36 Renner ⦁ Revolutions ira.’”60 “Ça ira” is a bright and cheerful tune which translates to “things will work out.”61 The music, as shown in Figure 3, reflects the spirited subject with quick and short rhythms. While there were many different verses written for this tune, the refrain of “ça ira, ça ira, ça ira” remained consistent.62 Figure 3: “Ça ira” by Jean-Antoine Bécourt63 By 1790, “Ça ira” was adopted mainly by the revolutionaries, those against the royalists. Despite its bright and cheerful tune, “Ça ira” “ceased to be an emblem of revolutionary foolishness and became one of potential violence.”64 The revolutionaries, sometimes referred to as “the mob,” had begun to interrupt royalist events such as plays at the theater.65 At first, they limited their interruptions to “shouts and foot stomping,” but these interruptions eventually led to outbursts of “Ça ira” during plays that contained counterrevolutionary ideas.66 By the fall of 1791, 60 Mason, 43. 61 Mason, 43. 62 Gray, n.p. 63 Pierre, 447. 64 Mason, 53. 65 Mason, 52–53. 66 Mason, 52.
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