La Marseillaise
Encyclopedia
"La Marseillaise" is the national anthem
of France
. The song, originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" ("War Song for the Army of the Rhine") was written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle
in 1792. The French National Convention adopted it as the Republic's
anthem in 1795. The name of the song is due to first being sung on the streets by volunteers from Marseille
.
The song is the first example of the "European march" 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 (see below: Musical quotations).
. He dedicated the song to Marshal
Nicolas Luckner
, a Bavarian
in French service from Cham
. 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 (fédérés in French) from Marseille
. These fédérés were making their entryway into Paris
on 30 July 1792 after a young volunteer from Montpellier
called François Mireur had sung it at a patriotic gathering in Marseille, and the troops adopted it as the marching song of the National Guard of Marseille. A newly graduated medical doctor, Mireur, later became a general under Napoléon Bonaparte
and died in Egypt at age 28.
The song's lyrics reflect the invasion of France by foreign armies (from Prussia
and Austria
), underway when it was written; Strasbourg itself was attacked just a few days later. The invading forces were repulsed from France following their defeat in the Battle of Valmy
.
La Marseillaise was met with levée en masse
.
The Convention
accepted it as the French national anthem in a decree passed on 14 July 1795, making it France's first anthem. It later lost this status under Napoleon I
, and the song was banned outright by Louis XVIII
and Napoleon III, only being re-instated briefly after the July Revolution of 1830. During Napoleon I's reign, Veillons au Salut de l'Empire was the unofficial anthem of the regime, and in Napoleon III's reign, it was Partant pour la Syrie
. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, "La Marseillaise" was recognised as the anthem of the international revolutionary movement, and in 1871, it had been adopted by the Paris Commune
. Eight years later in 1879, it was restored as France's national anthem, and has remained so ever since.
in about 1830.
Franz Liszt
wrote a piano transcription
of the anthem.
During World War I
, bandleader James Reese Europe
played a jazz version of "La Marseillaise", which can be heard on Part 2 of the Ken Burns TV documentary Jazz.
Serge Gainsbourg
recorded a reggae
version in 1978, titled "Aux Armes, Et Caetera".
Henrik Wergeland
wrote a Norwegian
version of the song in 1831, called "The Norwegian Marseillaise".
In Peru and Chile, both the Partido Aprista Peruano and the Socialist Party of Chile
wrote their own versions of "La Marseillaise" to be their anthems.
This song was also sung by Mireille Mathieu
with some lyrics jump.
, Giuseppe Cambini
published Patriotic Airs for Two Violins, in which the song is quoted
literally and as a variation theme, with other patriotic songs.
Gioachino Rossini quotes "La Marseillaise" in the second act of his opera Semiramide
(1823).
Robert Schumann
used part of "La Marseillaise" for his 1840 setting (Op. 49, No. 1) of Heinrich Heine
's poem "Die Beiden Grenadiere" (The Two Grenadiers). The quotation appears at the end of the song when the old French soldier dies. Schumann also incorporated "La Marseillaise" as a major motif in his overture Hermann und Dorothea, inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
, and quotes it, in waltz rhythm, in the first movement of Faschingsschwank aus Wien
, for solo piano.
Richard Wagner
also quotes from "La Marseillaise" in his 1839-40 setting of a French translation of Heine's poem.
Giuseppe Verdi
quotes from "La Marseillaise" in his patriotic anthem Hymn of the Nations
, which also incorporates God Save the King and Il Canto degli Italiani
. In his 1944 film, the Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini
also incorporated The Internationale
for the Soviet Union
and The Star Spangled Banner representing the United States
.
In 1882, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
quoted "La Marseillaise" to represent the invading French army
in his 1812 Overture
. He also quoted the Russian national anthem he was familiar with, to represent the Russian army. However, neither of these anthems was actually in use back in 1812.
In 1896, Umberto Giordano
briefly quoted the anthem in his opera Andrea Chénier
.
Claude Debussy
quotes the anthem in the coda of his piano prelude, Feux d'artifice.
Edward Elgar
quoted the opening of "La Marseillaise" in his choral work The Music Makers, Op. 69 (1912), based on Arthur O'Shaughnessy
's Ode
, at the line "We fashion an empire's glory", where he also quotes the opening phrase of "Rule, Britannia!
".
Max Steiner
weaves quotes from "La Marseillaise" throughout his score for the 1942 film Casablanca
. It also forms an important plot element when patrons of Rick's "Café Américain" sing part of the actual song to drown out Nazi officers who had started singing "Die Wacht am Rhein
".
The Beatles
hit single of 1967, "All You Need is Love
", used the opening bars of "La Marseillaise" as an introduction.
In 2009, Thrash Metal
band Metallica
played their version of "La Marseillaise" as an intro to "Master Of Puppets
". This was recorded live as part of their DVD Français Pour Une Nuit
("French for a Night") from Nimes
.
, La Marseillaise was used as a republican
revolutionary
anthem by those who knew French
starting in the 18th century, almost simultaneously with its adoption in France. In 1875 Peter Lavrov, a narodist revolutionary and theorist, wrote a Russian-language text (not a translation of the French one) to the same melody. This "Worker's Marseillaise" became one of the most popular revolutionary songs in Russia and was used in the Revolution of 1905
. After the February Revolution
of 1917, it was used as the semi-official national anthem of the new Russian republic. Even after the October Revolution
, it remained in use for a while alongside The Internationale
.
Opera and theatre
Films and television
Sports
Literature
Other
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National anthem
A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.- History :Anthems rose to prominence...
of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. The song, originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" ("War Song for the Army of the Rhine") was written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle
Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle
Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle , was a French Army officer of the Revolutionary Wars. He is known for writing the words and music of the Chant de guerre pour l'armée du Rhin in 1792, which would later be known as La Marseillaise and become the French national anthem.- Biography :Rouget de Lisle was...
in 1792. The French National Convention adopted it as the Republic's
French First Republic
The French First Republic was founded on 22 September 1792, by the newly established National Convention. The First Republic lasted until the declaration of the First French Empire in 1804 under Napoleon I...
anthem in 1795. The name of the song is due to first being sung on the streets by volunteers from Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
.
The song is the first example of the "European march" anthemic style. The anthem's evocative melody and lyrics have led to its widespread use as a song of revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
and its incorporation into many pieces of classical and popular music (see below: Musical quotations).
History
Rouget de Lisle completed the song Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin in StrasbourgStrasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
. He dedicated the song to Marshal
Marshal
Marshal , is a word used in several official titles of various branches of society. The word is an ancient loan word from Old French, cf...
Nicolas Luckner
Nicolas Luckner
Nikolaus, Count Luckner was a German in French service who rose to become a Marshal of France. ....
, a Bavarian
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
in French service from Cham
Cham, Germany
Cham is the capital of the district of Cham in the Upper Palatinate in Bavaria in Germany.-Location:Cham lies within the Cham-Further lowland, which is bordered on the south by the Bavarian Forest and on the north by the Oberpfälzer Wald...
. The melody soon became the rallying call to the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
and was adopted as La Marseillaise after the melody was first sung on the streets by volunteers (fédérés in French) from Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...
. These fédérés were making their entryway into Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on 30 July 1792 after a young volunteer from Montpellier
Montpellier
-Neighbourhoods:Since 2001, Montpellier has been divided into seven official neighbourhoods, themselves divided into sub-neighbourhoods. Each of them possesses a neighbourhood council....
called François Mireur had sung it at a patriotic gathering in Marseille, and the troops adopted it as the marching song of the National Guard of Marseille. A newly graduated medical doctor, Mireur, later became a general under Napoléon Bonaparte
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
and died in Egypt at age 28.
The song's lyrics reflect the invasion of France by foreign armies (from Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
), underway when it was written; Strasbourg itself was attacked just a few days later. The invading forces were repulsed from France following their defeat in the Battle of Valmy
Battle of Valmy
The Battle of Valmy was the first major victory by the army of France during the French Revolution. The action took place on 20 September 1792 as Prussian troops commanded by the Duke of Brunswick attempted to march on Paris...
.
La Marseillaise was met with levée en masse
Levée en masse
Levée en masse is a French term for mass conscription during the French Revolutionary Wars, particularly for the one from 16 August 1793.- Terminology :...
.
National Convention
During the French Revolution, the National Convention or Convention, in France, comprised the constitutional and legislative assembly which sat from 20 September 1792 to 26 October 1795 . It held executive power in France during the first years of the French First Republic...
accepted it as the French national anthem in a decree passed on 14 July 1795, making it France's first anthem. It later lost this status under Napoleon I
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
, and the song was banned outright by Louis XVIII
Louis XVIII of France
Louis XVIII , known as "the Unavoidable", was King of France and of Navarre from 1814 to 1824, omitting the Hundred Days in 1815...
and Napoleon III, only being re-instated briefly after the July Revolution of 1830. During Napoleon I's reign, Veillons au Salut de l'Empire was the unofficial anthem of the regime, and in Napoleon III's reign, it was Partant pour la Syrie
Partant pour la Syrie
"Partant pour la Syrie" is a French song, the music of which was written by Hortense de Beauharnais and the text by Alexandre de Laborde in or about 1807.- Background :...
. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, "La Marseillaise" was recognised as the anthem of the international revolutionary movement, and in 1871, it had been adopted by the Paris Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
. Eight years later in 1879, it was restored as France's national anthem, and has remained so ever since.
Arrangements
"La Marseillaise" was arranged for soprano, chorus and orchestra by Hector BerliozHector Berlioz
Hector Berlioz was a French Romantic composer, best known for his compositions Symphonie fantastique and Grande messe des morts . Berlioz made significant contributions to the modern orchestra with his Treatise on Instrumentation. He specified huge orchestral forces for some of his works; as a...
in about 1830.
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
wrote a piano transcription
Piano transcription
A piano transcription is a piece of music played on one or more pianos that is an approximation of a source piece of music. The source may be music for a solo instrument or voice, an ensemble of instruments and/or voices, or even a piece originally for solo or ensemble piano...
of the anthem.
During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, bandleader James Reese Europe
James Reese Europe
James Reese Europe was an American ragtime and early jazz bandleader, arranger, and composer. He was the leading figure on the African American music scene of New York City in the 1910s.-Biography:...
played a jazz version of "La Marseillaise", which can be heard on Part 2 of the Ken Burns TV documentary Jazz.
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg
Serge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...
recorded a reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
version in 1978, titled "Aux Armes, Et Caetera".
Henrik Wergeland
Henrik Wergeland
Henrik Arnold Thaulow Wergeland was a Norwegian writer, most celebrated for his poetry but also a prolific playwright, polemicist, historian, and linguist...
wrote a Norwegian
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
version of the song in 1831, called "The Norwegian Marseillaise".
In Peru and Chile, both the Partido Aprista Peruano and the Socialist Party of Chile
Socialist Party of Chile
The Socialist Party of Chile is a political party, that is part of the center-left Coalition of Parties for Democracy coalition. Its historical leader was the late President of Chile Salvador Allende Gossens, who was deposed by General Pinochet in 1973...
wrote their own versions of "La Marseillaise" to be their anthems.
This song was also sung by Mireille Mathieu
Mireille Mathieu
Mireille Mathieu is a French chanteuse, and pop singer. Hailed in the French press as the successor to Édith Piaf, she has achieved great commercial success, recording over 1200 songs in nine different languages, with more than 120 million records sold worldwide.-Childhood to early...
with some lyrics jump.
Musical quotations
During the French RevolutionFrench Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, Giuseppe Cambini
Giuseppe Cambini
Giuseppe Maria Gioacchino Cambini was an Italian composer and violinist.Born in Livorno, it is likely that Cambini studied violin with Filippo Manfredi; the only evidence for this is however Cambini's own unreliable account, which also claims inaccurately that he worked with Luigi Boccherini and...
published Patriotic Airs for Two Violins, in which the song is quoted
Musical quotation
Musical quotation is the practice of directly quoting another work in a new composition. The quotation may be from the same composer's work , or from a different composer's work ....
literally and as a variation theme, with other patriotic songs.
Gioachino Rossini quotes "La Marseillaise" in the second act of his opera Semiramide
Semiramide
Semiramide is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini.The libretto by Gaetano Rossi is based on Voltaire's tragedy Semiramis, which in turn was based on the legend of Semiramis of Babylon...
(1823).
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
used part of "La Marseillaise" for his 1840 setting (Op. 49, No. 1) of Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
's poem "Die Beiden Grenadiere" (The Two Grenadiers). The quotation appears at the end of the song when the old French soldier dies. Schumann also incorporated "La Marseillaise" as a major motif in his overture Hermann und Dorothea, inspired by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
, and quotes it, in waltz rhythm, in the first movement of Faschingsschwank aus Wien
Faschingsschwank aus Wien
Faschingsschwank aus Wien is a solo piano work by Robert Schumann, his Op. 26. Schumann began composition of the work in 1839 in Vienna...
, for solo piano.
Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
also quotes from "La Marseillaise" in his 1839-40 setting of a French translation of Heine's poem.
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
quotes from "La Marseillaise" in his patriotic anthem Hymn of the Nations
Hymn of the Nations
Hymn of the Nations, originally titled Arturo Toscanini: Hymn of the Nations , is a film directed by Alexander Hammid, which features a patriotic work for tenor soloist, chorus, and orchestra, composed by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi in the early-1860s...
, which also incorporates God Save the King and Il Canto degli Italiani
Il Canto degli Italiani
Il Canto degli Italiani is the Italian national anthem. It is best known among Italians as Inno di Mameli , after the author of the lyrics, or Fratelli d'Italia , from its opening line...
. In his 1944 film, the Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor. One of the most acclaimed musicians of the late 19th and 20th century, he was renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orchestral detail and sonority, and his photographic memory...
also incorporated The Internationale
The Internationale
The Internationale is a famous socialist, communist, social-democratic and anarchist anthem.The Internationale became the anthem of international socialism, and gained particular fame under the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1944, when it was that communist state's de facto central anthem...
for the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and The Star Spangled Banner representing the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
In 1882, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"...
quoted "La Marseillaise" to represent the invading French army
French invasion of Russia
The French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. It reduced the French and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength and triggered a major shift in European politics as it dramatically weakened French hegemony in Europe...
in his 1812 Overture
1812 Overture
The Year 1812, Festival Overture in E flat major, Op. 49, popularly known as the 1812 Overture or the Overture of 1812 is an overture written by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1880 to commemorate Russia's defense of Moscow against Napoleon's advancing Grande Armée at the Battle of...
. He also quoted the Russian national anthem he was familiar with, to represent the Russian army. However, neither of these anthems was actually in use back in 1812.
In 1896, Umberto Giordano
Umberto Giordano
Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano was an Italian composer, mainly of operas.He was born in Foggia in Puglia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples...
briefly quoted the anthem in his opera Andrea Chénier
Andrea Chénier
Andrea Chénier is a verismo opera in four acts by the composer Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica. It is based loosely on the life of the French poet, André Chénier , who was executed during the French Revolution....
.
Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
quotes the anthem in the coda of his piano prelude, Feux d'artifice.
Edward Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
quoted the opening of "La Marseillaise" in his choral work The Music Makers, Op. 69 (1912), based on Arthur O'Shaughnessy
Arthur O'Shaughnessy
Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy was a British poet of Irish descent, born in London.-Biography:At the age of seventeen, in June 1861, Arthur O'Shaughnessy received the post of transcriber in the library of the British Museum, reportedly through the influence of Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton...
's Ode
Ode (poem)
Ode is a poem written in 1874 by the English poet Arthur O'Shaughnessy. It is often referred to by its first line We are the music makers.The Ode is the first poem in O'Shaughnessy's collection Music and Moonlight. It has nine stanzas, although it is commonly believed to be only three stanzas long...
, at the line "We fashion an empire's glory", where he also quotes the opening phrase of "Rule, Britannia!
Rule, Britannia!
"Rule, Britannia!" is a British patriotic song, originating from the poem "Rule, Britannia" by James Thomson and set to music by Thomas Arne in 1740...
".
Max Steiner
Max Steiner
Max Steiner was an Austrian composer of music for theatre productions and films. He later became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Trained by the great classical music composers Brahms and Mahler, he was one of the first composers who primarily wrote music for motion pictures, and as...
weaves quotes from "La Marseillaise" throughout his score for the 1942 film Casablanca
Casablanca (film)
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
. It also forms an important plot element when patrons of Rick's "Café Américain" sing part of the actual song to drown out Nazi officers who had started singing "Die Wacht am Rhein
Die Wacht am Rhein
"Die Wacht am Rhein" is a German patriotic anthem. The song's origins are rooted in historical conflicts with France, and it was particularly popular in Germany during the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War....
".
The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
hit single of 1967, "All You Need is Love
All You Need Is Love
"All You Need Is Love" is a song written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was first performed by The Beatles on Our World, the first live global television link. Watched by 400 million in 26 countries, the programme was broadcast via satellite on 25 June 1967...
", used the opening bars of "La Marseillaise" as an introduction.
In 2009, Thrash Metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
band Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
played their version of "La Marseillaise" as an intro to "Master Of Puppets
Master of Puppets (song)
"Master of Puppets" is a song by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It is the title track and was released as the first single from their album of the same name....
". This was recorded live as part of their DVD Français Pour Une Nuit
Français Pour Une Nuit
Français Pour Une Nuit is a live DVD by the American heavy metal band Metallica, recorded in Nîmes, France in the Arena of Nîmes on July 7, 2009. It was released in three formats...
("French for a Night") from Nimes
Nîmes
Nîmes is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in southern France. Nîmes has a rich history, dating back to the Roman Empire, and is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
.
Musical antecedents
Several musical antecedents have been cited for the melody:- Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 25Piano Concerto No. 25 (Mozart)The Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K. 503, was completed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on December 4, 1786, alongside the Prague Symphony, K.504. Although two more concertos would later follow, this work is the last of the twelve great piano concertos written in Vienna between 1784 and...
- the credoCredoA credo |Latin]] for "I Believe") is a statement of belief, commonly used for religious belief, such as the Apostles' Creed. The term especially refers to the use of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed in the Mass, either as text, Gregorian chant, or other musical settings of the...
of the fourth mass of Holtzmann of Mursberg - the Oratorio Esther by Jean Baptiste Lucien Grison
Text
Only the first verse (and sometimes the sixth and seventh) and the first chorus are sung today in France. There are some slight historical variations in the lyrics of the song; the following is the version listed at the official website of the French Presidency.- FP National anthem (MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
audio file).
Additional verses
These verses were omitted from the national anthem for unknown reasons.Historical use in Russia
In RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, La Marseillaise was used as a republican
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
revolutionary
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
anthem by those who knew French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
starting in the 18th century, almost simultaneously with its adoption in France. In 1875 Peter Lavrov, a narodist revolutionary and theorist, wrote a Russian-language text (not a translation of the French one) to the same melody. This "Worker's Marseillaise" became one of the most popular revolutionary songs in Russia and was used in the Revolution of 1905
Russian Revolution of 1905
The 1905 Russian Revolution was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. Some of it was directed against the government, while some was undirected. It included worker strikes, peasant unrest, and military mutinies...
. After the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
of 1917, it was used as the semi-official national anthem of the new Russian republic. Even after the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
, it remained in use for a while alongside The Internationale
The Internationale
The Internationale is a famous socialist, communist, social-democratic and anarchist anthem.The Internationale became the anthem of international socialism, and gained particular fame under the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1944, when it was that communist state's de facto central anthem...
.
In popular culture
Music- Django ReinhardtDjango ReinhardtDjango Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
used the theme in "Échos de France" - The BeatlesThe BeatlesThe Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
used the song as an introduction to "All You Need Is LoveAll You Need Is Love"All You Need Is Love" is a song written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was first performed by The Beatles on Our World, the first live global television link. Watched by 400 million in 26 countries, the programme was broadcast via satellite on 25 June 1967...
" - The anarcho-punk band CrassCrassCrass are an English punk rock band that was formed in 1977, which promoted anarchism as a political ideology, way of living, and as a resistance movement. Crass popularised the seminal anarcho-punk movement of the punk subculture, and advocated direct action, animal rights, and environmentalism...
used the main theme and other extracts in both unaltered form and variations in their song "Bloody Revolutions". - Thunderclap NewmanThunderclap NewmanThunderclap Newman were a British one-hit wonder band that Pete Townshend of The Who and Kit Lambert had formed circa December 1968 - January 1969 in a bid to showcase the talents of John "Speedy" Keen, Andy "Thunderclap" Newman and Jimmy McCulloch....
incorporated the song into their 1969 single "Something in the Air"Something In The Air (song)"Something in the Air" is a song recorded by Thunderclap Newman, a band created by Pete Townshend for The Who's former roadie John 'Speedy' Keen who wrote and sang the song, from their only album Hollywood Dream. It was a UK #1 single for three weeks in July 1969...
. - Neil HannonNeil HannonNeil Hannon is a Northern Irish singer and songwriter, best known as the creator and frontman of the chamber pop group The Divine Comedy. The band's official website even goes so far as to say, "The Divine Comedy is Neil Hannon," and Hannon is quoted in an interview as saying, "The Divine Comedy...
used the primary melody for The Divine ComedyThe Divine ComedyThe Divine Comedy is an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work of Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature...
's 1996 single "Frog Princess" - Jimi HendrixJimi HendrixJames Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
during an 1967 Paris concert, played a psychedelic version of the anthem. A video recording of the concert was immediately confiscated by the French government due to the perceived insult to national heritage. - Frank SinatraFrank SinatraFrancis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, as part of French Foreign LegionFrench Foreign Legion (song)"French Foreign Legion" is a popular song.The music was written by Guy Wood, the lyrics by Aaron Schroeder. The song was published in 1958. It is best known in a version sung by Frank Sinatra which appears on some versions of the album Come Fly with Me.... - In 1978, Serge GainsbourgSerge GainsbourgSerge Gainsbourg, born Lucien Ginsburg was a French singer-songwriter, actor and director. Gainsbourg's extremely varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorize...
recorded a reggae version, "Aux armes et cætera", with Robbie Shakespeare, Sly DunbarSly DunbarLowell "Sly" Fillmore Dunbar is a drummer.-Biography:Dunbar, whose nickname was reportedly given for his passion for Sly & the Family Stone, launched his musical career while still in his adolescence, playing with a local group, The Yardbrooms, at the age of fifteen...
and Rita MarleyRita MarleyAlpharita Constantia Anderson , better known as Rita Marley, and sometimes called "Nana Rita", is the widow of reggae legend/musician Bob Marley, and a member of the trio the I Threes, Bob Marley's backup singers.-Biography:...
in the choir in JamaicaJamaicaJamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
, which resulted in him being threatened by members of an association of former paratroopers, who wanted to prevent him from singing it in a public concert. - The SloveniaSloveniaSlovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n industrial/techno music group LaibachLaibach (band)Laibach is a Slovenian avant-garde music group associated with industrial, martial, and neo-classical musical styles. Laibach formed June 1, 1980 in Trbovlje, Slovenia . Laibach represents the music wing of the Neue Slowenische Kunst art collective, of which it was a founding member in 1984...
’s album Volk features a version, with Laibach’s own lyrics. The album Volk (album)Volk (album)Volk is a concept album by Slovenian industrial group Laibach. Originally, Volk is the German word for "people" or "nation" but also Slovenan for "wolf"...
is entirely composed of songs which are based on various national anthems. - Allan ShermanAllan ShermanAllan Sherman was an American comedy writer and television producer who became famous as a song parodist in the early 1960s. His first album, My Son, the Folk Singer , became the fastest-selling record album up to that time...
, You Went the Wrong Way, Old King Louie begins with a parody of the Marseillaise before heading into a recitative and then settling into a parody of You’ve Come a long Way from St. Louis. His version begins, “Louis the SixteenthLouis XVI of FranceLouis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
was the king of France in 1789 / He was worse than Louis the FifteenthLouis XV of FranceLouis XV was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather at the age of five, his first cousin Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, served as Regent of the kingdom until Louis's majority in 1723...
, he was worse than Louis the FourteenthLouis XIV of FranceLouis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
, he was worse than Louis the ThirteenthLouis XIII of FranceLouis XIII was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and of Navarre from 1610 to 1643.Louis was only eight years old when he succeeded his father. His mother, Marie de Medici, acted as regent during Louis' minority...
/He was the worst, since Louis the First!”) - There are various versions of the music. Sheet music can be found at
marseillaise.org.An official version from the website of the French President can be found at the wayback machine's archive here: Wave File (660 KB). - The German industrial band Einstürzende NeubautenEinstürzende NeubautenEinstürzende Neubauten is a German post-industrial band, originally from West Berlin, formed in 1980. The group currently comprises Blixa Bargeld , Alexander Hacke , N.U...
use a piece of the Beatles' introduction to All You Need Is Love in their song Headcleaner I on the album Tabula Rasa which also contains lyrical references to the earlier mentioned Beatles song. - The Finnish Cello Metal band ApocalypticaApocalypticaApocalyptica is a band from Helsinki, Finland, formed in 1993. The band is composed of classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, and Perttu Kivilaakso and drummer Mikko Sirén...
incorporated the song into their live performance of "In the Hall of the Mountain King" in Paris, 31 October 2010. - Hong KongHong KongHong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
singer Hacken LeeHacken LeeHacken Lee Hak Kan is an award winning Hong Kong based Cantopop singer and lyricist, actor, Master of Ceremonies and Association football sportscaster.-Early years: 1985-1995:...
integrated the anthem as an opening to his World Cup 1998 theme song "The Strange Encounters of a Soccer Fan."
Opera and theatre
- "La Marseillaise" is quoted in Rossini's 1813 opera, L'italiana in AlgeriL'italiana in AlgeriL'italiana in Algeri is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca...
during the choral introduction to Isabella's 2nd act aria "Pensa alla patria." This quotation, as well as the patriotic subject matter of the aria, caused the aria to be heavily censored in pre-unification 19th century Italy. - The song's theme was used by Jacques OffenbachJacques OffenbachJacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
in his Opera "Orpheus in the UnderworldOrpheus in the UnderworldOrphée aux enfers is an opéra bouffon , or opéra féerie in its revised version, by Jacques Offenbach. The French text was written by Ludovic Halévy and later revised by Hector-Jonathan Crémieux....
" to illustrate a revolution amongst the Olympic gods and goddesses with the lines "Aux armes Dieux et Demi-Dieux". - The song occurs in the Monty Python's Broadway musical SpamalotSpamalotMonty Python's Spamalot is a musical comedy "lovingly ripped off from" the 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Like the film, it is a highly irreverent parody of the Arthurian Legend, but it differs from the film in many ways, especially in its parodies of Broadway theatre...
" when confronted by French knights in the song "Run Away!" - The song was also sung by Mireille MathieuMireille MathieuMireille Mathieu is a French chanteuse, and pop singer. Hailed in the French press as the successor to Édith Piaf, she has achieved great commercial success, recording over 1200 songs in nine different languages, with more than 120 million records sold worldwide.-Childhood to early...
Films and television
- "La Marseillaise" was famously used in CasablancaCasablanca (film)Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
at the behest of Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) to drown out a group of German soldiers singing "Die Wacht am RheinDie Wacht am Rhein"Die Wacht am Rhein" is a German patriotic anthem. The song's origins are rooted in historical conflicts with France, and it was particularly popular in Germany during the Franco-Prussian War and the First World War....
". - "La Marseillaise" was used in the film, Escape to VictoryEscape to VictoryEscape to Victory, known simply as Victory in North America, is a 1981 film about Allied prisoners of war who are interned in a German prison camp during World War II...
, also known as Victory. - In the autobiographical movie La Vie en RoseLa Vie en rose (film)La Vie En Rose is a 2007 French biographical film about the life of French chanteuse Édith Piaf co-written, and directed by Olivier Dahan. Marion Cotillard stars as Piaf. The title La Vie en Rose comes from Piaf's signature song...
, chronicling the life of Edith PiafÉdith PiafÉdith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...
, ten-year-old Edith is urged by her acrobatAcrobatAcrobat may refer to:* Acrobat, one who practises acrobaticsIn music:* "Acrobat" , from U2's album Achtung Baby* "Acrobat", a song from Maxïmo Park's album A Certain TriggerIn literature:* Acrobat, a novel by Gonzalo Lira...
father to "do something" in the middle of a lackluster show and she amazes the audience with an emotional rendition of "La Marseillaise". - The introductory theme in the film Carry on AbroadCarry On AbroadCarry On Abroad is the twenty-fourth Carry On film, released in 1972. The film features series regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims, Bernard Bresslaw, Barbara Windsor, Kenneth Connor, Peter Butterworth and Hattie Jacques. It was the 23rd and final appearance for Charles Hawtrey. June...
includes the first few seconds of "La Marsellaise", despite the fact the film is set in SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. - The tune is used for the Anthem of SpringfieldSpringfield (The Simpsons)Springfield is the fictional town in which the American animated sitcom The Simpsons is set. A mid-sized town in an undetermined state of the United States, Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. The geography of the town and its...
in The Simpsons MovieThe Simpsons MovieThe Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress...
. It is played behind the end credits with the words "Springfield doesn't have an anthem, We thought we had one, but we don't ... The tune we stole from the French..." It was supposed to be played when the bomb has just came but it was cut. - The song is featured in the Monty PythonMonty PythonMonty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...
sketches, "A Man with a Tape Recorder up His Nose" and "A Man with a Tape Recorder up His Brother's Nose" - The BritishUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comedy series 'Allo 'Allo!'Allo 'Allo!'Allo 'Allo! is a British sitcom broadcast on BBC One from 1982 to 1992 comprising eighty-five episodes. It is a parody of another BBC programme, the wartime drama Secret Army, and was created by David Croft, who also wrote the theme music, and Jeremy Lloyd. Lloyd and Croft wrote the first 6...
spoofed Casablanca by having the patriotic French characters start singing "La Marseillaise", only to switch to Deutschlandlied when NaziNazi GermanyNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
officers enter their cafe. - In the cartoon I Am WeaselI Am WeaselI Am Weasel is an American animated television series produced by Cartoon Network Studios in co-production with Hanna-Barbera, created by David Feiss, and broadcast on Cartoon Network....
, when the character I.R. Baboon tries to make a transatlantic bridge from the United States to France, he mistakenly builds it to Mexico. When he reaches the end, he sings a song with a similar tune. - In the Mr. Otis Regrets episode of CheersCheersCheers is an American situation comedy television series that ran for 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993. It was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions, in association with Paramount Network Television for NBC, and was created by the team of James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles...
, after Sam lies about a tryst with Robin Colcord's French mistress enough to make Rebecca insecure enough to get Sam to teach her, he says he's going to "invade France!" in turn Cliff, Norm, Frasier, and the rest of the bar line up, humming "La Marseillaise", as he marches in front of them then into Rebecca's office. - In the Irish comedy Father TedFather TedFather Ted is a comedy series set in Ireland that was produced by Hat Trick Productions for British broadcaster Channel 4. Written jointly by Irish writers Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan and starring a predominantly Irish cast, it originally aired over three series from 21 April 1995 until 1 May...
, Father Jack Hackett stands up and puts his hand on his heart any time that he hears it played. - In Two and a Half MenTwo and a Half MenTwo and a Half Men is an American television sitcom that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2003. Starring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones, the show was originally about a hedonistic jingle writer, Charlie Harper; his uptight brother, Alan; and Alan's growing son, Jake...
, Alan clucks (like a chicken) in the tune of La Marseillaise, after Charlie flees from an ex-lover's husband. Charlie insultingly called Alan 'French' when he called fighting pointless.
Sports
- The Brisbane LionsBrisbane LionsThe Brisbane Lions is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was formed from the merger of the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions in 1996...
Australian rules footballAustralian rules footballAustralian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
(AFLAustralian Football LeagueThe Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
) team theme song "The Pride of Brisbane Town" is sung to the music of "La Marseillaise". This song was adapted from the Fitzroy Lions song, also sung to the same music, used since the 1950s. - An English language "rugby song" version exists, as known in France among rugby fans.
- Pro wrestler Dino BravoDino BravoAdolfo Bresciano was an Italian-born Canadian professional wrestler, best known for his work as Dino Bravo, self-proclaimed as "Canada's Strongest Man".-Territories:...
used it as his entrance theme in the WWE. - It is used in the Punch-Out series, as the French boxer Glass Joe's intro music
Literature
- At the end of Guy de MaupassantGuy de MaupassantHenri René Albert Guy de Maupassant was a popular 19th-century French writer, considered one of the fathers of the modern short story and one of the form's finest exponents....
's novella Boule de SuifBoule de SuifBoule de Suif is a short story by the late-19th century French writer Guy de Maupassant. It is arguably his most famous short story, and is the title story for his collection on the Franco-Prussian War, entitled "Boule de Suif et Autres Contes de la Guerre"...
, which is set against the backdrop of the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian WarFranco-Prussian WarThe Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
, the character Cornudet whistles and sings "La Marsellaise" for hours during a long carriage ride in order to torment his fellow passengers, who have revealed themselves to be cowards and hypocrites, unworthy of the high ideals expressed in the anthem. - It is also featured in Isaac Asimov's short science fictionScience fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
story Battle-hymn about how the national anthem is used as a subliminal advertising ploy.
Other
- The carillon of the town hall in the BavariaBavariaBavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n town of ChamCham, GermanyCham is the capital of the district of Cham in the Upper Palatinate in Bavaria in Germany.-Location:Cham lies within the Cham-Further lowland, which is bordered on the south by the Bavarian Forest and on the north by the Oberpfälzer Wald...
plays "La Marseillaise" every day at 12.05 p.m. to commemorate the French MarshalMarshal of FranceThe Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
Nicolas LucknerNicolas LucknerNikolaus, Count Luckner was a German in French service who rose to become a Marshal of France. ....
, who was born there. - The 19th-century Labour movementLabour movementThe term labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better treatment from their employers and governments, in particular through the implementation of specific laws governing labour...
used a "Worker Marseillaise" (written 1864 by Jakob Audorf) that was later replaced by The InternationaleThe InternationaleThe Internationale is a famous socialist, communist, social-democratic and anarchist anthem.The Internationale became the anthem of international socialism, and gained particular fame under the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1944, when it was that communist state's de facto central anthem...
. It was famously sung on the way to the gallows by those sentenced to death after the Haymarket Riot. - In the game PopulousPopulous-External links:*...
, when a map is played on the Française landscape it opens with the first ten or so seconds of La Marseillaise. - On the BelgianBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
national holyday asked by a WalloonWalloonWallon may refer to:*Henri-Alexandre Wallon , a French historian and statesman*Henri Wallon , a psychologist and grandson of Henri-Alexandre Wallon...
journalist, if he knew his national anthem in French, former Prime Minister Yves LetermeYves LetermeYves Camille Désiré Leterme is a Flemish Belgian politician, a leader of the Christian Democratic and Flemish party , and the 48th Prime Minister of Belgium.Leterme was the Prime Minister of Belgium from March 2008 to December 2008...
, a native speaker of Dutch, without giving it a moment of thought, fluently sang the first line bestknown in France instead of the "Brabançonne". His televised confounding was funny to FlandersFlandersFlanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
, but reactions by Walloon media and politicians required Leterme to make a public apology.
See also
- "Marche Henri IVMarche Henri IV"Marche Henri IV," alternatively "Vive Henri IV" or "Vive le roi Henri" was the nominal national anthem of the Kingdom of France up until the French Revolution in 1789, then again by the restored monarchy after 1815. This modified version is rarely sung due to its paradoxical ending which was added...
", the national anthem of the Kingdom of FranceKingdom of FranceThe Kingdom of France was one of the most powerful states to exist in Europe during the second millennium.It originated from the Western portion of the Frankish empire, and consolidated significant power and influence over the next thousand years. Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King, developed a... - "La Marseillaise des BlancsLa Marseillaise des BlancsLa Marseillaise des Blancs is a royalist and Catholic adaptation of what has been used as the national anthem of France by republicans since the French Revolution, known as La Marseillaise...
", the Royal and Catholic variation - Ah! ça iraAh! ça ira"Ah ! ça ira" is an emblematic song of the French Revolution, first heard in May 1790. It underwent several changes in wording, all of which used the title words as part of the refrain.-Original version:...
, another famous anthem of the French Revolution - "Belarusian MarseillaiseBelarusian MarseillaiseThe name "Belarusian Marseillaise" has been used to refer to two Belarusian patriotic songs.Above all, "Belarusian Marseillaise" is another name for the Belarusian song "We've slept for long" the author of whose lyrics is unknown. The song was reportedly heard for the first time in 1906, "among...
", a patriotic song in Belarus - "OnamoOnamo, 'namo!"Onamo, 'namo!" also known as the Serbian Marseillaise was a popular anthem in Montenegro in the late 19th to early 20th century...
", a Montenegrin patriotic song popularly known as The "Serbian Marseillaise"
External links
- French Presidency website
- Instrumental Version of the French National Anthem
- Mireille Mathieu sings La Marseillaise
- La Marseillaise performed by Roberto Alagna
- La Marseillaise - Iain Patterson's comprehensive fansite features sheet music, history, and music files. A full length six verse version of the anthem performed by David ZinmanDavid ZinmanDavid Zinman is an American conductor and violinist.After early violin studies at the Oberlin Conservatory, Zinman studied theory and composition at the University of Minnesota and took up conducting at Tanglewood...
and the Baltimore Symphony OrchestraBaltimore Symphony OrchestraThe Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is a professional American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland.In September 2007, Maestra Marin Alsop led her inaugural concerts as the Orchestra’s twelfth music director, making her the first woman to head a major American orchestra.The BSO Board...
& Chorus can be found in the Berlioz page. - Adminet-France
- A Chinese rendition of the song from the film "Nie Er"
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