La Marseillaise

Overview

The French national song, written in Strasbourg in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle after France declared war on Austria, originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'armée du Rhin". The Convention adopted it as the anthem of the First Republic in 1795. It was banned or sidelined under the Restoration and the Second Empire, reinstated in the Franco-Prussian War, and became the national anthem again in 1879. (Source: Wikipedia, "La Marseillaise", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Marseillaise.) Public domain.

Why it mattered in Marie's time

In 1877, the year of the crisis of the 16 May, republican and monarchist France was divided, and playing the Marseillaise was a political gesture (LAN note on 075.0312). Marie's mentions fall in the years when it was being restored as the republic's anthem.

Marie and this work

• 075.0312 (15 Oct 1877, Paris): at Julian's studio, when the master will not state his opinion on politics, she plays him the Marseillaise.
• 081.0624 (5 Aug 1878, Soden/Homburg): the two German princes play the Russian anthem, On dit que l'on te marie and the Marseillaise (see).
• 086.0287 (14 Sep 1879): in a list of arrangements for a dinner: "Pendant le repas la Marseillaise ne sera pas exécutée."
• 087.0471 (12 Feb 1880): among the presents sent by Gabriel, "une voix qui joue la Marseillaise" (presumably a mechanical toy or music box; the object is not described).

Sources

• Wikipedia, "La Marseillaise" (above); Wikisource; IMSLP.

Supersedes the stub `people/mentioned/MARSEILLAISE.md` (filed under people).