1. “La Marseillaise” (Verse 1)
By Caitlin Smith
“EL PRESIDENTE”

2. After the Bastille
So, the storming of the Bastille (July 14, 1789) did not mark the downfall of the monarchy in France. King Louis XVI didn’t actually leave his palace in Versailles until October, where a public escort transferred him to Paris. He remained there under house arrest at the Tuileries Palace. During that time opera houses were offering thinly disguised allegories of the day’s events.

3. After the Bastille
Luigi Cherubini’s Lodoiska was one the most popular operas of its time. After it’s premiere in July 1791 it ran for more than 200 performances. Though it is set in Poland during the 1600’s; it is clearly meant to be understood by the French audiences as an analogy to the events they were, at the time, living through. The opera tells the story of a wicked ruler who has imprisoned an innocent and virtuous young woman (Lodoiska). A young nobleman storms the castle and recues her, and then at the end of the opera the castle collapses and goes up in flames. Liberty triumph's over tyranny. Lodoiska set the standard for “rescue opera”

4. Origins
The military played an obviously important role in the musical life of this period.
April 1792 – Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, a young Army officer wrote the words and music to a song he then called, “Chant de guerre pour l’armee du Rhin” (“War Song for the Army of the Rhine”)
The Song soon became popular among the Marseilles Volunteer Battalion, and they sang it when they marched into Paris later that year.
It soon became known as “La Marseillaise”

5. LISTEN AND READ ALONG
Play the song now

6. Structure
As with many French Revolution pieces, this song is structured as follows:
A soloist presents the main text and then a chorus joins in with a refrain and the end of each stanza, affirming what the soloist has just declared.
It has a dotted rhyme scheme. (short-LONG, short-LONG) and a brisk tempo to give its march-like melody a martial air.

7. Song of the People
“La Marseillaise” was declared the French National Anthem in 1795.
It music is rousing, but the words are among the most violent of all national anthems, reflecting on its origins in the era of the French Revolution.
The Marseillaise was the musical equivilant of a flag. It was something tha the people could rally around.
The people could create this symbol themselves by singing it.
Though there is a massive orchestra in the USAD music CD version, it was often sung acapella before Hector Berlioz created that musical accompaniment score in the 1830.

8. Liberty Leading the People by Eugene Delacroix
Though this is not actually one of our pieces (Delacroix is on our outline with another of his pieces, The Royal Tiger lithograph); this is a great symbol of “La Marseillaise” and the French Revolution in General. I just thought I’d share it with you all. :D

9. Time for a Quick Quiz!
Were you listening???

10. Lodoïska premiered in…
The main theme of Lodoïska is the triumph of?
Liberty
Lodoïska premiered in…
1791

11. What gave “La Marseillaise” its name?
What was the occupation of Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle,
the author and composer of La Marseillaise?
Military Officer
What gave “La Marseillaise” its name?
the Marseilles Volunteer Battalion sang it

12. What give “La Marseillaise” its marital air?
The dotted rhythms
What year did“La Marseillaise” become the National Anthem of France?
1795

13. 1830 Who composed the orchestral version of La Marseillaise?
In what year was La Marseillaise set to orchestral music?
1830
Who composed the orchestral version of La Marseillaise?
Hector Berlioz

14. 1792 Freedom and justice La Marseillaise was written in
What is the topic of the first verse of La Marseillaise?
Freedom and justice
La Marseillaise was written in
1792