God Save the Queen

Encyclopedia : G : GO : GOD : God Save the Queen

This article is on the British national anthem. For the Sex Pistols song, see God Save the Queen (Sex Pistols song).

God Save the King/Queen is a patriotic song whose origin remains a matter of speculation. The practice of using it at state events in Great Britain is also one of the first examples of a nation adopting a song as a national anthem.

Today, it is used as the national anthem of the United Kingdom, one of the two national anthems of New Zealand, and the royal anthem of Canada, Australia, and the other Commonwealth Realms, as well as the royal anthem of the British Royal Family. When the British monarch is male it is God Save the King. God Save the King (or ... Queen) is also the royal anthem (but not the national anthem) of Norway – sung there in Norwegian.

There is no single authorised version of the song; indeed, the anthem has never been officially adopted by Royal Proclamation nor Act of Parliament. In general only one, or on rare occasions two, verses are ever sung [link].

Contents

1 History
2 Use in the Commonwealth
3 Use elsewhere
4 Other UK anthems
5 Performance

5.1 Queen cover

6 Lyrics

6.1 First verse in French, as sung in Canada
6.2 Bilingual verse in Canada—often sung on Remembrance Day
6.3 Additional verse sung in Canada
6.4 Official peace version

7 Footnote
8 A naval version
9 See also
10 External links
11 Sources

History

The origin of the tune is surrounded by uncertainty, speculation and a certain amount of misinformation. In the Oxford Companion to Music, Percy Scholes devotes about four pages to this subject. He points out the similarities to an early plainsong melody, although he points out that the rhythm is very distinctly that of a galliard and gives examples of several such dance tunes that bear a striking resemblance to God Save the King. He quotes a keyboard piece by Dr. John Bull (1619) which has some strong similarities to the modern tune, depending on the placing of accidentals that at that time were unwritten in certain cases and left to the discretion of the player; see Musica ficta. He also points to several pieces by Henry Purcell, one of which includes the opening notes of the modern tune, set to the words God save the King.

The first definitive published version of the present tune appeared in 1744 in Thesaurus Musicus as a setting of the familiar first verse. Undoubtedly, the song was popularized in the following year (with the landing of Charles Edward Stuart). It was certainly sung in London theatres in 1745 with, for example, Thomas Arne writing a setting of the tune for the Drury Lane Theatre.

Scholes' analysis includes mention of "untenable" and "doubtful" claims, as well as "an American misattribution". Some of these are:

A tale, widely believed in France, that the tune ("Grand Dieu Sauve le Roi"), was written by Lully for Louis XIV to celebrate a royal fistula healing, then pirated by Handel. Scholes points out gross errors of date which render these claims untenable, and they have been ascribed to a 19th-century forgery, the Souvenirs of the Marquise de Créquy.
James Oswald. He is a possible author of the Thesaurus Musicus so may certainly have played a part in this story, but is not a strong enough candidate to be cited as the composer of the tune.
Dr. Henry Carey. Scholes refutes this attribution, firstly, on the grounds that Carey himself never made such a claim. Secondly, when the claim was made by Carey's son (as late as in 1795), it was accompanied by a request for a pension from the British Government on that score. Thirdly, the younger Carey claimed that his father had written parts of it in 1745, even though the older Carey had died in 1743! It has also been claimed that the work was first publicly performed by Carey during a dinner in 1740 in honour of Admiral Edward Vernon, who had captured the Spanish harbour of Porto Bello (then in Colombia, now Panama) during the War of Jenkins' Ear.

Scholes recommends the attribution "traditional" or "traditional; earliest known version by John Bull (1562-1628)." The English Hymnal (musical editor Ralph Vaughan Williams) gives no attribution, stating merely "17th or 18th cent."

Traditionally, the first performance was thought to have been in 1745, when it was sung in support of George II after the defeat of his army at the Battle of Prestonpans by the Jacobite claimant to the English and Scottish thrones, Charles Edward Stuart, whose forces were mostly Scottish. To express this support verse 6 was added, but as its call to crush the rebels now suggests an anti-Scottish sentiment it is rarely (if ever) sung nowadays. Because of this, the anthem may cause great offence when sung in some parts of Scotland.

Johann Christian Bach composed a set of variations on God Save The King for the finale to his sixth keyboard concerto (Op. 1) written c. 1763.

Joseph Haydn was impressed by the use of God Save the King as a national anthem during his visit to London in 1794, and on his return to Austria wrote a tune to the national anthem, the God Save Emperor Franz (Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser), for the birthday of the Emperor Franz of Austria. The tune of God Save the King was later adopted for the Prussian national anthem Heil Dir im Siegerkranz.

Ludwig van Beethoven composed a set of seven piano variations in the key of C major to the theme of God Save the King, catalogued as WoO.78 (1802-1803).

Use in the Commonwealth

It was formerly used as a national anthem by most of the Commonwealth Realms, including Australia, Canada, and Jamaica. It was soon replaced by Advance Australia Fair, O Canada, and Jamaica, Land We Love respectively, though it remains those countries' royal anthem and is played during formal ceremonies involving the Royalty or viceroyalty (Governors-General, Governors, and Lieutenant-Governors—see Vice Regal Salute); in Canada, God Save the Queen is sometimes sung together with O Canada at public events. It continues to be recognised as the national anthem of New Zealand, together with God Defend New Zealand, although it is almost never performed as such.

Use elsewhere

God Save the King was the very first song to be used as a national anthem, although the Netherlands' national anthem, the Wilhelmus, is older. Its success prompted a number of imitations, notably in France and, later, Germany who commissioned their own songs to help construct a concrete national identity. The first German national anthem was a copy of 'God save the King' with the words changed to 'Heil dir im Siegerkranz' and sung to the same tune as the British version. The tune was either used or officially adopted as the national anthem for several other countries, including those of Russia (until 1833), Sweden and Switzerland.

It is also the melody to the United States patriotic song America (better known by its first line, "My Country, 'Tis of Thee"), and was played during the Presidential Inauguration parade of President George W. Bush on 20 January, 2001. In Iceland it is called Eldgamla Ísafold. The tune is also used as Norway's Royal anthem entitled Kongesangen. The rock band Queen plays God Save the Queen at the end of all of their concerts. This is common practice for all concerts and like events in Britain, but no-one plays it quite the way Queen does.

The tune is still used as the national anthem of Liechtenstein, "Oben am jungen Rhein". When England met Liechtenstein in a Euro 2004 qualifier, the same tune had to be played twice.

The melody of God Save the King has been and continues to be used as a hymn tune by Christian churches in various countries. The United Methodists of the southern United States, Mexico, and Latin America, among other denominations (usually Protestant), play the same melody as a hymn. The Christian hymn ["Glory to God on High"] is frequently sung to the same tune, as well as an alternate tune that fits both lyrics.

Other UK anthems

Frequently, when an anthem is needed for one of the component countries of the UK — at an international sporting event, for instance — an alternate song is used:

Wales has its own recognised anthem in Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau;
Scotland uses either Flower of Scotland or Scotland the Brave, or traditionally Scots Wha Hae; see also National Anthem of Scotland.
England generally uses God Save the Queen, but has used Jerusalem or Land of Hope and Glory.
Northern Ireland generally uses God Save the Queen at events associated with the British tradition, and the Irish national anthem Amhrán na bhFiann at events associated with the Irish tradition. Additionally, Londonderry Air is a popular cross-community anthem.
At international football matches, England and Northern Ireland both use God Save the Queen, while Scotland uses Flower of Scotland, and Wales uses Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau. There has been some debate about replacing God Save the Queen with Jerusalem for England matches.
At international rugby league matches, England have used Land of Hope and Glory but in their 2005 internationals, changed to God Save The Queen. Scotland uses Flower of Scotland and Wales uses Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau. At Great Britain matches, God Save the Queen is played, which recently led to Irish-born Brian Carney bowing his head and not singing along.
In international rugby union, England uses God Save the Queen, Scotland Flower of Scotland and Wales Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau. Ireland (a team representing both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) sing Ireland's Call, a song which attempts to unite the two traditions on the island.
Recently the British and Irish Lions rugby union tour used the song The Power of Four but this anthem was especially designed for the tour and will likely not be used again, perhaps because most of the players did not know the anthem. There is actually no collective anthem for Britain and Ireland since the Republic of Ireland has been independent from the United Kingdom since 1922.
The Song of the Western Men (otherwise known as Trelawny) has popularly been considered to be the Cornish anthem and is sung at Cornish rugby matches and events such as Saint Piran's day and other Cornish gatherings. However some Cornish nationalists argue that Bro Goth Agan Tasow which is in Cornish rather than English should be adopted. This is the anthem used by the Gorsedh Kernow for the last 75 plus years ("The Land of My Fathers", but literally, "Old Country of my Fathers") and has a similar tune to the Welsh National anthem (Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau) and the Breton anthem. Bro Goth Agan Tasow is not heard so often as it is sung in Cornish). Those who prefer an anthem in English also sometimes use 'Hail to the Homeland'.

Performance

The style of performance most commonly heard in official performances was that proposed as the "proper interpretation" by King George V, who considered himself something of an expert, in view of the number of times he had heard it played. An Army Order was duly issued, in 1933, which laid down regulations for tempo, dynamics and orchestration. This included instructions such as that the opening "six bars will be played quietly by the reed band with horns and basses in a single phrase. Cornets and side-drum are to be added at the little scale-passage leading into the second half of the tune, and the full brass enters for the last eight bars". The official tempo for the opening section is a metronome setting of 60, with the second part played in a broader manner, at a metronome setting of 52².

This slow and sombre pace can sound dreary to those having more modern tastes than George V, and more recent performances sometimes use a faster and livelier tempo to reduce the dreary effect. Comedian Billy Connolly performed a sketch broadcast on TV comparing the UK's slow tune to the lively ones of many other nations and suggested that it should be replaced by the theme tune to The Archers.

At the end of theatre performances the audience was expected to stand to attention while the anthem was played. In cinemas this brought a tendency for audiences to rush out while the credits played at the end of the film to avoid this formality.

The anthem was traditionally played at closedown on the BBC and with the introduction of commercial television to the UK this practice was adopted by some ITV regions. BBC Two never played the anthem at closedown, and ITV dropped the practice in the late 1980s, but it continued on BBC One until 8 November 1997, and is still done on BBC Radio 4.

The Broadway musical West Side Story (1957) also features the Jets (a street gang of Polish-Americans) whistling the first six bars of My Country 'Tis of Thee, which has the same tune as God Save the Queen.

In 1970, the rock band Gentle Giant put a version of God save the Queen on their album Gentle Giant.

Eight bars of God save the Queen were performed by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Queen cover

Queen - A Night at the Opera
"Bohemian Rhapsody" (Track 11)	"God Save the Queen" (Track 12)	(end of album)

The rock band Queen recorded an instrumental version of God Save the Queen on their 1975 album A Night at the Opera. It was arranged by guitarist Brian May and features his distinctive layers of overdubbed electric guitars. A tape of this version would be played at the end of almost every concert, with Freddie Mercury walking around the stage wearing a crown and a cloak on their Magic Tour in 1986.

On 3 June 2002, during the Queen's Golden Jubilee, Brian May performed the anthem on his Red Special electric guitar for Party at the Palace, performing from the roof of Buckingham Palace.

Lyrics

In the United Kingdom, the First verse is the only verse typically sung, even at official occasions, although the third is sung in addition on rare occasions.

Since God Save the Queen is the Royal Anthem of Canada, the first verse has been translated into French for use in that country, as shown below. As sung in English in Canada, God Save the Queen has an additional English verse, sung after the first or second verse, which is also given below. In general use in Canada, however, only the first verse is sung. In New Zealand, the second verse, which proved to be more militaristic, was replaced with the fourth verse, otherwise known as a Commonwealth verse. However, that verse is primarily used only when the anthem is played past the first verse.

1: 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.

2: O Lord, our God, arise,; Scatter her enemies,; And make them fall.; Confound their politics,; Frustrate their knavish tricks,; On Thee our hopes we fix,; God save us all.

3: Thy choicest gifts in store,; On her be pleased to pour;; Long may she reign:; May she defend our laws,; And ever give us cause; To sing with heart and voice; God save the Queen ¹.

Although in the original lyrics, verses 4–6 are now omitted entirely—partly to reduce the length of the anthem and partly due to the "rebellious Scots to crush" line in verse six:

4: Not in this land alone,; But be God's mercies known,; From shore to shore!; Lord make the nations see,; That men should brothers be,; And form one family,; The wide world o'er.

5: From every latent foe,; From the assassins blow,; God save the Queen!; O'er her thine arm extend,; For Britain's sake defend,; Our mother, prince, and friend,; God save the Queen!

6: Lord grant that Marshal Wade; May by thy mighty aid; Victory bring.; May he sedition hush,; And like a torrent rush,; Rebellious Scots to crush.; God save the Queen!

Verse 6 was a reaction to Sir John Cope's defeat by the Jacobites at the Battle of Prestonpans with a prayer for the success of Wade's army then assembling at Newcastle.

The Jacobite forces bypassed his force and reached Derby, but then retreated and when their garrison at Carlisle surrendered to a second government army led by King George's son the Duke of Cumberland another verse was added, according to Fitzroy Maclean ¹: The verse he quotes appears to have a line missing.

7: George is magnanimous,; Subjects unanimous;; : Peace to us bring:; His fame is glorious,; Reign meritorious,; : God save the King!

In the 19th century, there was some lively debate about the national anthem. Even then, verse two was considered to be slightly offensive. Notably, the question arose over the phrase "scatter her (or his) enemies". Some thought it placed better emphasis on the respective power of Parliament and the Crown to change "her" to "our"; others pointed out that the theology was somewhat dubious and substituted "thine" instead. In 1836, William Edward Hickson wrote four alternative verses:

1: God bless our native land!; May heaven's protecting hand; Still guard our shore:; May peace her power extend,; Foe be transformed to friend,; And Britain's rights depend; On war no more.

2: O Lord, our monarch bless; With strength and righteousness:; Long may she reign:; Her heart inspire and move; With wisdom from above;; And in a nation's love; Her throne maintain

3: May just and righteous laws; Uphold the public cause,; And bless our isle:; Home of the brave and free,; Thou land of liberty,; We pray that still on thee; Kind heaven may smile.

4: Nor on this land alone,; But be God's mercies known; From shore to shore:; Lord make the nations see; That men should brothers be,; And form one family; The wide world o'er

The first, third, and fourth of these verses are appended to the National Anthem in the English Hymnal. However, only the fourth seems to get even the rarest airing nowadays, often with the first word erroneously changed to "not". Charles T. Brooks, in 1833, translated a German Lutheran hymn also starting with the words God bless our native land. This hymn inspired Rev. Samuel F. Smith to write the words to the American patriotic song My Country, 'Tis of Thee (also known as America), sung to the same tune, in 1832.

1: God bless our native land!; Firm may she ever stand; Thro' storm and night!; When the wild tempests rave,; Ruler of wind and wave; Do Thou our country save; By Thy great might.

2: For her our prayer shall rise; To God above the skies;; On Him we wait.; Thou who art ever nigh,; Guarding with watchful eye,; To Thee aloud we cry,; God save the State!

To this hymn is often added the fourth of Hickson's verses.

First verse in French, as sung in Canada

Dieu protège la reine

De sa main souveraine!

Vive la reine!

Qu'un règne glorieux,

Long et victorieux

Rende son peuple heureux.

Vive la reine!

Bilingual verse in Canada—often sung on Remembrance Day

Dieu sauve notre reine,

Notre glorieuse reine,

Vive la reine!

Send her victorious,

Happy and glorious,

Long to reign over us,

God Save the Queen!!

Additional verse sung in Canada

Our loved Dominion bless

With peace and happiness

From shore to shore;

And let our Empire be

Loyal, united, free

True to herself and Thee

God save the Queen¹.

Official peace version

Although known as the "official peace version, 1919", these less militaristic verses are not the official national anthem. They are found in some hymn books.

1: 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!

2: One realm of races four; Blest more and ever more; God save our land!; Home of the brave and free; Set in the silver sea; True nurse of chivalry; God save our land!

3: Of many a race and birth; From utmost ends of earth; God save us all!; Bid strife and hatred cease; Bid hope and joy increase; Spread universal peace; God save us all!

Footnote

When the monarch of the time is male, the word Queen is replaced with King i.e.'with heart and voice to sing, God Save the King' Also, she; her, etc. are replaced with he and him.

A naval version ^{God save Great George our King,
Long live our Noble King,
God Save the King!
Fulfil his heart's desire,
And all our youth inspire,
With pure celestial fire,
Thy praise to sing!

When insults rise to wars,
Oak-hearted British Tars
Scorn to be slaves;
Ranged in our wooden walls,
Ready when duty calls
To send our cannon balls
O'er oceans' waves.

See also
My Country, 'Tis of Thee, patriotic in the United States, sung to the same music.
Oben am jungen Rhein, national anthem of Liechtenstein, sung to the same music.
Heil dir im Siegerkranz, national anthem of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, sung to the same music.
Molitva russkikh, considered to be the first Russian anthem, sung to the same music
Rule Britannia
God Save the Queen (Sex Pistols song)
UK topics
External links

[God Save the Queen - British National Anthem sung by choir]
[British National Anthem (Choir)]
[God Save The Queen (MIDI)]
[Official Royal webpage on the anthem]
[Department of Canadian Heritage] - Royal anthem page
[God Save Great George our King] - article discussing different versions of the lyrics
[Dieu sauve le Roi ! (Loulou la fistule...)], by Gilles Marchal
Sources
Note 1: Maclean, Fitzroy, Bonnie Prince Charlie, Canongate Books Ltd. 1989 ISBN 0-86241-568-3
Note 2: Percy A Scholes: Oxford Companion to Music, Tenth Edition, OUP
The English Hymnal with Tunes, OUP, 1906

National anthems of Europe

National anthems: Albania | Andorra | Armenia | Azerbaijan | Austria | Belarus | Belgium | Bosnia and Herzegovina | Bulgaria | Croatia | Cyprus | Czech Republic | Denmark | Estonia | Finland | France | Georgia | Germany | Greece | Hungary | Iceland | Republic of Ireland | Italy | Kazakhstan | Latvia | Liechtenstein | Lithuania | Luxembourg | Macedonia | Malta | Moldova | Monaco | Montenegro | Netherlands | Norway | Poland | Portugal | Romania | Russia | San Marino | Serbia | Slovakia | Slovenia | Spain | Sweden | Switzerland | Turkey | Ukraine | United Kingdom | Vatican City

Anthems of regions and micro-states: Åland (Finland) | Basque Country (Spain) | Catalonia (Spain) | England (U.K.) | Faroe Islands (Denmark) | Gibraltar (U.K.) | Greenland (Denmark) | Guernsey | Northern Ireland (U.K.) | Isle of Man | Jersey | Nagorno-Karabakh (Azerbaijan) | Republika Srpska (Bosna and Herzegovina) | Scotland (U.K.) | Sealand | Svalbard (Norway) | Tatarstan (Russia) | Transnistria (Moldova) | Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (Cyprus) | Wales (U.K.)

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