Marche Henri IV

French patriotic song and historical anthem

Vive Henri IV
English: Long live Henry IV
Henry IV of France
Royal and national anthem of Kingdom of France
Adopted	1590
Readopted	1814
Relinquished	1792, 1830
Succeeded by	Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du Rhin (1792), La Parisienne (1830)

Audio sample
Vive Henri IV (instrumental) file help

"Marche Henri IV", alternatively "Vive Henri IV" or "Vive le roi Henri", is a popular French song celebrating King Henry IV of France (also known as Le Bon Roi Henri, "Good King Henry"). The melody was heard of as early as 1581, when it was mentioned in the book of Christmas songs of Christophle de Bordeaux, under the name "Chant de la Cassandre".^[1] It was a de facto anthem of the post-Restoration Kingdom of France (the kingdom did not have an official anthem).^[2]

Thoinot Arbeau, in his Orchesographie (1589) gives us a music score of the air as the "Branle Couppé Cassandre".^[3] The air was adapted around 1600, presumably by Eustache du Caurroy, to fit new lyrics celebrating the then King of France. Three other verses were written for a comedy opera by Charles Collé in 1770, called La partie de chasse de Henri IV.^[4] At later dates, more lyrics were added to the song.^[5] The song refers to the first Bourbon King of France, Henry IV (Henry III of Navarre), who had ended the Wars of Religion and restored peace to France (hence his sobriquet).

During the French Revolution, the original lyrics were used to support the royalist cause. For instance, during the early Revolution, before the turn to republicanism (1789-1791), the anthem was renamed Vive Louis XVI (Long live Louis XVI). The lyrics were used by constitutional monarchists to give praise to monarchy during the times of political crisis.^[6]^[7]

The anthem was also used with yet another set of lyrics during the Bourbon Restoration period (1814-1830), under the name Le Retour des Princes français à Paris.

Original lyrics

French lyrics	Literal English translation
Vive Henri quatre Vive ce Roi vaillant Ce diable à quatre A le triple talent: De boire et de battre, Et d'être un vert galant. De boire et de battre, Et d'être un vert galant.	Long live Henry IV Long live this valiant king This fourfold devil Of three talents: Of drinking, fighting And womanising. Of drinking, fighting And womanising.
Au diable guerres, Rancunes et partis ! Comme nos pères Chantons en vrais amis, Au choc des verres, Les roses et les lys. Au choc des verres, Les roses et les lys.	To hell with wars, Grudges and partisanship! Like our fathers Let us sing as true friends, Clink the glasses, The roses and the lilies. Clink the glasses, The roses and the lilies.
Chantons l'antienne Qu'on chantera dans mille ans ; Que Dieu maintienne En paix ses descendants Jusqu'à ce qu'on prenne, La Lune avec les dents. Jusqu'à ce qu'on prenne, La Lune avec les dents.	Let us sing the refrain That we will sing in a thousand years: May God maintain His descendants in peace Until we take the moon With our teeth.^[8] Until we take the moon With our teeth.
Vive la France! Vive le roi Henri! Qu'à Reims on danse En disant comme Paris: Vive la France! Vive le roi Henri! Vive la France! Vive le roi Henri!	Long live France! Long live king Henry! To Reims we dance Singing as they do in Paris: Long live France! Long live king Henry! Long live France! Long live king Henry!

In other works

Marche Henri IV was a common leitmotif for French royalty in several 19th-century works, such as in Gioachino Rossini's opera Il viaggio a Reims (in the finale, when Charles X is crowned) and in the final march in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet The Sleeping Beauty (and the same march is recalled in the final scene of Sleeping Beauty by Walt Disney, since it includes arrangements and adaptations from the ballet).
It was set for piano solo by Franz Liszt in c. 1870-80 (S. 239).
It is mentioned as one of the tunes played in Russia after the defeat of Napoleon in "The Blizzard" by Alexander Pushkin.
The anthem is also mentioned in Leo Tolstoy's novel War and Peace, and actually performed by French prisoners in the Russian film production of the same name.
In Les Misérables, Victor Hugo has the character of Grantaire sing alternate Dionysian lyrics to the tune to rile his fellow student insurrectionists.^[specify]
It is used in the soundtrack for the television series Turn: Washington's Spies, when introducing a scene involving French military forces.

References

^ NOELZ NOV || VEAVX, et deuots Can- || tiques à l'honneur de la na- || tiuité de nostre Seigneur Iesus Christ, faicts || & composez par Christophle de Bordeaux || Parisien, pour l'annee mil cinq cens quatre || vingts || & vn. || A Paris, || Par Nicolas Bonfons, ruë neuue nostre || Dame, a l'enseigne S. Nicolas. — Fin. || Christophle de Bordeaux. S. d. [1580], in-8 de 8 f. non chiffr., sign. A-B par 4, mar. r., fil., dos orné, tr. dor. (Trautz-Bauzonnet.).
^ Paul F. Rice (2010). British Music and the French Revolution. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 134. ISBN 9781443821803.
^ Arbeau, Thoinot (1520-1595) Auteur du texte (1589). Orchesographie. Et traicte en forme de dialogue, par lequel toutes personnes peuvent facilement apprendre & practiquer l'honneste exercice des dances . Par Thoinot Arbeau demeurant a Lengres.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ "Vive Henri IV!", accessed 2017-12-10, http://www.henri-iv.culture.fr/medias/en/pdf/0/756_10.pdf
^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: ♫ 1590 - Royal Anthem - Long Live Henry IV ♪. YouTube.
^ Vie du roi Louis XVI. 1790. p. 58.
^ Mason, Laura (5 September 2018). Singing the French Revolution: Popular Culture and Politics, 1787–1799. Cornell University Press. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-8014-3233-0. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
^ i.e. achieve the impossible

External links

Les Ménestriers recorded performance of the work with Renaissance instruments

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