"La Marseillaise" is a patriotic song of the French Revolution, adopted by the French Republic as the national anthem: first time by the Convention for nine years from July 14, 1795 until the proclamation of the First Empire in 1804, second time – on February 14, 1879 under the Third Republic; it remains the national anthem of France to the present day.

Today our story is about the amazing history of the song, which was composed an officer – music addict that served in the engineering troops.

After France levied war against Austria on April 20, 1792, P.F. Dietrich, the mayor of Strasbourg, decided that the army needed a marching song. Officer Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle was on military service in Strasbourg at the time. He responded to the mayor's request and composed “La Marseillaise”. This happened on the night of April 24.

The composition was originally called “Chant de guerre de l'armée du Rhin” ("War Song of the Army of the Rhine"), but later became known as "La Marseillaise" due to its popularity among the voluntary army units from Marseille.

The original text of "La Marseillaise" consisted of six verses; the last seventh verse (written by a different author) was added later. Usually only the first and sixth verses of the anthem are sung at public events.

This immortal song, born of a single impulse of inspiration, perfectly combining words and melody, fuses the sublime beauty of ancient French anthem, the tragic grandeur of medieval choirs and something of the majestic recitation of the French theatre of the 18^th century.

This majestic march made a great impression on the participants of revolutionary public events. The Convention nationale¹⁾ (French Convention nationale) adopted it as the French national anthem o4 July 14, 1795.

“La Marseillaise” was banned by Napoleon during the Empire and by Louis XVIII during the Second Restoration (1815). After the July Revolution of 1830, “La Marseillaise” was allowed again, but then banned by Napoleon III and only restored in 1879.

Closely linked to the history of the Republic, the song became an anthem of patriotic enthusiasm during the period of rising nationalism in the late 19^th – early 20^th centuries and during the First World War.

The marching rhythm of the Marseillaise was easy to keep pace. Its melody, as if soaring upwards from the initial sound, was full of appealing power. Beautiful in its extraordinary simplicity, with repetitions that made it easy to memorise, with tonal transitions that refreshed its development, it seemed to infuse courage and faith, leaving no room for doubt and fatigue. The motif of the song spread in Paris, was memorised instantly! Revolutionary France went into battle armed with the "Marseillaise". The song organised, disciplined, inspired. There seemed to be a magnetising power in its sounds that ensured victory.

After the events of 1848, when the waves of protest swept across Europe, the Marseillaise, embodying the struggle against tyranny and general enthusiasm for liberty, became the song of revolutionaries all over the world. It was sung on the battlefields and during the Paris Commune in 1871. With the establishment of the Third French Republic, "La Marseillaise" became the national anthem once more in 1879. On July 17, 1941, "La Marseillaise" was banned by the German occupation administration of Northern France, but continued to be the unofficial anthem of the Vichy government. It was sung without words and immediately followed by the march "Marshal, we are here!".

In 1875, a prominent Russian theorist of Populism, philosopher, publicist, revolutionary, sociologist, and historian, Pyotr Lavrov (1823-1900) wrote "Marseillaise for labouring men". His song was not formally a translation of the French original, but in mood it was very similar to it, which was why it became popular – especially "topical" it sounded in the revolutionary years of 1905 and 1917. The Provisional Government approved the "Marseillaise" as the national anthem on March 2 1917 OS – 5 days after the abdication of Nicholas II. It was first performed to the original French melody, but then the composer Alexander Glazunov (1865-1936) modified the music to better suit the Russian words.

The museum Collection exposition features unique media on which the melody of the "Marseillaise" is recorded– metal discs and folded cardboard book-music, music boxes and clocks. We have prepared a musical selection with those rare recordings.

Musical alarm table clock, with key and disc. Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle (composer), Fabrik Lochmannscher Musikwerke AG, Gebruder Junghans A.G., Germany, Leipzig. The 1890-1900s
Metal disc: March "La Marseillaise". Composer: Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, Symphonion Musikwerke. Germany, Leipzig
Folded cardboard book-music: "La Marseillaise". Rouget de Lisle Claude Joseph, MANUFACTURE DE LIMONAIRES MARC FOURNIER. France, Vienne. 1979-1998