Origin and attributions The precise origins of both the tune and the lyrics are uncertain and debated. The lyrics are regularly attributed to Joseph-François Domergue (1691 – 2 April 1728, died in Avignon), priest-dean of
Aramon, in the
Gard, from 1724 to 1728, whose name appears on the first manuscript copy of the lyrics, dated 1742 and preserved in the library of Avignon. The text was published in Paris in 1759 in the . Subsequently, the work was added to the various (expanded) editions of the Provençal Christmas collection by the poet and composer of the seventeenth century
Nicolas Saboly (1614–1675) to which it has often and erroneously been attributed. According to the 1742 document, the text can be sung on the tune of a ('March of Turenne'). This mention corresponds to the established practice of christmasists, consisting of placing their texts on "known" French songs spread by the printing press. One hypothesis is that this would be a military
march dating back to the 17th century, in honor of the victories of
Marshal Turenne, Such a has however not been found. Some authors wanted to attribute it to
Jean-Baptiste Lully, although no document corroborates this attribution. An Avignon tradition rather dates the back to the fifteenth century, at the time of
King René (1409–1480), while some authors from the late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th leaned towards a reference to
Raymond VIII of Turenne (1352–1413), known as "The Scourge of Provence", grand-nephew of
Pope Clement VI and nephew of
Pope Gregory XI. In the 21st century, several American scholars have suggested that the
March of the Kings has a medieval origin dating back to the 13th century. It could then be one of the oldest Christmas carols listed with
Veni redemptor gentium and one of the first entirely composed in
vernacular, and not in Latin. According to research carried out by the scholar Stéphen d'Arve (Edmond de Catelin) at the end of the nineteenth century, the only known score is that of Étienne-Paul Charbonnier (1793–1872), organist at the
Aix Cathedral, who, perhaps taking it from the chain of its predecessors, had reconstructed it from memory by modifying its orchestration as new instruments were introduced.
Henri Maréchal, an inspector of the having done research at the request of
Frédéric Mistral, thought that must have been composed by Abbé Domergue himself.
Epiphany celebration Every year, the Epiphany feast gives rise in certain towns and villages of Provence to popular parades, the "Marches des Rois", where citizens sumptuously dressed as Biblical Magi progress towards the local church to the sound of the
March and other traditional music, accompanied by inhabitants dressed according to local folklore. Particularly at
Aix-en-Provence, from the beginning of the nineteenth century, a sumptuous popular ceremony celebrates the visit of the kings: a traditional procession of characters dressed in Provençal costumes (shepherds, horsemen, drummers, trades, etc.) accompanies the Magi and their camels to Saint-Sauveur Cathedral where the organist, accompanied by drummers, performs the air of the "March of the Kings" at the arrival of the procession, passing from "pianissimo" to "fortissimo" to evoke the approach of the procession. A large star is then lit on the main altar, symbolizing the star that guided the Magi to Bethlehem. The ceremony ends as the tune plays
descrescendo when the Kings leave.
Joseph d'Ortigue wrote in 1837: {{Blockquote
Covers and adaptations The
March of the Kings is one of the themes of the
overture of ''
l'Arlésienne (1872), incidental music composed by Georges Bizet for a drama on a Provençal subject by Alphonse Daudet. According to the musicologist Joseph Clamon, Bizet could find the melody of this march in a book published in 1864. After the failure of the drama, Bizet drew from the incidental music a suite for orchestra (Suite n° 1'') which was an immediate success. In 1879, four years after the composer's death, his friend
Ernest Guiraud produced a second suite (
Suite n° 2) in which the
March of the Kings is repeated in
canon in the last part of the revised work. Certain passages are also found in the
operetta Gillette de Narbonne by
Edmond Audran, created in
1882. The words of a song "M'sieu d'Turenne", which can be sung to the tune of the
March of the Kings, are due to
:fr:Léon Durocher (1862-1918). The
March of the Kings has become a traditional
chanson de France and one of the most common Christmas carols in the repertoire of French-speaking choirs. It has been performed several times by performers such as
Tino Rossi,
:fr:Les Quatre Barbus,
Marie-Michèle Desrosiers or, in English,
Robert Merrill. The piece has been adapted many times, notably by the organist
Pierre Cochereau through an improvised
toccata in 1973 for the
Suite à la française sur des thèmes populaires. ==Lyrics==