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.
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 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.