Even The Beatles used it in the opening fanfare to ‘All You Need is Love’.īut the most famous classical use of the Marseillaise is in Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, which commemorates the defeat of the French at the battle of Borodino. Creole (cree-ol): The word originally described those people of mixed French and Spanish blood. Giuseppe Verdi quotes from the Marseillaise in his patriotic anthem Hymn of the Nations, which also incorporates the national anthems of England and Italy to show a unity between the nations.Įdward Elgar also uses it alongside ‘Rule Britannia’ in The Music Makers. The French of noble ancestry would say, les Acadiens.

Hated by leaders – but loved by composersĭuring the reigns of Napoleon Bonaparte, Louis XVIII and Charles X from 1804 to 1830, La Marseillaise was banned outright because of its Revolutionary associations – and it wasn’t officially reinstated as the national anthem of France until 1879.īut among composers, its popularity has been undeniable.

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