David Mabb selects The Internationale in 95 languages compiled by MandalorTeSiit.

When asked to contribute a playlist ‘audio journey’ to the ‘So the Red Rose’ project as part of ‘Where Is the Way to Arcadia, please?’ I thought that the Internationale, the anthem of communist and anarchist movements since the late 19th Century, would be appropriate. Starting with the idea of compiling a number of different versions, I immediately found that this had already been compiled by MandalorTeSiit and is available on YouTube as The Internationale in 95 languages.

The anthem's lyrics were written by Eugène Pottier in 1871 and the words were later set to music composed by Pierre De Geyter in 1889. As well as being performed in 95 different languages, The Internationale in 95 languages is performed in a large range of musical traditions. The different versions can, based on the listener’s experience, age and of course politics, evoke multiple responses such as nostalgia, solidarity, fear and even anger. They indicate how international the communist movement once was, and how generations of communists and anarchists came together to sing for what they hoped and still hope will be an Arcadia that “unites the human race”.