The British National Anthem in its present form dates back to the eighteenth century. The words and tune are anonymous, and may date back to the seventeenth century.
'God Save The King' was a patriotic song first publicly performed in London in 1745, which came to be known as the National Anthem at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
In September 1745 the 'Young Pretender' to the British Throne, Prince Charles Edward Stuart, 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 Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, arranged 'God Save The King' for performance after a play. It was a tremendous success and was repeated nightly.
This practice soon spread to other theatres, and the custom of greeting monarchs with the song as he or she entered a place of public entertainment was thus established.
There is no authorised version of the National Anthem as the words are a matter of tradition. Additional verses have been added down the years, but these are rarely used.
The words used today are those sung in 1745, substituting 'Queen' for 'King' where appropriate. On official occasions, only the first verse is usually sung.
- At the Commonwealth Games, Team England has used "Jerusalem" as the victory anthem since 2010. The Commonwealth Games Council for England conducted a poll of members of the public which decided the anthem for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The three options were "God Save the Queen", "Jerusalem" and "Land of Hope and Glory". "Jerusalem" was the clear winner with 52% of the vote; "Land of Hope and Glory" received 32% and "God Save the Queen" 12%.
English Anthem for Brass Quintet
English Anthem for Brass Quintet
There is no agreed national anthem of England but it is usually defaulted in the absence of agreement to be "God Save the King." In 2016 some MPs felt that England should have its own distinct anthem with the result that there have been discussions on the subject in the UK Parliament.
There are a number of songs which may fulfil this role. Several candidate songs have been discussed, including "There'll Always Be an England", "Jerusalem", "Rose of England", "I Vow to Thee, My Country" and "Land of Hope and Glory". Alternatives to "God Save the King" have been used for England teams at sporting events.
An arrangement for Brass Quintet of the Guerney Local Anthem. The percussion is optional. Why are most Island anthems an enchanting waltz!
In 1942, during World War II, the British government set up a small base in the North Sea just outside British territorial waters (at the time). After the war, the fort was abandoned, but, in 1967, Roy Bates, a pirate radio broadcaster, claimed it as the Principality of Sealand. The British government’s stated view is that Sealand is within British jurisdiction. Sealand generally is classified as a micronation (a nation project set up by an individual or group, and has no international recognition.)
As pertaining to the anthem, it was composed by London composer Basil Simonenko in conjunction with the governing Bates family, and has no words. The title of the anthem is also the motto of Sealand.
Principality of Sealand: The Principality of Sealand (/ˈsiːˌlænd/) is a micronation that claims HM Fort Roughs (also known as Roughs Tower), an offshore platform in the North Sea approximately 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) off the coast of Suffolk, as its territory. Roughs Tower is a Maunsell Sea Fort that was built by the British during World War II. Since 1967, the decommissioned Roughs Tower has been occupied and claimed as a sovereign state by the family and associates of Paddy Roy Bates. Bates seized Roughs Tower from a group of pirate radio broadcasters in 1967 with the intention of setting up his own station there. Sealand was invaded by mercenaries in 1978, but was able to repel the attack.YouTube Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPicttbeI_c
In 1942, during World War II, the British government set up a small base in the North Sea just outside British territorial waters (at the time). After the war, the fort was abandoned, but, in 1967, Roy Bates, a pirate radio broadcaster, claimed it as the Principality of Sealand. The British government’s stated view is that Sealand is within British jurisdiction. Sealand generally is classified as a micronation (a nation project set up by an individual or group, and has no international recognition.)
As pertaining to the anthem, it was composed by London composer Basil Simonenko in conjunction with the governing Bates family, and has no words. The title of the anthem is also the motto of Sealand.
Principality of Sealand: The Principality of Sealand (/ˈsiːˌlænd/) is a micronation that claims HM Fort Roughs (also known as Roughs Tower), an offshore platform in the North Sea approximately 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) off the coast of Suffolk, as its territory. Roughs Tower is a Maunsell Sea Fort that was built by the British during World War II. Since 1967, the decommissioned Roughs Tower has been occupied and claimed as a sovereign state by the family and associates of Paddy Roy Bates. Bates seized Roughs Tower from a group of pirate radio broadcasters in 1967 with the intention of setting up his own station there. Sealand was invaded by mercenaries in 1978, but was able to repel the attack. YouTube Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPicttbeI_c
There is a beautiful Statue made in bronze of Evan James & James James in Pontypridd Park, in memory of the two composers of Land of Our Fathers.
"Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" is the unofficial national anthem of Wales. The title, taken from the first words of the song, means "The Old Land of My Fathers" in Welsh, usually rendered in English as simply "Land of My Fathers". The words were written by Evan James and the tune composed by his son, James James, both residents of Pontypridd, Glamorgan, in January 1856.[better source needed] The earliest written copy survives and is part of the collections of the National Library of Wales.
"Glan Rhondda" ("Banks of the Rhondda"), as it was known when it was composed, was first performed in the vestry of the original Capel Tabor, Maesteg (which later became a working men's club), in either January or February 1856, by Elizabeth John from Pontypridd, and it soon became popular in the locality.
James James, the composer, was a harpist who played his instrument in the public house which he ran, for the purpose of dancing. The song was originally intended to be performed in 6/8 time but had to be slowed down to its present tempo, when it began to be sung by large crowds.
The "National Anthem of the Isle of Man" (Manx: Arrane Ashoonagh Vannin, [əraːnʲ əʒuːnəx vanənʲ]) was written and composed by William Henry Gill (1839–1923), with the Manx translation by John J. Kneen (1873–1939).
First performed at the Manx Music Festival on 21 March 1907, there are eight verses in total in the modern anthem, but only the first verse is usually sung. The anthem was given official status by the Isle of Man's legislature, Tynwald, on 22 January 2003, with "God Save the King" being designated as the royal anthem. The National Anthem is used on official and ceremonial occasions and in schools; the Royal Anthem is normally reserved for use additionally on those occasions when the Sovereign, members of the Royal Family, or the Lieutenant Governor are present.
There is no official anthem which represents only Northern Ireland.
Two pieces of music are used to represent Northern Ireland in a sporting context:
- "Londonderry Air" is played as the anthem of Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games. "Danny Boy" is a popular set of lyrics to the tune.
- "God Save the King", the national and royal anthem of the United Kingdom, is played as the anthem of Northern Ireland at association football.
"Ireland's Call" is used by the Ireland rugby union team, Ireland rugby league team, Ireland cricket team and Ireland field hockey teams. All of these teams represent the entire island of Ireland.
"Amhrán na bhFiann" ("The Soldier's Song"), the national anthem of the Republic of Ireland, is used by some organisations operating on the island of Ireland, such as the Gaelic Athletic Association.
There is no official anthem which represents only Northern Ireland.
Two pieces of music are used to represent Northern Ireland in a sporting context:
- "Londonderry Air" is played as the anthem of Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games. "Danny Boy" is a popular set of lyrics to the tune.
- "God Save the King", the national and royal anthem of the United Kingdom, is played as the anthem of Northern Ireland at association football.
"Ireland's Call" is used by the Ireland rugby union team, Ireland rugby league team, Ireland cricket team and Ireland field hockey teams. All of these teams represent the entire island of Ireland.
"Amhrán na bhFiann" ("The Soldier's Song"), the national anthem of the Republic of Ireland, is used by some organisations operating on the island of Ireland, such as the Gaelic Athletic Association.
"Island Home" is a musical composition that the Bailiwick of Jersey, a Crown Dependency, lists as its anthem. It was written and composed by musician Gerard Le Feuvre. The song was written in 2002 and adopted in 2008 after a contest to find an official anthem for Jersey. However, more than a decade after the contest, the anthem has not received official government ratification.
Traditionally, Jersey used the British national anthem, "God Save the Queen" (or "God Save the King"), as a symbol of loyalty to the Crown. When times came for a unique individual song to be used as Jersey's anthem because many other states also used "God Save the Queen", Jersey had two unofficial options. The first was "Ma Normandie", which was designed as a reference to Jersey's historical heritage as a part of the Duchy of Normandy and was first used at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games and used as the anthem for future Commonwealth Games. The other was "Beautiful Jersey", which was written and performed after the liberation of the Channel Islands from Nazi occupation and had been performed annually at Liberation Day celebrations.
The decision to select "Island Home" was controversial, as although the public voted against it, their votes were collated as one vote, with the panel members individually getting one vote each, thus the public were outvoted. The decision was intended to be ratified by the States of Jersey, however the proposal was never sent to the legislature, leading to Senators requesting in 2010 that the contest be rerun and demanding that it not be officially described as the Jersey anthem. In rugby, the Jersey Touch Rugby Association refused to use it, instead preferring to retain "Ma Normandie". In 2015, the Jersey Island Games team dropped it in favour of "Beautiful Jersey", after athletes called it "dreary and uninspiring".
There is currently no agreed national anthem of Scotland. In sporting events and significant national situations, songs are used as de facto Scottish national anthems, most notably "Flower of Scotland" and "Scotland the Brave". The Scottish Government has not formally adopted an official national anthem of Scotland, and said in 2015 that it had "no current plans in this regard" to formally adopt a national anthem of Scotland.
Scottish Anthem for Strings
Scottish Anthem for Strings
"Scotland the Brave" was previously used by Team Scotland at the Commonwealth Games until 2010 when it was replaced with "Flower of Scotland". "Scotland the Brave" was used at previous Commonwealth Games between 1958 and 2006. Prior to 1958, "Scots Wha Hae" was used. The decision to use "Flower of Scotland" rather than "Scotland the Brave" was chosen in January 2010 by athletes that had been selected to participate in the 2010 in India. The shortlist of anthems also included "Scotland the Brave", "Loch Lomond" and "Highland Cathedral".
At most international sporting events, Scotland uses "Flower of Scotland" as its national anthem. These events include matches of the Scottish national football team, Scottish cricket team and the Scottish rugby union team.[10] The song has also been used as the victory anthem of Scotland at the Commonwealth Games since 2010, replacing "Scotland the Brave"