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How can Louis XIV be introduced to younger readers through something other than dates and battles? In Portrait en musique de Louis XIV, author Marianne Vourch turns to music and dance, two essential elements in the staging of the Sun King’s image.
Co-published by the Palace of Versailles and Éditions Villanelle, this 128-page musical book for readers aged nine and over takes them from the future Louis XIV’s childhood, shaken by the Fronde, to the splendours of Versailles, where ceremonies, festivities, ballets and promenades all played their part in the display of royal power.
The book’s originality lies in its audio dimension: a QR code provides access to an accompanying soundtrack, narrated by Marianne Vourch and interspersed with music. Louis XIV emerges as a dancer as well as a monarch: trained in the art from an early age, he performed on stage himself and turned court ballet into a genuine political tool. Around him, Versailles also became a centre of artistic creation, where Jean-Baptiste Lully, among others, rose to prominence.
A specialist in introducing classical music to young audiences for more than twenty years, Marianne Vourch had already published a Portrait en musique de Marie-Antoinette in 2025 (also available in an English version). This new book, intended for readers aged nine and over, was published on 28 August 2026, priced at €19.90. The experience will continue on 10 October at 3 pm at the Salle Cortot in Paris, with a narrated version presented by the author accompanied by an orchestra.
Available from bookshops and by mail order from the publisher.
Éditions Villanelle website: https://editions-villanelle.com/
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