NATIONAL ANTHEM.

Putaruru Press, Volume VII, Issue 299, 1 August 1929, Page 7

NATIONAL ANTHEM.

. J HISTORY AND RENDERING. (By A.E.F. in Melbourne Argus.) Professor Bernard Heinze’s timely demand that the National Anthem be treated with proper respect, both by performers and by listeners, will have aroused in many minds inquiry con- * ceming the origin and age of this ! symbolic song or hymn. The story of I the National Anthem is remarkably complicated and interesting. Many theories have been put forward, innumerable articles have been written, and the late Dr W. H. Cummings even wrote a book dealing with the topic. It is a question whether finality has yet been reached, but there is reason i for thinking that the tune has been gradually evolved from an “ Ayre,” ■ written by .a composer with the in- | credibly appropriate name of John ! Bull. Bull began his musical career j as one of the “ children of the chapel royal ” in the reign of Queen Eliza- I beth. He became organist of Here- [ ford Cathedral, graduated Mus. Bac. at Oxford, “having practised in that faculty fourteen years,” returned to the Chapel Royal as organist in 1591, and in 1617 was appointed organist of Antwerp Cathedral. His “ Ayre,” although it is in the minor mode, undoubtedly bears a strong resemblance to our National Anthem. The rather j unusual metre (6, 6,4, 6,6, 6,4) is the same, and the melody, especially in the second half, is almost identical.

The next stage in the history of the tune centres in 1740. In that year a dinner was given to celebrate the taking of Portobello by Admiral Vernon. At the feast our National Anthem was first sung in public by a well-known composer of the day, Henry Carey. Carey, sad to relate, brought forward ■ the song as his own composition, both words and music, whereas he cannot honestly claim to have written either. It is true that he may have “ edited ” the music; and, as for the words, he may perhaps claim the credit of having joined together a number of .patriotic phrases in a manner which was by no means unusual at that period As early as 154 the phrases, “God save the King ” and “ Long to reign over ous,” were used in the navy as watchword and oounter'dgn. The song did not immediately come into prominence. But five years later, when the Young Pretender marched into England with his Highland troops, a wave of patriotic feeling swept over the country, and on the crest of this wave the National Anthem came home —-and came to say. The English people were not particularly devoted to George 11., but they had the sense to prefer him to Prince Charles Edward. The sentimentalism of the nineteenth century may make heroes of the Stu- j arts, and the ecclestiasticism of the j twentieth may do the same conjuring trick: the common sense.of the eighteenth knew better.

In a very short time the melody of “ God Save the King ” had become | the National Anthem not only of EngI land, but also of Denmark and of Rus-

sia. Later the tune established itself also in the United States, where it is sung to the verses beginning “ My country, ’tis of thee.” One sometimes hears English-speaking people, especially people who have musical pretensions, referring scornfully to the National Anthem as “ a very poor tune.” Beethoven had a very different opinion. “ I must show the English,” said he, “ what a blessing they have in “ God Save the King.’ ” He incorporated the melody in his “ Battle Symphony,” and he wrote a set of variations upon it. Possibly the scornful speakers have unconsciously allowed their judgment to be warped by the perfunctory or clumsy renderings frequently heard from both orchestras and pianists. Orchestras very often turn the playing of the National Anthem into a sort of go-as-you-please race, each performer, other than the people who have the melody, improvising his own harmony. An intelligently planned score, together with a set of band parts, would put an end to the confused sounds which result from this procedure. Then what shall b e said of the treatment “ God Save the King ” receives at the hands of visiting instrumentalists ? How many a “worldfamous ” pianist has given himself away, as far as musicianship is concerned, within three minutes of his arrival on the platform, by his clumsy harmonisation of this symbol of loy- j alty! A celebrity who visited Mel- I bourne a few years ago escaped the ] charge of clumsiness, but stumbled in another direction, for at a certain point he introduced a chord which •onld only be called the musical equivalent of raising one’s eyebrows. The element of surprise thus emphasised could hardly be accepted as appropriate. That fine musician and ’cellist, Jean Gerardy, pointed the right way in three respects, and his example might well be followed by others. He adopted a moderate tempo, and so obtained the right ba'ance of dignity and vitality, those twin virtues so necessary in any ceremonial musicmaking. He chose a rather low key.

the key of F, if one's memory is dependable. His playing of the Anthem was full of that sense of atmosphere which the true artist, "rallying the good in the depth of himself,” imparts to everything he performs, whether it be small or great.