| Share page | Visit Us On FB |
|
FAMOUS SONGS
and " Malbrough" or " Malbrouck," which cap-tured the whole of the Empire, and was sung in every cafe and saloon and " carrefour" in Paris. The opinions as to the origin of this notorious French song are curious and varied. The names of the authors of the words and music it is not easy to assert. There is reason, how-ever, to believe that the couplets " Mort et convoi de Tinvincible Malbrough" were impro-vised on the night after the battle of Malplaquet, September nth, 1709, in the bivouack of Mar-shal de Villars at Quesnoy, three miles from the scene of the fight. The name of the soldier who perhaps satirized the English general as a relief to his hunger has not been preserved, but in all probability he was acquainted with the lament on the death of the " Duke of Guise/' published about 1566, the idea and construction of both melodies being so much alike. Chateau-briand hearing the tune sung by Arabs in Pales-tine, suggested that it had been carried there by the Crusaders either in the time of Godfrey de Bouillon or in that of Louis IX. and Join-ville, but the style of the music is of the char-acter of the days of Louis XV., and entirely unlike any other. Unfortunately it is not pos-sible to find either words or music in any col-lection. They have been handed down from
35 |
||