Napoleon Bonaparte, who entered the legend, is a constant source of inspiration for music composers throughout the world from the 19th century to the present day. It is especially since his death in exile in Saint Helena that many works are created, in France and in all the countries that constituted the Empire.
In Corsica, mainly from the Second Empire, we see the birth of a popular musical tradition with compositions (still interpreted today), present in particular in repertoires broadcast by local musical societies and in the cabarets in Ajaccio.
We propose to evoke during the European Heritage Days within the CDC, musical repertoires of the Napoleonic gesture and the historical context of the Empire in Corsica. Some of them, coming from learned music, are still known and practiced. Others, from popular and traditional music, are completely new.
Well-known fact: we continued to compose in Corsica on Napoleon in the twentieth century…
Composers among Napoleon Bonaparte’s favourites:
-Hortense de Beauharnais: “Leaving for Syria”
-Béranger: “My grandmother”
-Paisiello: “Nel cor più non mi sento”
-Beethoven: “Ode to Joy”
-Berlioz: «The death of Ophelia»
-Mozart: “Lacrimosa”.