Triumphal March from Symphonie Funebre et Triomphale

Famous march from Aida - useful wedding and ceremonial repertoire

Triumphal Marche is taken from the Symphonie Funebre et Triomphale which was commissioned by the French Government to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the 1830 French Revolution. The government proposed an imposing ceremony during which the remains of the persons who died during those three days in July would be interred in a monument erected in the Place de la Bastille. Through M. de Remusat, Minister of the Interior, Hector Berlioz was granted ten thousand francs to cover his commission and all of the performance costs. Realizing that the first performance would be in the open air, Berlioz planned a relatively simple piece to be performed by a two-hundred piece military band. The symphony was conceived in three parts: the first: was to be a bleak, awe-inspiring processional march, the second a funeral oration to the illustrious dead, and the third a hymn of praise. The first true performance was the dress rehearsal to which Berlioz invited influential members of the community. He expected that in spite of the massive forces recruited for the performance, most of the music would not be heard by the audience present at the ceremony. This prediction proved true, and during the finale of the symphony, the National Guard, which had grown tired of standing in the blazing sun, marched off to the tune of their fifty side drums.