A Marseillaise, obviously… When the First World War ended, we stopped singing certain songs and wrote others…
It was at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the end of the war. And, symbolically, the voice of this armistice was her, Marthe Chenal, great soprano of the time, who wrapped herself in a tricolor flag and sang the Marseillaise on the steps of the Paris Opera, this 11 November 1918. And his recording of the national anthem was from then on a great success for sapphire discs from the Pathé brand.
If we look at the record shelves of the time, we find two productions following closely the armistice, and which were successes in concert cafés for a few years, They returned Alsace and Lorraine And Who won the war?
In the first episode of These songs that make the news this weekend you hear excerpts from:
Marthe Chenal, The Marseillaise, 1915
Geski, They returned Alsace and Lorraine, 1919
Berard, Who won the war? 1919
Choir of Radio France, Victory, 1918 (2014 recording)
Choir of Radio France, The Boches are like rats, 1916 (2014 recording)
Master’s degree from Radio France, The Barbarian Hunt, 1915 (2014 recording)
Choir of Radio France, The Cry of France, 1915 (2014 recording)
Urban, The Little Pagans (extract of Phi-Phi), 1918
Marty, The Red Butte, 1922
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And you can also find the podcast on this link Behind our voices, with the writing and composition secrets of eight major artists of the French scene, Laurent Voulzy, Julien Clerc, Bénabar, Dominique A, Carla Bruni, Emily Loizeau, Juliette and Gaëtan Roussel.