Vatican City State as a universally recognized sovereign entity under International Law, not only has its own flag but also has its official anthem, which, as ordered by Pius XII on 16 October 1949, is the Pontifical March composed by the renowned French musician and ardent Catholic, Charles Gounod (1818-1893), who was well known for his musical compositions, in particular for the Opera, Faust, and for the most wonderful and sweet Ave Maria.

Previous official anthem

In the past, each Corps of the dissolved Pontifical army had its own musical band that participated in parades and solemn celebrations. They were mostly groups of young people, not always properly enrolled, and usually the children of soldiers under the age of 20, some of whom were chosen at the age of 14 to serve as student trumpeters and student drummers. They had a special badge on their uniforms with a golden replica of the instrument they played. Prints from the 19th century show that the musicians had a silver lyre embroidered on two opposing sides of their collar. The banner donated by Pius VII to the Noble Guard depicts among other things, two intertwined trumpets. The 1856 Regulation for the activities and manoeuvres of the Pontifical Troops, specifically outlined the position of the drums, the trumpets and musical concert.

The Pontifical Gendarmerie also had a well-known musical band directed by Maestro Roland, which was well received at all civil events. By 12 April 1871, when the Gendarmerie was created from the original corps, there were  already 14 trumpeters on horseback and as many drummers on foot. The band was dissolved after the Roman events of 1870, and re-established in 1904 with 28 members.

The Regulation, which had become obsolete, had set forth rules for military honours. When His Holiness passed by, the troops bent their knee, and trumpets and drums played the Pontifical Anthem. For Cardinals and Principi Assistenti al Soglio (Princes Assistant to the throne), the troops presented their arms as the band played the Field March. The Prelati di Fiocchietto and ministers were also presented arms, but no drums or trumpets was played. The troops simply stood to attention. Military music, which later became only ceremonial, thus has a long tradition at the Vatican.

The official anthem of the Vatican has existed since 1857. It was composed by Maestro Viktorin Hallmayr (1831-1872), Director of the Band of the XXXXVII Line Infantry Regiment (Count Kinsky Regiment) of the Austrian unit of the Pontifical State, stationed in Rome. This is the music that played through the streets of the Capital immediately after the Conciliation of 1929. It was performed for the first time on 9 June 1857 at 7:00 p.m., as Pope Pius IX entered Bologna from Porta Maggiore. The Triumphal March of Hallmayr immediately took on the name, Pontifical Anthem, as there had not been an official anthem of the Pontifical State until then.

The notes of the anthem, which had been so well-received, were played again the same day in Piazza San Petronio in front of the Legate’s Palace, where a stage had been set up for the Holy Father. Reports of the time, say the music performed by the 9th and 22nd Regiment of Austrian Hunters, along with the Band of the 1st Pontifical line Regiment, had been a great success. It was chosen as the music that accompanied the Pope’s entire journey, from Ferrara to Ravenna, from Modena to Florence, where it was performed jointly in Piazza della Signoria by eight Bands under the direction of Maestro Matiozzi, and lastly in Rome, on the Sovereign’s return on 5 September 1857. It was adopted by the Band of the Palatine Honour Guard and the Secretariat of State established to use Hallmayr’s anthem as the Pontifical Anthem.

Current Pontifical Anthem

The music of the current Pontifical Anthem was composed by Goundot in filial devotion to the Pope, on the occasion of the anniversary of the Coronation of His Holiness, Pius IX. The Pontifical March was performed for the first time in the afternoon of 11 April 1869 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Pope’s ordination to the priesthood. On that day, a great crowd had assembled in Saint Peter’s Square to listen to the extraordinary concert of seven Pontifical musical bands, belonging to as many papal corps and regiments stationed in Rome (The Pontifical Gendarmerie was directed by Maestro Roland, the Line Regiments by Maestro Baffo, the Hunters by Maestro Pezzina, the Papal Zouaves by Maestro Willimburg, foreign Carabinieri and the Roman Legion by Maestro Angelini, Dragoni Regiment), accompanied by a choir of more than 1,000 soldiers, to honour the Supreme Pontiff after the morning’s solemnities in the Vatican Basilica. Goundot’s Pontifical March was so well received that it was performed several times that afternoon, as reported in L’Osservatore Romano the following day.

Pius IX who had already received messages of congratulations from diplomatic representatives of various countries in the morning, in the presence of some 5,000 faithful inside the Vatican Basilica, responded to the cheers of the crowd that had assembled in the Square, by appearing at the central loggia. When the Pope appeared, the seven bands lined on the steps started to play Hallmayr’s old Triumphal March, the official Pontifical Anthem. They began the concert by performing the anthem, which the previous day’s edition of the Vatican newspaper, had described as  the “new anthem composed specifically for the occasion by Maestro Gounod with a of 1,000 of our soldiers”. To say that the new composition was a great success is to say the very least. L’Osservatore Romano of 12 April 1869 reported that the “music was played several times”.

It was played very often after that day, and was well-known for its grandiosity and its solemn almost liturgical pace. However, it did not become the Pontifical Anthem until 81 years later, although there had been hopes it would have occurred earlier.

Gounod’s Pontifical Anthem, which was officially adopted on the eve of the Holy Year of 1950, is quite different from Hallmayr’s composition, which was composed in the style of the time and had a vivacious and lively rhythm, vivace and brioso , like a waltz. Pius XII decided to substitute the official hymn in use until then, with the never-forgotten Pontifical March of Gounod, with its religious tone that was deemed to be more appropriate for our times. The music was performed for the first time as the new official Pontifical Anthem during an austere ceremony on Saturday 24 December 1949. It was both Christmas eve and the day of the opening of the Holy Year of 1950, when as if to mark the transition, the old anthem was played in San Damaso courtyard by the musical Band of the Palatine Honor Guard (later dissolved by Paul VI along with all the other Vatican armed corps, with the exception of the Pontifical Swiss Guard), after an order was read out communicating the replacement of the anthem.

Nowadays, even though it is no longer performed by the dissolved glorious Palatine Honor Guard, but by members of the current civilian band, Gounod’s Pontifical Anthem is well-known throughout the world and is played on the most solemn occasions of the life of the State, during ceremonies in which the Supreme Pontiff or his representative is present.

The Pontifical Anthem is also played when the Vatican Flag is solemnly hoisted. It is played in its entirety, only in the presence of the Most Blessed Sacrament, of the Holy Father or when officially receiving foreign Heads of State, when it is played alongside the national anthem of their respective countries. The anthem is also played when the Pope makes an Apostolic Journey to another country, or when a Pontifical Legate is officially received in a foreign country. Only the first eight bars are played in the presence of the State’s flag. When honours are performed by the armed corps, the anthem is preceded by three calls to attention.

It is worthwhile to highlight that the Pontifical Anthem cannot be called a national anthem: the words of Maestro Antonio Allegra (1905-1969) and of Maestro Raffaello Lavagna (1905-1969) speak to the hearts of those who, all over the world, consider Rome to be the See of Peter.

The composition and musical characteristics that make Gounod’s Pontifical Anthem so famously evocative, were described by Maestro Antonino De Luca (1910-1977), Director of the Palatine Honor Guard, in Vita Palatina in February 1950 with the following words: “Gounod’s Pontifical March, which reveals the vigorous personality of the composer of Faust, is a composition of majestic pace. The first part, in F Major, starts with a spot-on trumpet blast, which is joined by the full orchestra to indicate and emphasize the atmosphere of serene greatness. The second part instead, is in contrast with the first part: at its core, there is a new profoundly religious feeling that comes from a sense of superiority of spirit. The third part begins with a fortissimo, which indicates an almost imperial detachment from any earthly concern”.

The Sung text of the Pontifical Anthem

Monsignor Antonio Allegra, one of the organists of the Basilica of Saint Peter, composed an Italian text to accompany the anthem, on the occasion of the return to Gounod’s anthem in 1949. It is now usually sung and begins with the words “Immortal Rome, of martyrs and saints”.

Oddly, the Vatican’s official anthem never had Latin words. To be sung by all the world’s faithful, irrespective of national languages, Latin lyrics were later added to Gounod’s Pontifical Anthem. Starting with the words, “O felix Roma - o Roma nobilis”, they were written by Monsignor Raffaello Lavagna from Savoia, who was inspired by Saint Peter’s words in the Bible. It was performed for the first time in private by the Iubilate Deo Choir directed by Sister Dolores Aguirre on 15 June 1991 in the presence of the Holy Father, during his visit to Vatican Radio’s transmission centre of Santa Maria di Galera, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the foundation of Vatican Radio. The first public performance was performed in the Paul VI Hall by the choir and orchestra of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk from Leipzig on 16 October 1993, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the election of John Paul II and the 100th anniversary of the death of Charles Gounod.

Sheet music for fanfare, orchestra, piano and choir

In addition to the usual transcriptions for fanfare, (the arrangements most often performed by musical  bands during pontifical ceremonies are from S.P. van Leeuwen, Reginaldo Caffarelli and Antonio De Luca), Maestro Alberico Vitalini of Vatican Radio wrote reductions of the Pontifical Anthem for orchestra, piano and choir. The music was also recorded by Vitalini and distributed by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana, along with the compositions Tu es Petrus, Christus Vincit and the Sound of the Bells of Saint Peter.