Le vol noir des corbeaux
Gracie and I went to the matinee performance PSO, but an obit in Le Soir is the music on my mind. I'm partial to the European sacral and requiem (profane) choral and orchestral forms. I appreciate the striving, and some events merit a mass. A Russian woman residing in Alaska died and it made the front page of Le Soir (online edition), the (french) journal of domestic record of Bruxelles, the capital of Europe.
In 1943 Emmanuel D'Astier de la Vigerie (dit "Bernard") and Anna Marly collaborated on a work. D'Asteir wrote the lyrics, Marly the music. Their work, in particular her performance as the vocalist, of Le chant des Partisans, became the anthem of all Free French, the whistled call sign of the Resistance, of everyone with a modest amount of "parlze vouz". It was published in no 1 des Cahiers de Libération, le 25 septembre 1943, and Anna Marly was its voice. Emmanuel D'Astier, Jean Moulin, Pierre Brossolette, and Charles de Gaulle formed La France Combattante. After the Armistice Le chant des Partisans and the newly decriminalized Marseillaise were adopted as the offical hymns of La IVe République (1946-1958).
Radio Vietminh broadcast Chant des partisans the night of May 6, 1954, the evening before French forces surrendered Dien Bien Phu. French educated Vietnamese nationalists knew the value of music.
Ami, entends-tu le vol noir des corbeaux sur nos plaines ? Ami, entends-tu les cris sourds du pays qu'on enchaîne ?The black flights of carrion crows or rows of Stukas, it is all one, and even the deaf cry out from a country in chains.
Anna Marly's death was news in Europe, and we don't yet have the music we must needs have to go through our Samaria, or whatever lies before us. For we must all needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, and our Republic cannot be gathered up again.
