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, Composer of the Marseillaise, sings it for the first time.]] "La Marseillaise" (; in English ''The Song of Marseille '') is the National Anthem of France . HISTORY "La Marseillaise" is a Song written and composed by the Royalist Claude Joseph Rouget De Lisle in Strasbourg on April 25 , 1792 . Its original name was "Chant de guerre de l'Armée du Rhin" ("Marching Song of the Rhine Army ") and it was dedicated to Marshal Nicolas Luckner , a Bavaria n-born French officer from Cham . It became the rallying call of the French Revolution and received its name because it was first sung on the streets by troops ('' Fédéré s'') from Marseille upon their arrival in Paris . The Convention accepted it as the French national anthem in a decree passed on Bastille Day , 1795, but it was then banned successively by Napoleon I , Louis XVIII , and Napoleon III , only being reinstated briefly after the July Revolution of 1830 and then permanently in 1879. {Link without Title} Recently, a few French teachers from the extreme left refused to teach schoolchildren the Marseillaise because they considered it to be racist {Link without Title} RE-ARRANGEMENTS "La Marseillaise" was re-arranged by Hector Berlioz about 1830. Robert Schumann , while setting some Heinrich Heine poems to music, used part of the Marseillaise for Heine's "The Two Grenadiers" poem at the end of the piece when the old French soldier dies (Opus 49, No.1). Wagner also quotes from the Marseillaise in his setting of a French translation of the poem. Schumann also incorporated the Marseillaise as a major motif in his overture, 'Hermann und Dorothea' inspired by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe . Liszt also wrote a Piano Transcription of the anthem. In 1882, Pyotr Tchaikovsky used extensive quotes from the Marseillaise to represent the Invading French Army in his 1812 Overture . This was an Anachronism , as the Marseillaise was the French anthem in Tchaikovsky's day, but not Napoleon's . Serge Gainsbourg recorded a Reggae version in the late 1970s. Henrik Wergeland wrote a Norwegian version of the song in 1831 , called '' The Norwegian Marseillan ''. UNOFFICIAL VERSIONS
FICTION The song's theme was used by Jacques Offenbach in his Opera " Orpheus In The Underworld " to illustrate a revolution amongst the Olympic gods and goddesses with the lines "Aux armes Dieux et Demi-Dieux". The song was part of a famous scene in the film '''s 1937 film '' Grand Illusion ''. Renoir traced the history of the song in the film he made the following year, "La Marseillaise". imdb.com The British Comedy Series '' 'Allo 'Allo! '' spoofed ''Casablanca'' by having the patriotic French characters start singing "La Marseillaise", only to switch to '' Deutschland über Alles '' when Nazi officers enter their cafe. On the other hand, the movie The Brothers Grimm which takes place in a german country under Napoleonic occupation, the same kind of scene can be seen with germans singing their traditional songs in a tavern only to switch to the Marseillaise when Napoleonic officers enter. This is actually an error considering the Marseillaise was banned during Napoleon 's rule. Abel Gance 's film Napoléon features a striking scene in which the song is first sung by the French masses. In the 1981 movie '' Escape To Victory '', the final scene features the entire crowd of the stadium in occupied Paris spontaneously sing ''La Marseillaise'' at the end of the game. Also featured in Isaac Asimov's short SF story, 'Battle-hymn' about how the national anthem is used as a subliminal advertising ploy. Featured in the Monty Python sketches, "A Man With a Tape Recorder Up His Nose" and "A Man With a Tape Recorder Up His Brother's Nose" Glass Joe from Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! , a Nintendo Entertainment System boxing game, uses part of the song as his ring theme. In The Simpsons Movie , the townspeople of Springfield's uses the tune to make an anthem to Springfield , declaring that the French have "a few things they do well, like making love, wine and cheese". MUSIC There are various versions of the music. Sheet music can be found at {Link without Title} . LYRICS Note only the first verse (and sometimes the fifth and sixth) 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 official website of the French Presidency[http://www.elysee.fr/elysee/francais/les_symboles_de_la_republique/la_marseillaise/la_marseillaise.21106.html La Marseillaise], l’Elysée.
NOTES SEE ALSO
EXTERNAL LINKS Official French government sites Other sites
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