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Re: The French National Anthem & Napoleon's March
- From: Robert Cohen <rlcm17...>
- Subject: Re: The French National Anthem & Napoleon's March
- Date: Tue 09 Jan 2001 03.33 (GMT)
My understanding is that the French National Anthem was introduced to his
(Chabad/Lubavich) hassidim by the late, last rabbi of Lubavich when a large
group, or perhaps several large groups, of hassidim from France joined their
Brooklyn community. He introduced "La Marseillaise," as a wordless niggun,
to, as I understand it, make them feel at home.
"Napoleon's March," borrowed from (obviously) an earlier French (military)
melody and also sung as a wordless niggun, is a totally different matter.
It is also an established Lubavich/Chabad niggun--indeed, much more
established.
--Robert Cohen
At one point he told us about a very traditional, very old-school Hassidic
tune, then started to sing it. It was the French national anthem.*
* According to Frank [London], half the Hassidim answer the obvious question
with "What's France?" and the other half says it was originally a tribute to
Napoleon's pro-Jewish policies.
>
>yakov.
>trombonist, "Kap'n Klezmer and the Klez Kadets"
>
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- Re: The French National Anthem & Napoleon's March,
Robert Cohen