Carmagnole
Encyclopedia
La Carmagnole, the name of the short jacket worn by working-class militant sans-culottes
adopted from the Piedmont
ese peasant costume whose name derives from the town of Carmagnola
, is the title of a French song created and made popular during the French Revolution
, based on a tune and a wild dance that accompanied it of the same name that may have also been brought into France by the Piedmontese. It originated as a song in August 1792 and was successively added to in 1830, 1848, 1863–64, and 1882-83. The authors are not known.
This song is triumphantly sarcastic about the fates of the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette
, and those who support the French monarchy.
it is written that, "the sans-culottes
in the army rushed the enemy singing "La Marseillaise
" and "La Carmagnole." It was a great republican victory, and all of Belgium fell to the revolutionary armies." When not sung during an actual battle, the Carmagnole was often sung after political or military victories. Once such event occurred after the storming of the Tuileries Palace
on the night of August 9–10, 1792. The radical people of Paris asserted their power by forcing the king to flee to the nearby National Assembly
. After storming the palace and massacring the King's personal Swiss Guard
, the mob of Paris was "drunk with blood, danced and sang the Carmagnole to celebrate the victory." The song was also more generally associated with grassroots popular displays, such as festivals or the planting of liberty trees. It was common to include public singing at these symbolic events, and over the course of the Revolution "some 60,000 liberty trees were planted" giving the people many opportunities to sing.
("It'll do", "Everything will be OK"), it contained simple lyrics that illiterate people could easily learn and understand, and therefore participate in singing.
by Charles Dickens
, The Scarlet Pimpernel
by Baroness Orczy
and plays an important role in The Song at the Scaffold, a book written by Gertrud von LeFort. La Carmagnole is also sung by the chorus in Act III of Umberto Giordano
's opera Andrea Chénier
, and it is sung in the closing dialogue of Eugene O'Neill
's play The Iceman Cometh
. Carl Schurz
, in , reports from exile in England
that upon Napoleon III's coup d'état
of 2 December 1851, “Our French friends shouted and shrieked and gesticulated and hurled opprobrious names at Louis Napoleon and cursed his helpers, and danced the Carmagnole and sang ‘Ça Ira
.’”
Sans-culottes
In the French Revolution, the sans-culottes were the radical militants of the lower classes, typically urban laborers. Though ill-clad and ill-equipped, they made up the bulk of the Revolutionary army during the early years of the French Revolutionary Wars...
adopted from the Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
ese peasant costume whose name derives from the town of Carmagnola
Carmagnola
Carmagnola is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located 29 km south of Turin. As of July 11, 2007, it had a population of 27,043 and an area of 96.4 km²....
, is the title of a French song created and made popular during the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, based on a tune and a wild dance that accompanied it of the same name that may have also been brought into France by the Piedmontese. It originated as a song in August 1792 and was successively added to in 1830, 1848, 1863–64, and 1882-83. The authors are not known.
This song is triumphantly sarcastic about the fates of the Queen of France, Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
, and those who support the French monarchy.
History
There are varied accounts of this song and where it was sung. It was mainly sung as a rallying cry or as entertainment among a group of pro-revolutionaries. It was also used as an insult to those who did not support the French Revolution. Popular punishment was to make them "sing and dance the Carmagnole", which could be done to marquises, dames, princes, monks, bishops, archbishops, and cardinals, to name a few. La Carmagnole has also been documented as a rallying cry in battle. At the battle of JemappesJemappes
Jemappes is a Walloon town in south-western Belgium, province Hainaut. Since 1976, it is part of the city Mons...
it is written that, "the sans-culottes
Sans-culottes
In the French Revolution, the sans-culottes were the radical militants of the lower classes, typically urban laborers. Though ill-clad and ill-equipped, they made up the bulk of the Revolutionary army during the early years of the French Revolutionary Wars...
in the army rushed the enemy singing "La Marseillaise
La Marseillaise
"La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song, originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin" was written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in 1792. The French National Convention adopted it as the Republic's anthem in 1795...
" and "La Carmagnole." It was a great republican victory, and all of Belgium fell to the revolutionary armies." When not sung during an actual battle, the Carmagnole was often sung after political or military victories. Once such event occurred after the storming of the Tuileries Palace
Tuileries Palace
The Tuileries Palace was a royal palace in Paris which stood on the right bank of the River Seine until 1871, when it was destroyed in the upheaval during the suppression of the Paris Commune...
on the night of August 9–10, 1792. The radical people of Paris asserted their power by forcing the king to flee to the nearby National Assembly
National Assembly (French Revolution)
During the French Revolution, the National Assembly , which existed from June 17 to July 9, 1789, was a transitional body between the Estates-General and the National Constituent Assembly.-Background:...
. After storming the palace and massacring the King's personal Swiss Guard
Swiss Guard
Swiss Guards or Schweizergarde is the name given to the Swiss soldiers who have served as bodyguards, ceremonial guards, and palace guards at foreign European courts since the late 15th century. They have had a high reputation for discipline, as well as loyalty to their employers...
, the mob of Paris was "drunk with blood, danced and sang the Carmagnole to celebrate the victory." The song was also more generally associated with grassroots popular displays, such as festivals or the planting of liberty trees. It was common to include public singing at these symbolic events, and over the course of the Revolution "some 60,000 liberty trees were planted" giving the people many opportunities to sing.
Importance
Song was a very important means of expression in France during the Revolution. The Marseillaise, which has since become the French National Anthem, was written during this period. It has been written that, "Frenchman took pride in their habit of singing and regarded it as one source of their success." In France, heroism was linked to gaiety. In the preface to the Chansonnier de la République there are questions that the French Republic poses to the world: "What will the ferocious reactionaries, who accuse France of unity, say when they see them equal to the heroes of antiquity in singing the Carmagnole? What will they say when they hear on the battlefields of the republicans these patriotic refrains, which precede and follow the most bloody combats?" La Carmagnole, and revolutionary song in general, was viewed as an important part of the new French Republic, and of being a Frenchman. La Carmagnole was particularly popular because, like the song Ah! ça iraAh! ça ira
"Ah ! ça ira" is an emblematic song of the French Revolution, first heard in May 1790. It underwent several changes in wording, all of which used the title words as part of the refrain.-Original version:...
("It'll do", "Everything will be OK"), it contained simple lyrics that illiterate people could easily learn and understand, and therefore participate in singing.
Literary References
The Carmagnole is mentioned in A Tale of Two CitiesA Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature....
by Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a play and adventure novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, set during the Reign of Terror following the start of the French Revolution. The story is a precursor to the "disguised superhero" tales such as Zorro and Batman....
by Baroness Orczy
Baroness Orczy
Baroness Emma Magdolna Rozália Mária Jozefa Borbála "Emmuska" Orczy de Orczi was a British novelist, playwright and artist of Hungarian noble origin. She was most notable for her series of novels featuring the Scarlet Pimpernel...
and plays an important role in The Song at the Scaffold, a book written by Gertrud von LeFort. La Carmagnole is also sung by the chorus in Act III of Umberto Giordano
Umberto Giordano
Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano was an Italian composer, mainly of operas.He was born in Foggia in Puglia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Serrao at the Conservatoire of Naples...
's opera Andrea Chénier
Andrea Chénier
Andrea Chénier is a verismo opera in four acts by the composer Umberto Giordano, set to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica. It is based loosely on the life of the French poet, André Chénier , who was executed during the French Revolution....
, and it is sung in the closing dialogue of Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
's play The Iceman Cometh
The Iceman Cometh
The Iceman Cometh is a play written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill in 1939. First published in 1940 the play premiered on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on 9 October 1946, directed by Eddie Dowling where it ran for 136 performances to close on 15 March 1947.-Characters:* Night Hawk-...
. Carl Schurz
Carl Schurz
Carl Christian Schurz was a German revolutionary, American statesman and reformer, and Union Army General in the American Civil War. He was also an accomplished journalist, newspaper editor and orator, who in 1869 became the first German-born American elected to the United States Senate.His wife,...
, in , reports from exile in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
that upon Napoleon III's coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
of 2 December 1851, “Our French friends shouted and shrieked and gesticulated and hurled opprobrious names at Louis Napoleon and cursed his helpers, and danced the Carmagnole and sang ‘Ça Ira
Ah! ça ira
"Ah ! ça ira" is an emblematic song of the French Revolution, first heard in May 1790. It underwent several changes in wording, all of which used the title words as part of the refrain.-Original version:...
.’”
Lyrics
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPQumYAcc0M (YouTube video, with added verses)