Guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin » (English: 'War Song for the Army of the Rhine') |
| Lyrics | Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, 1792 |
| Music | Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, 1792 |
| Adopted | 14 July 1795 |
| Readopted | 1870 |
| Relinquished | 1799 |
| Audio sample | |
Instrumental rendition in A♭ | |
"La Marseillaise"
The French National Convention adopted it as the First Republic's anthem in 1795. The song acquired its nickname after being sung in Paris by Fédéré (volunteers) from Marseille marching to the capital. The song is the first example of the "European march"[clarification needed] anthemic style. The anthem's evocative melody and lyrics have led to its widespread use as a song of revolution and its incorporation into many pieces of classical and popular music.
The Italian violinist Guido Rimonda pointed out in 2013[1] that the incipit of "Tema e variazioni in Do maggiore" of Giovanni Battista Viotti[2] has a strong resemblance to the anthem.[3][4] This incipit was first thought to have been published before La Marseillaise, but it appeared to be a misconception as Viotti published several variations of "La Marseillaise" in 1795[5] and wrote as a note "I have never composed the quartets below" (Je n'ai jamais composé les quatuors ci dessous).[6][7][8]
History
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As the
The melody soon became the rallying call to the French Revolution and was adopted as "La Marseillaise" after the melody was first sung on the streets by volunteers (
The song's lyrics reflect the invasion of France by foreign armies (from
Music
Several musical antecedents have been cited for the melody:
- Tema e variazioni in Do maggiore, a work by the Italian violinist Giovanni Battista Viotti;[19][20] the 1781 dating of the manuscript has been questioned,[21] but it seems to have been published after "La Marseillaise", in 1795.[22][7]
- Mozart's Allegro maestoso from the Piano Concerto No. 25 (composed in 1786).[23]
- The oratorio Esther by Jean Baptiste Lucien Grison (composed in 1787).[24][25]
Other attributions (the credo of the fourth Mass of Holtzmann of Mursberg)[26] have been refuted.[27]
Lyrics
Generally only the first verse is sung.
| French original[c] | IPA transcription[d] | English translation |
|---|---|---|
Allons enfants de la Patrie, |
[a.lõ.z‿ɑ̃.fɑ̃ də la pa.tʁi.ə |] |
Arise, children of the Fatherland, blood-thirsty soldiers ablare?They're coming right into your arms To tear the throats of your sons, your wives! Refrain: 𝄆 To arms, citizens, Form up your battalions March on, march on! Let blood impure Water our furrows! 𝄇 What do they want, this horde of slaves, Of traitors, of conjured kings? For whom these ignoble chains, 𝄆 These long-prepared irons? 𝄇 Frenchmen, for us, ah! What outrage What outburst it must arouse! It's us they dare to conspire To return to the old slavery! Refrain What! These foreign cohorts Would make the law in our homes! What! These mercenary phalanxes 𝄆 Would strike down our proud warriors! 𝄇 Great God! With chained hands Under the yoke we'd yield ourselves Vile despots would become The masters of our destinies! Refrain Tremble, tyrants and ye traitors The disgrace of all parties, Tremble! Your parricidal schemes 𝄆 Will finally receive their prize! 𝄇 Everyone is a soldier to fight you, If our young heroes fall, The earth will produce new ones, Ready to fight against you! Refrain Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors, Endure or hold back your blows! Spare these pitiful victims, 𝄆 That regret arming against us. 𝄇 But these bloodthirsty despots, But these accomplices of Bouillé, All these tigers who, without mercy, Would tear apart their mother's breast! Refrain Sacred love of the Fatherland, Lead, support our avenging arms Liberty, Liberty beloved, 𝄆 Fight with your defenders! 𝄇 Under our flags may victory Hurry to your virile accents, So that your dying enemies See your triumph and our glory! Refrain Children's verse: We will start our career When our elders are no more, We will find their dust there 𝄆 And the trace of their virtues 𝄇 Much less jealous to survive them Than to share their coffin, We will have the sublime pride To avenge them or follow them. Refrain |
Cultural impact and musical adaptations
"La Marseillaise" was arranged for soprano, chorus and orchestra by Hector Berlioz in about 1830.[28]
Franz Liszt wrote a piano transcription of the anthem.[29]
During World War I, bandleader James Reese Europe played a jazz version of "La Marseillaise".[30]
The anthem was used as a protest song in the Korean March First Movement protests against Japanese rule in 1919.[31]
Adaptations in other musical works
- Robert Schumann uses a brief quote of "La Marseillaise" in his solo piano work's Faschingsschwank aus Wien (1839) first movement, "Allegro". Singing "La Marseillaise" was forbidden in Austria at the time because "such a revolutionary piece might cause public disorder".[32]
- Schumann also quotes the melody in the last verse of his song "Die beiden grenadiere" Op. 49 no. 1 (1840)
- Richard Wagner quotes the melody in last verse of his "Les deux grenadiers" (1840)
- Thomas Wiggins quotes the melody in his "Battle of Manassas" (ca 1861)
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky quotes "La Marseillaise" in his 1812 Overture (1880), representing the invading French Army under Napoleon (although it had not been the French national anthem at that time), and it is drowned out by cannon fire, symbolizing the Russian defense at the Battle of Borodino.[33]
- Pavlos Carrer quotes the tune in the overture to his opera Maria Antonietta (1884)
- Julián Felipe incorporated elements of "La Marseillaise" in the fifth and last bar of his incidental piece Marcha Filipina-Magdalo (1898) which eventually became the Filipino national anthem Lupang Hinirang.[34]
- Erik Satie's song "Un Dîner à l'Élysée" quotes the tune
- The anthem has been sampled to reference France or Paris in countless film scores
- Dmitri Shostakovich quotes "La Marseillaise" at some length during the fifth reel of the film score he composed for the 1929 silent movie The New Babylon (set during the Paris Commune), where it is juxtaposed contrapuntally with the "Infernal Galop" from Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld.[35]
- The their club song, which their predecessor, the Fitzroy Lions, adopted in 1952.[36]
- The Beatles' 1967 single "All You Need Is Love" uses the opening bars of "La Marseillaise" as an introduction.[37]
- On Messianic era.[38]
- season 5 of the TV drama Game of Thrones.[39]
Historical Russian use
In Russia, "La Marseillaise" was used as a
Critique
The English philosopher and reformer Jeremy Bentham, who was declared an honorary citizen of France in 1791 in recognition of his sympathies for the ideals of the French Revolution, was not enamoured of "La Marseillaise". Contrasting its qualities with the "beauty" and "simplicity" of "God Save the King", he wrote in 1796:
The War whoop of anarchy, the Marseillais Hymn, is to my ear, I must confess, independently of all moral association, a most dismal, flat, and unpleasing ditty: and to any ear it is at any rate a long winded and complicated one. In the instance of a melody so mischievous in its application, it is a fortunate incident, if, in itself, it should be doomed neither in point of universality, nor permanence, to gain equal hold on the affections of the people.[41]
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, President of France for most of the 1970s, said that it is ridiculous to sing about drenching French fields with impure Prussian blood as a Chancellor of the modern democratic Germany takes the salute in Paris.[42] A 1992 campaign to change the words of the song involving more than 100 prominent French citizens, including Danielle Mitterrand, wife of then-President François Mitterrand, was unsuccessful.[43]
The British historian
In 1979, a
See also
- "A Portuguesa", the current national anthem of Portugal with a similar refrain
- "Belarusian Marseillaise", a patriotic song in Belarus
- "Napoleonic Empire
- "Ça Ira", another famous anthem of the French Revolution
- "Deșteaptă-te, române!", the current national anthem of Romania, sometimes referred to as the "Romanian Marseillaise"
- "Deutsche Arbeiter-Marseillaise", anthem of the General German Workers' Association
- "Gens du pays", the unofficial state song of Quebec
- "Gloria al Bravo Pueblo", the current national anthem of Venezuela, formerly called the "Venezuelan Marsaillaise" and showing similarities to the "French Marsaillaise"
- "La Bayamesa", the current national anthem of Cuba
- "La Marseillaise des Blancs", the Royal and Catholic variation
- "Maamme", the current national anthem of Finland, formerly a candidate anthem along with "La Marsaillaise" and "The Internationale" upon the country's independence in 1917
- "Marche Henri IV", the national anthem of the Kingdom of France
- "National Anthem of Honduras", the only national anthem that mentions the French Revolution
- "Onamo, 'namo!", a Montenegrin patriotic song popularly known as the "Serbian Marseillaise"
- "The Internationale", a popular left-wing anthem, originally intended to be sung to the tune of "La Marsaillaise"
- "The Women's Marseillaise", a women's suffrage protest song
- "Worker's Marseillaise", the national anthem of Russia from 1917 to 1918; written by Robert Schumann, and based on "La Marseillaise"
Explanatory notes
- ^
- English pronunciation: /ˌmɑːrseɪˈ(j)ɛz/ MAR-say-(Y)EZ
- French pronunciation: [la maʁsɛˈjɛːz]
- ^ pronounced [ʃɑ̃ də ɡɛːʁ puʁ laʁ.me dy ʁɛ̃]; lit. 'War Song for the Army of the Rhine'
- ^ The French language has spacing before some punctuation marks, such as the exclamation and question marks when typed.
- ^ See Help:IPA/French, French phonology and French of France.
- ^ Also sung as « Marchez, marchez ! »
- ^ The seventh verse was not part of the original text; it was added in 1792 by an unknown author.
References
- ^ "La Marsigliese? E' di un italiano". 13 May 2013. Archived from the original on 12 May 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
- ^ "Giovanni Battista Viotti - Tema e variazioni in do maggiore (Best known as "La Marseillaise")". YouTube. 13 July 2018. Archived from the original on 11 May 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
- ^ La Marseillaise, un hymne à l'histoire tourmentée Archived 25 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Micaela Ovale & Guilia Mazzetto. "Progetti Viotti" (PDF). Guido Rimonda (in Italian). Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
Basti ricordare che "La Marsigliese" nasce da un tema con variazioni di Viotti scritto nel 1781, ben 11 anni prima della comparsa dell'inno nazionale francese ufficiale (ri-orchestrato da Berlioz con l'aggiunta delle parole da R. De Lisle). Il brano sarà presente nel secondo CD dell'integrale in uscita nel marzo 2013.
. - ^ Viotti, Giovanni Battista. "Six quatuor d'airs connus dialogués et variés pour deux violons, alto et violoncelle, divisés en deux Parties. 1° parte – Giovanni Battista Viotti". MLOL (in Italian). Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ISBN 978-88-85780-04-0. Archivedfrom the original on 23 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ a b "Miscellanea: "Viotti e la Marsigliese. Falso e vero o i bufalari smascherati" di Giuseppina La Face e Carlo Vitali" (in Italian). Accademia della Bufala. Archived from the original on 28 February 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ Fauré, Georges (15 October 2020). "Curiosità: l'hymne français a-t-il été composé par un Italien ?". Alliance Franco-Italienne de Midi-Pyrénées (in French). Archived from the original on 23 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ Dictionnaire Universelle de la Franc-Maçonnerie, p. 601 – Jode and Cara (Larousse 2011)
- National Assembly of France. Archived from the originalon 15 May 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8047-1013-8. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
- ^ Stevens, Benjamin F. (January 1896). "Story of La Marseillaise". The Musical Record (408). Boston, Massachusetts: Oliver Ditson Company: 2. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
- ^ "Plaque Frédéric De Dietrich". Archi-Wiki. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
- ^ (in French) Louis Spach, Frederic de Dietrich, premier maire de Strasbourg. Archived 23 May 2023 at the Wayback Machine, Strasbourgh, Vve. Berger-Levrault & fils, 1857.
- ^ "General François Mireur". Archived from the original on 29 September 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
- ^ Wochenblatt, dem Unterricht des Landvolks gewidmet, Colmar 1792 [1] Archived 30 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
- ISBN 978-1-136-82573-6. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
- ^ a b "Modern History Sourcebook: La Marseillaise". sourcebooks.fordham.edu. Archived from the original on 19 April 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
- ^ "La Marseillaise, un hymne à l'histoire tourmentée" Archived 25 April 2021 at the Wayback Machine by Romaric Godin, La Tribune, 20 November 2015 (in French)
- ^ Ovale, Micaela; Mazzetto, Giulia. "Progetti Viotti" (PDF). Guido Rimonda (in Italian). Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
Basti ricordare che 'La Marsigliese' nasce da un tema con variazioni di Viotti scritto nel 1781, ben 11 anni prima della comparsa dell'inno nazionale francese ufficiale.
[Just remember that 'La Marseillaise' was born from a theme with variations by Viotti written in 1781, 11 years before the appearance of the official French national anthem.] - ^ La Face, Giuseppina (10 January 2016). "La Marsigliese e il mistero attorno alla sua paternità". il fatto quotidiano. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
A dicembre la Camerata Ducale, diretta dal violinista Guido Rimonda, ha eseguito un Tema con variazioni per violino e orchestra sulla Marsigliese, attribuito al grande compositore vercellese Giovan Battista Viotti. Rimonda, che per la Decca sta registrando gli opera omnia dell'illustre concittadino, possiede un manoscritto del Tema con variazioni firmato 'GB Viotti' e datato '1781'... Nel libriccino che accompagna il CD Decca del 2013, è riprodotta la prima pagina del manoscritto. Secondo un esperto di Viotti, il canadese Warwick Lister (Ad Parnassum, XIII, aprile 2015), la firma di Viotti in alto a destra potrebbe essere autentica, ma le parole "2 mars 1781" sono di un'altra mano. Non si può dunque escludere che Viotti abbia davvero scritto una serie di variazioni su un tema che tutt'Europa conobbe a metà degli anni 1790; ma l'idea che il brano risalga al decennio precedente, e che la paternità musicale dell'inno vada girata a un violinista vercellese, è appesa all'esile filo di una data d'incerta mano su un manoscritto d'incerta provenienza.
[In December the Camerata Ducale, conducted by the violinist Guido Rimonda, performed a Theme with variations for violin and orchestra on the Marseillaise, attributed to the great Vercelli composer Giovan Battista Viotti. Rimonda, who for the Decca is recording the opera omnia of the illustrious fellow citizen, owns a manuscript of the Theme with variations signed "GB Viotti" and dated '1781' ... In the booklet accompanying the 2013 Decca CD, the first page of the manuscript is reproduced. According to an expert from Viotti, the Canadian Warwick Lister (Ad Parnassum, XIII, April 2015), Viotti's signature on the top right may be authentic, but the words '2 mars 1781' are from another hand. It cannot therefore be excluded that Viotti actually wrote a series of variations on a theme that all of Europe knew in the mid-1790s; but the idea that the piece dates back to the previous decade, and that the musical authorship of the hymn should be turned to a Vercelli violinist, hangs on the slender thread of a date of uncertain hand on a manuscript of uncertain origin.] - ^ Viotti, Giovanni Battista. "Six quatuor d'airs connus dialogués et variés pour deux violons, alto et violoncelle, divisés en deux Parties. 1° parte – Giovanni Battista Viotti". MLOL (in Italian). Archived from the original on 23 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
- ^ "Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K. 503". Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
- ISBN 9782723304580. Archivedfrom the original on 28 June 2024. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
Cette partition musicale, que ma famille possède toujours, avait été écrite par Jean-Baptiste Lucien Grisons, chef de maîtrise à la cathédrale de Saint-Omer de 1775 à 1787. Or l'air des Stances sur la Calamnie, par laquelle débute cet oratorio, n'est autre que l'air de la Marseillaise
[This musical score, which my family still owns, was written by Jean-Baptiste Lucien Grisons, chief of master at the cathedral of Saint-Omer from 1775 to 1787. Now the tune of Stances on Calamnia, with which this oratorio begins, is none other than the air of the Marseillaise.] - New International Encyclopedia(1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.
- The American Cyclopædia. See also Geschichte eines deutschen Liedes at German Wikisource.
- JSTOR 738232.
- ^ William Apthorp (1879) Hector Berlioz; Selections from His Letters, and Aesthetic, Humorous, and Satirical Writings, Henry Holt, New York
- ^ L. J. de Bekker (1909) Stokes' Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians, Frederick Stokes, New York
- OCLC 681746132.
- ^ 김, 용래 (21 February 2019). "[외신속 3·1 운동] ⑩ 일제 치하서 울려퍼진 佛혁명가 '라 마르세예즈'". Yonhap News Agency (in Korean). Archived from the original on 2 May 2024. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
- ^ "Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op. 26 (Carnival of Vienna) | Mimi Solomon | Piano Music | Free classical music online". Archived from the original on 18 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
- ^ "Why does everyone love the Marseillaise, France's national anthem?". Classic FM (UK). Archived from the original on 28 June 2024. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
- ^ "The National Anthem's predecessor and influences". Malacañang Palace. 10 June 2014. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014.
- ^ Described and played on BBC Radio 3's CD Review program "Building a Library: Elgar: Violin Concerto" Archived 23 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine (14 January 2012)[time needed]
- ^ "Origins of our Club song" Archived 23 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine, Brisbane Lions
- ^ Edwards, Gavin (28 August 2014). "How the Beatles' 'All You Need Is Love' Made History". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 7 March 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
- ^ "The Spiritual French Revolution: A Miracle in Our Times, 5752 (1992)". Chabad.org. Archived from the original on 23 June 2020. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
- ^ "Access the Animus – Interview with Sarah Schachner". www.accesstheanimus.com. Archived from the original on 28 June 2024. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ Соболева, Н. А. (2005). "Из истории отечественных государственных гимнов" [From the history of national national anthems] (PDF). Отечественная история [National History] (in Russian) (1): 10–12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2008.
- ISBN 978-0199242320.
- ^ Bremner, Charles (14 May 2014). "Cannes star denounces 'racist' Marseillaise at festival opening". The Times. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
- ^ Riding, Alan (5 March 1992). "Aux Barricades! 'La Marseillaise' Is Besieged". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 28 June 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
- ^ "Simon Schama explains La Marseillaise". BBC News. 17 November 2015. Archived from the original on 28 June 2024. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
- ^ "Revisiting Serge Gainsbourg's version of 'La Marseillaise'". faroutmagazine.co.uk. 2 April 2022. Archived from the original on 28 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
- ^ "Aux armes et caetera". 7 June 2018. Archived from the original on 28 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024 – via www.youtube.com.
Further reading
- Hughes, Charles (Spring 1940). "Music of the French Revolution". JSTOR 40399324.
External links
Texts on Wikisource:
- La Marseillaise
- "Marseillaise, The". The Nuttall Encyclopædia. 1907.
- "Marseillaise". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.
- La Marseillaise: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project
- "La Marseillaise de Rouget de Lisle" (in French). Élysée – Présidence de la République. 16 November 2012.
- "Les paroles de la Marseillaise" (in French). Assemblée nationale.
- La Marseillaise, Iain Patterson's comprehensive website
