Composed between May and December 1829 and published in early 1830 as No. 5 of the Neuf Mélodies irlandaises to lyrics by the Irish poet Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852), the Chanson à boire encapsulates the contrast of feelings explored in detail in that ramshackle, rambling sequel to the Symphonie fantastique, the Retour à la vie (later titled Lélio) the following year. To a translation by his friend, Thomas Gounet, of "Come, Send Round the Wine" (from the second collection of Moore's Irish Melodies [1809]), Berlioz sets off the fatalistic Allegro frenetico jollity of the baritone chorus with a tenor self-portrait—in the latest Byronic manner—as a swashbuckler with a past, a man of action oppressed with memories, passions, torments. As, indeed, he was. By the date of publication, Berlioz had, after an extended struggle, wrung from his family the privilege of becoming a musician, seen his ambitious Messe solennelle publicly performed in 1825, composed his first extended masterpiece (the Prix de Rome cantata, Cléopâtre, July 1829) and parts of what would soon take shape as the Symphonie fantastique (1830), and—animating the creative ferment—had fallen violently in love with the Irish actress, Harriet Smithson, who would, after a protracted pursuit, become his wife.

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In the fifth volume of Irish Melodies (Dublin, 1813), the Irish poet, Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852), spins a brief ballad ("You remember Ellen, our hamlet's pride") about a village beauty of low station who marries the stranger, William. When William} insists that they must seek their fortunes elsewhere, Ellen—Hélène—becomes a heartsore wanderer until she discovers that her husband is Lord of Rosna and the possessor of a fine castle. In his translation of the poem, Berlioz's friend, Thomas Gounet (1801 - 1869), makes explicit what the English words merely imply, that is, that the story is widely told. Hence, Berlioz indicates that his ballad, a duet, is for "deux chasseurs," which prompts the introductory evocation of hunting horns before the rustics rehearse the tale yet again in strophic fashion. The happy ending justifies a jaunty setting lending verve and color to the picturesquely legendary. Indeed, from "Hélène"'s sprightly charm one would never guess that Berlioz was in the throes of a cataclysmic passion for the Irish actress Harriet Smithson, soon to be revealed as the femme inspiratrice of the hallucinatory Symphonie fantastique (1830) and who would become his wife on 3 October 1833. Composed with piano accompaniment between May and December 1829, this work was published by Maurice Schlesinger in 1830 as No. 2 of the Neuf Mélodies irlandaises. Berlioz thought sufficiently highly of "Hélène" to arrange it for men's voices and small orchestra in January 1844.

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Competing for the Prix de Rome for the fifth time in 1830, Berlioz was en loge in an attic apartment of the Institut de France when the July Revolution broke out. He completed his competition cantata—La Mort de Sardanaple—as grapeshot peppered the roof and a cannonball slammed the Institute's façade. Handing in his work, he emerged at five on the afternoon of the 29th to find the fighting all but over and the Revolution a fait accompli. In chapter 29 of his Memoirs, he recalls roaming the streets of Paris days later and hearing his own Chant guerrier sung in the courtyard of the Palais Royal by an impromptu group of perhaps a dozen young men. Composed the year before and published in early 1830 as No. 3 of the Neuf mélodies irlandaises to lyrics by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852), the Irish poet's mixture of romance and revolutionary sentiment survived translation by Berlioz's friend, Thomas Gounet, to exactly fit the situation. Given wings by Berlioz, this rousing fight song is rounded with an elegiac refrain memorializing the fallen. Indeed, the Neuf mélodies may, in a small way, have fanned the popular sentiment which so easily carried the trois glorieuses, or "three days of glory," as the Revolution came to be called. As Berlioz joined his fellow citizens, he was careful not to reveal his identity as the composer of the Chant guerrier, though he did exchange words with the group's director about the tempo of the piece. Thus do art and life sometimes curiously mingle.

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