Early modern songs were considered effective instruments to strengthen the formation of collective identities. However, in a culturally fragmented region such as the Netherlands around 1800, these were hard to define. Especially in turbulent times, songs were are [sic] a unique medium to voice and spread ideas of community. Not only because the unique combination of text and music could empower such ideas, but also because collective singing practices could lead to an embodiment of the imagined communities evoked in the songs. How songs could channel ideas of community for political mobilization is demonstrated in a discussion of the marching song Marsch voor de Burger-Compagnie de Zwarte Knegten (1784, Bellamy & Nieuwenhuysen).
