Domine salvum fac regem

Domine, salvum fac regem (Lord, save the King) is a motet which was sung as a de facto royal anthem in France during the Ancien Régime.

Ceiling of the Royal Chapel at the Palace of Versailles

The text is taken from the Vulgate translation of Psalm 19, and while its use already existed in medieval France, the motet was composed by Jean Mouton for the coronation of King François I in 1515. It was put to music as a grand motet by Jean-Baptiste Lully, Marin Marais, François Couperin, Henry Desmarest, Michel-Richard Delalande, Louis-Nicolas Clérambault and was made customary at the end of every Mass at the Chapel of Versailles. Marc-Antoine Charpentier has composed 24 Domine salvum fac regem (H.281 to H.305).

Following the conquest of Quebec, the Catholic population began to sing the prayer for the British monarch, and from there it spread to Catholics in England where it was sung at the end of the principal Mass on Sunday until the liturgical reforms of 1969 (a custom still followed in communities that celebrate the Tridentine Mass). During the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, the wording used was Domine, salvam fac reginam nostram Elisabeth.[1]