Charles ROGIER (1800-1885)
Manuscript and printed text of a new Brabançonne, 1860
Score on paper
2 x 34 x 43 cm, 23 x 35 cm, 45 x 35 cm
Coll. National Archives of Belgium (ARA), Archive of Charles Rogier (I124, no. 76)
The first and second versions of the text of the Brabançonne, the national anthem of Belgium, were written in September 1830 by Louis-Alexandre Dechet, under his pseudonym Jenneval. The song was set to music by the composer François Van Campenhout.
In the decades following Belgian independence, the hostile anti-Dutch tone of the text was still difficult to reconcile with the meanwhile friendly relations with the Netherlands. That is why Charles Rogier (1800-1885), Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, edited a new text on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of independence in 1860. On that occasion, the music was also adapted. The original French text was only a long time later also converted into a Dutch and finally into a German version.
