A las Barricadas
| "A las Barricadas" | |
|---|---|
 A las Barricadas | |
| Song | |
| Language | Spanish |
| Written | Original music from "Warszawianka" composed in 1879. Spanish lyrics written in 1933. |
| Published | November 1933. |
| Recorded | 1936 |
| Length | 1:13 |
| Composer(s) | Józef Pławiński |
| Lyricist(s) | Valeriano Orobón Fernández (based on original lyrics by Wacław Święcicki) |
| Audio sample | |
| Part of a series on |
| Anarchism |
|---|
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"A las Barricadas" (English: To the Barricades) is a Spanish anarchist anthem, popularised during the Spanish Civil War as the official hymn of the National Confederation of Labour (CNT). The lyrics, written by Valeriano Orobón Fernández, were based on the Polish revolutionary anthem "Whirlwinds of Danger", composed by Józef Pławiński. Since the civil war, it has gained widespread popularity among the songs of the international left and remains in use among contemporary anarchists.
Composition
[edit]The lyrics to the song were composed in the early 1930s by the Spanish anarchist writer Valeriano Orobón Fernández.[1] The Spanish lyrics were based on a German translation of the Polish revolutionary anthem "Whirlwinds of Danger" (Polish: Warszawianka),[2] the lyrics of which were originally penned in the early 1880s by Wacław Święcicki and the music composed by Józef Pławiński.[1]
Popularisation
[edit]By 1936, the song had become the official anthem of the National Confederation of Labour (CNT), an anarcho-syndicalist trade union confederation.[1] It became one of the main anarchist anthems of the Spanish Civil War,[3] together with the song "Hijos del Pueblo", and it would often be featured in the propaganda films of the CNT.[4] The song was sung by the Durruti Column when it departed from Barcelona for the Aragon front.[5] Composer Pablo Sorozábal reported that when his orchestra played "A las Barricadas", the anarchists and syndicalists would stand up and perform the anarchist salute, locking their hands together over their heads, while the socialists and communists remained seated. He likewise reported the opposite happening when his orchestra performed "The Internationale".[6]
In the latter half of the 20th century, "A Las Barricades" entered the global repertoire of left-wing music, taking a place alongside other Spanish Civil War songs like "¡Ay Carmela!", the Italian partisan song "Bella ciao" and the Russian anti-fascist song "Katyusha", among others.[7] The song was adopted by members of the French Confédération nationale du travail (CNT-F), headquartered on Rue des Vignoles in Paris.[8] It has also been covered by anarcho-punk bands, which have played renditions of it with loud electric guitars and screaming.[9]
Lyrics
[edit]| Spanish[10] | Catalan[11] | English translation[10] |
|---|---|---|
Negras tormentas agitan los aires |
Negres tempestes agiten els aires |
Black storms shake the air |
Covering artists
[edit]- Bandista (with the name "Haydi Barikata")[12]
- Jean-Marc Leclercq[13]
- Pascal Comelade[14]
- Victor Manuel and Ana Belén (as a duet piece).[15]
- Los Muertos de Cristo[16]
- Feminazgûl[17]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c Alonso 2021, p. 464.
- ^ Alonso 2021, p. 464; Iglesias 2024, p. 141.
- ^ Alonso 2021, p. 464; Iglesias 2024, p. 145.
- ^ Iglesias 2024, p. 145.
- ^ Paz 2006, p. 478.
- ^ Iglesias 2024, pp. 145–146.
- ^ Hofman 2020, p. 166.
- ^ Rothaus 2025, pp. 43–45.
- ^ Rothaus 2025, pp. 42–43.
- ^ a b Rothaus 2025, pp. 41–42.
- ^ Pedreira, Josep (2003). Soldats catalans a la Roja i Negra (1936-1939) (in Catalan). Barcelona: L'Abadia de Montserrat. ISBN 9788484155485. OCLC 469511438.
- ^ "bANDİSTA // yeni albüm : daima! / new album: siempre!". Tayfabandista.org. Archived from the original on 21 September 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
- ^ Pancorbo Castro, Manuel (1 May 2001). "Al la barikadoj!". Recenzo el Monato. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
- ^ "Pascal Comelade – Cent Regards". Dicogs. Archived from the original on 26 November 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
- ^ A las barricadas-Himno de la CNT (Ana Belen y Victor Manuel). Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
- ^ Los Muertos de Cristo - A las Barricadas. 12 June 2009. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
- ^ Feminazgûl (1 July 2022). A Las Barricadas (in Spanish). Bandcamp. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
Bibliography
[edit]- Alonso, Diego (2021). "Transnational Networks of Communist Musical Propaganda in the Spanish Civil War". Journal of War & Culture Studies. 14 (4): 454–478. doi:10.1080/17526272.2021.1950963.
- Hofman, Ana (2020). ""We are the Partisans of Our Time": Antifascism and Post-Yugoslav Singing Memory Activism". Popular Music and Society. 44 (2): 157–174. doi:10.1080/03007766.2020.1820782.
- Iglesias, Iván (2024). "(Re)Sounding Nations: Anthems and the Politics of Performing and Listening in Wartime Europe (1936–1945).". In Moreno-Luzón, Javier; Nagore-Ferrer, María (eds.). Music, Words, and Nationalism: National Anthems and Songs in the Modern Era. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 137–157. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-41644-6_7.
- Paz, Abel (2006) [1996]. Durruti in the Spanish Revolution. Translated by Morse, Chuck. Edinburgh: AK Press. ISBN 1-904859-50-X. LCCN 2006920974. OCLC 482919277.
- Rothaus, Tomas (2025). "33 Rue des Vignoles: Paris, 1997". Another War Is Possible: Militant Anarchist Experiences in the Antiglobalization Era. PM Press. pp. 25–48. ISBN 9798887441153.
Further reading
[edit]- Baxmeyer, Martin (2016). "A las barricadas, hijos del pueblo: dos himnos libertarios como concretización de la utopía revolucionaria cultural del anarquismo ibérico" [A las barricadas, hijos del pueblo: two libertarian hymns as a concretisation of the cultural revolutionary utopia of Iberian anarchism]. Himnos y canciones: imaginarios colectivos, símbolos e identidades fragmentadas en la España del siglo XX [Hymns and Songs: Collective Imaginaries, Symbols and Fragmented Identities in 20th Century Spain] (in Spanish). Editorial Comares. pp. 65–79. ISBN 9788490454459.
- de la Riva, José (15 December 1937). "Lo que cantan los combatientes: Aquella canción alemana que es hoy el himno de la FAI" [What the fighters sing: That German song which is today the anthem of the FAI]. Mundo Gráfico (in Spanish). Vol. 27, no. 1363. ISSN 1579-847X.
- de la Ossa, Marco Antonio (2011). La música en la guerra civil española (in Spanish). University of Castilla–La Mancha. ISBN 9788490440711.
External links
[edit]- Score Archived 17 February 2004 at the Wayback Machine
- Himno de la CNT – Hosting mp3s of "A Las Barricadas"
- http://anarchismus.at/ – Hosting mp3s of "A Las Barricadas"
