Andante: Chapter 1 The Napoleonic Era

Chapter 1 explores the two decades during which the peninsula entered in the French sphere of influences thanks to the Napoleonic campaigns. The music of the period accompanied the French ideals of liberty, fraternity and equality, while counter-revolutionary songs rejected these irreligious and revolutionary views

You are invited to immerse yourself in this chapter section by section while you play the recommended music for each section to highlight the appropriate mood.

Songs to be played with the sections:

1. L'Inno dell'albero Napoleon and the Trees of Liberty
2. Il canto dei Sanfedisti The Counter-Revolution
3. Partire, partiro, partir bisogna Napoleon's Bayonettes
4. “Il soldato di Napoleone” –
5. Povero Napoleone (Viva la Russia Viva la Prussia) The End of Napoleon

Key Events: 

1. 1796: Napoleon Bonaparte’s army enters Milan 
2. 1797: The Cisalpine Republic is proclaimed in Northern Italy. The treaty of Campoformio gives the Veneto region to Austria 
3. 1798: Proclamation of the Roman Republic 
4. 1799: Proclamation of the Partenopean Republic in Naples. 
5. 1805: Proclamation of the “Kingdom of Italy.” Napoleon is crowned King of Italy in Milan. 
6. 1815: Napoleon is defeated at Waterloo

Cover art: La partenza dei coscritti del 1866 by Gerolamo Induno, 1878