GRAND DIEU SAUVE LE ROI (1686) - JEAN-BAPTISTE LULLY (FRENCH ROYALIST SONG) “Grand Dieu Sauve Le Roi” is a reverent French hymn composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully in celebration of the recovery of Louis XIV, the Sun King of France, after a delicate surgical operation he underwent in 1686. Lully set to music the words written by the Duchess of Brinon, superior of the Maison royale de Saint-Louis at Saint-Cyr (a boarding school for young ladies founded in 1686), thus creating the hymn. Translated into Latin under the title Domine, Salvum Fac Regem, it became the French royal anthem until 1792. ※ HISTORY Madame de Brinon and Jean-Baptiste Lully were not working from nothing: their composition was intended to celebrate the king’s recovery after a successful fistula operation in 1686. This was a condition the monarch had contracted from long hours in his carriage and was by no means trivial at the time; indeed, Louis XIV postponed the surgery for as long as possible before finally consenting to it. It was through George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) that the melody crossed the English Channel: the official composer of the English Crown — German by birth and naturalized British in 1726 — discovered the score during a visit to Versailles in 1714, copied it, and had the lyrics translated into what became known as “God Save the King.” After the Battle of Culloden, the House of Hanover supposedly adopted this melody as the British anthem. ※ LYRICS: Grand Dieu salve le Roi, Grand Dieu venge le Roi, Vive le Roi! Que toujours glorieux, Louis Victorieux! Venge ses ennemis toujours soumis. Que toujours glorieux, Louis Victorieux! Venge ses ennemis toujours soumis. ※ Great God save the King, Great God avenge the King, Long live the King! Always be glorious, Louis Victorious! Avenge his enemies, always subdued. Always be glorious, Louis Victorious! Avenge his enemies, always subdued. - @vchan118