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O Canada! - The National
Anthem of Canada
Calixa Lavallée, a pianist and composer, was asked
in early 1880 to write music for a national song to be performed
at the French-Canadian National Festival. After the music
was written, the festival president Ernest Gagnon asked Sir
Adolphe-Basile Routhier to write appropriate words for this
new composition. It is also a fact that Gagnon suggested the
first line to Routhier "O Canada, terre des nos aieux".
Even before its first public performance, the Quebec press
proclaimed: "at last we have a truly French-Canadian
National Song".
Although originally intended for French-Canadians, it became
popular all over the country and accepted as a national song.
Following the first English performance in Toronto in 1901
there have been several English texts, the most widely used
being the version by Mr. Justice Robert Stanley Weir written
in 1908. The French lyrics remain unaltered from Sir Routhier's
version. In almost all instances, just the first verse is
sung. Even though this song was written in 1880, it was not
until July 1, 1980 that Parliament proclaimed this tune as
Canada's official national anthem.
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 The
National Anthem of Canada (Listen)
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
"God
Save the Queen" - The Royal Anthem of Canada
The words and music to this anthem have been attributed to a Dr.
Henry Carey in 1740. This fact is heavily disputed. However, its
first famous performance was on September 28, 1745 at Drury Lane
Theatre in London when the Young Pretender to the British Throne,
Prince Charles Edward Stuart, had just defeated the army of King
George II at Prestonpans, near Edinburgh. In a fit of patriotic
fervour after news of Prestonpans had reached London, the leader
of the band at the Drury Lane Theatre, arranged God Save The King
for performance after a play. It was a tremendous success and was
repeated nightly thereafter. This practice soon spread to other
theatres, and the custom of greeting the Monarch with the song as
he or she entered a place of public entertainment was thus established.
As the Royal Anthem of Canada, it is performed officially in Canada
in the presence of members of the Royal Family but is not sung when
played as a salute, only when used as the national anthem of the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or as a hymn
or prayer. The Salute accorded to the Governor General and Lieutenant
Governors is a combination of O Canada! and God Save the Queen.
As with O Canada!, in almost all instances - even in the United
Kingdom, just the first verse is sung.
"God
Save the Queen" (Listen)
God save our gracious Queen!
Long live our noble Queen!
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the Queen!
Maple
Leaf Forever
Alexander Muir's 1867 up-the-Empire standard, which was Canada's
unofficial national anthem until the arrival of O Canada, has new
lyrics. The updated, politically sensitive Maple Leaf Forever, with
lyrics by Romanian émigré Vladimir Radian, received
its first full orchestral treatment on June 27, 1997 at a free concert
by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Radian, a mathematician turned songwriter/actor/poet, came to Canada
a decade ago, completely unaware of Maple Leaf Forever and its crowing
lyrics. He discovered the song while listening to CBC Radio's Metro
Morning show in Toronto when it ran a contest to replace the old
lyrics, which were distasteful to some ears and merely comical to
others.
"Maple
Leaf Forever" (Listen)
O, land of blue unending skies,
Mountains strong and sparkling snow,
A scent of freedom in the wind,
O'er the emerald fields below.
To thee we brought our hopes, our dreams,
For thee we stand together,
Our land of peace, where proudly flies,
The Maple Leaf forever.
Chorus:
Long may it wave, and grace our own,
Blue skies and stormy weather,
Within my heart, above my home,
The Maple Leaf forever!
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