[RED MULLET OF LISLE] – La Marseillaise
Anonymous manuscript (late 18th century)
Copy of the war song for the Army of the Rhine, known as " La Marseillaise ".
Two folio pages.
Superb and moving revolutionary copy of the complete text of the national anthem.
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The Marseillaise
Let us go, children of the Fatherland!
The day of glory has arrived
Tyranny is against us
The bloody banner is raised (bis)
Do you hear, in our countryside
How these ferocious soldiers roar!
They come right into our arms
Slaughter your sons, your wives
To arms, citizens! Form your battalions!
Let's march, let's march,
May impure blood water our furrows.
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In 1792, following the King's declaration of war against Austria, a French officer stationed in Strasbourg, Rouget de Lisle, composed, during the night of April 25-26, the "War Song for the Army of the Rhine." This song was taken up by the Marseilles volunteers participating in the storming of the Tuileries on August 10, 1792. Its success was such that it was declared the national anthem on July 14, 1795, by the Convention, at the initiative of the Committee of Public Safety.
Banned under the Empire and the Restoration, the Marseillaise was revived during the Revolution of 1830, and Berlioz composed an orchestration which he dedicated to Rouget de Lisle. The Third Republic (1879) made it the national anthem, and in 1887, an "official version" was adopted by the Ministry of War.