The March of the Kings or The March of the Wise Men ( or ; Provençal: ) is a popular Christmas carol of provençal origin celebrating the Epiphany and the Wise Men. Recognition of the theme spread outside Provence when Georges Bizet used it in his incidental music for .
History
Origin and attributions The precise origins of both the tune and the lyrics are uncertain and debated.William D. Crump, The Christmas Encyclopedia, McFarland, 3d ed., 2001, p. 278, partly online.
The lyrics are regularly attributed to Joseph-François DomergueAbbé Louis Valla, Histoire d'Aramon, Temps anciens-Administration-Temps modernes, Montpellier, Impr. de la Manufacture de la Charité, 1900, pp. 256, 697-703, online. (1691 – 2 April 1728, died in Avignon), priest-dean of Aramon,Abbé Louis Valla, Histoire d'Aramon, Temps anciens-Administration-Temps modernes, Montpellier, Impr. de la Manufacture de la Charité, 1900, pp. 256, 697-703, online. 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.Manuscript n°1256 called "recueil de Castellant" ("Castellant collection"), t. II, p. 126; see Joseph Clamon, "Bizet et le folklore provençal", in Revue de musicologie, t. 19, no. 68, November 1938, p.151, online. The "recueil de Castellant" (1742) is also present in the manuscript n°5741 at the same library.
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.The initial confusion probably comes from the edition dated 1790 by the Avignon publisher Antoine Offray, which gave the "March of the Kings" after Saboly's carols. See G. Clément-Simon, "Limousin", in Bulletin de la Société des lettres, sciences et arts de la Corrèze, publisher Musée A.-Mazeyrie, 1911, p. 168-172, online.
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.Joseph Clamon, "Bizet et le folklore provençal", in Revue de musicologie, t. 19, no 68, November 1938, p. 152, online. 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., « Limousin », in Bulletin de la Société des lettres, sciences et arts de la Corrèze, publisher Musée A.-Mazeyrie, 1911, p. 168-172, online.
An Avignon tradition rather dates the back to the fifteenth century, at the time of King René (1409–1480),"The carol attributed to King René, and which was called in the County of Avignon the March of the Kings." (Félix Clément, "Arlésienne (L')", in Dictionnaire lyrique ou Histoire des opéras, ed. Pierre Larousse, 1881, p. 774, online.) while some authors from the late 19th centuryJoannès Plantadis, "Musiciens du Limousin", in Bulletin de la Société scientifique historique et archéologique de la Corrèze, Brive, 1897, p. 183-184, online. 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.William Studwell, Frank Hoffmann and B. Lee Cooper, The Christmas Carol Reader, Routledge, 2012, p. 2, /books?id=CIkD5rhdva0C online. It could then be one of the oldest Christmas carols listed with Veni redemptor gentiumWilliam Studwell, Frank Hoffmann and B. Lee Cooper, The Christmas Carol Reader, Routledge, 2012, p. c2, online and one of the first entirely composed in vernacular, and not in Latin.La Marche des rois', from Provence, may have been, in the thirteenth century, one of the first carols to omit Latin entirely, along with W Żłobie Leży in Poland." (Judith Flanders, Christmas, A History, Macmillan, 2018, online.
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),Étienne-Paul Charbonnier (1793–1872) was a canon, organist, and chapel master of the Cathedral of Aix-en-Provence. He transcribed Saboly's Christmas for organ as well as aubades for galoubet and organ. 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.Stéphen d 'Arve, Crumbs of the history of Provence, 1902, new Laffite edition, 1979, p. 188. 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.Stéphen d'Arve, Miettes de l'histoire de Provence, 1902, new Laffite edition, 1979, p. 186.
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,Maurice Guis, Marche des Rois, cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d'Aix-en-Provence, L'Académie du Tambourin, undated, online. 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.Silvano Rodi (translated by Marie-Noëlle Turcat), booklet Musique d'Occitanie, ed. Elegia Records, 2010, . The ceremony ends as the tune plays descrescendo when the Kings leave.Maurice Guis, Marche des Rois, cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d'Aix-en-Provence, L'Académie du Tambourin, undated, online.
Joseph d'Ortigue wrote in 1837:
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,Joseph Clamon, "Bizet and Provençal folklore", in Revue de musicologie, t. 19, no 68, November 1938, p. 150, online. Bizet could find the melody of this march in a book published in 1864.François Vidal, Lou tambourin, Aix-en-Provence et Avignon, 1864, p. 258, online. The melody is given there in B flat minor. After the failure of the drama, Bizet drew from the incidental music a suite for orchestra (Suite n° 1) which was an immediate success.François-René Tranchefort (dir.), Guide de la musique symphonique, Fayard, 1986, p. 226. 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.François-René Tranchefort (dir.), Guide de la musique symphonique, Fayard , 1986, p. 226.
Certain passages are also found in the operetta Gillette de Narbonne by Edmond Audran, created in 1882.Stéphen d'Arve, Miettes de l' histoire de Provence, ed. Laffite, 1979 (first edition 1902), p. 193. 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)."Léon Durocher has just released three new songs (...). The third is titled: Marche de Turenne; he adapted the verses from it to the famous air of Lulli. » Tad Lunedou, "A la reliure!", in Le Fureteur breton, t. 3, 1907-1908, Paris, 1908, p. 142, online.
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.Anthony Hammond, Pierre Cochereau, Organist of Notre-Dame, University Rochester Press, 2012, p. 235.
Lyrics Abbot Domergue's original provençal text describes, at least in the first few stanzas, a sumptuous convoy accompanying three kings surrounded by bodyguards, from the perspective of a passerby who decides in the fourth stanza to join them. The rest of the song describe Casper and Melchior presenting their traditional gifts (gold and incense), and the seventh stanza is sung from the perspective of Balthazar, who presents the myrrh while prophesying Christ's death on the cross. The eighth stanza refers to various biblical passages not related to the nativity.
(Please note that the lyrics may be inaccurate and the song could use some further expansion)
French EnglishEarly this morning, I met the train Of three great kings who were going On a journey
Early this morning, I met the train Of three great kings on the highway
All laden with gold Following them on board were Great warriors And the guardians of the treasure,
All laden with gold Following them on board were Great warriors with their Shields.
Notes and references