New Zealand's National Anthems


The New Zealand National Anthem 'God Defend New Zealand' is both in English and Maori. I prefer the Maori. I love the way 'Aotearoa' sounds when sung. The following is from the New Zealand Ministry of Culture and Heritage. I was in New Zealand this September for the first time. And like Australia, I loved it very much.

'National songs, ballads and hymns have a tendency to elevate the character of a people and keep alive the fire of patriotism in their breasts'. The Saturday Advertiser and New Zealand Literary Miscellany, 1 July 1876

New Zealand holds a unique position in the world in that it has two national anthems of equal standing - 'God Defend New Zealand' and 'God Save The Queen'. Both of these anthems have origins which have been inspired by the fire of patriotism yet were written under markedly different situations.

God Defend New Zealand

English
God of Nations at Thy feet
In the bonds of love we meet
Hear our voices we entreat
God defend our free land
Guard Pacific's triple star
From the shafts of strife and war
Make her praises heard afar
God Defend New Zealand

Maori
E Ihowa Atua
O nga iwi matoura
Ata whakarongona
Me aroha noa
Kia hua ko te pai
Kia tau to atawhai
Manaakitia mai
Aotearoa

God Save the Queen
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.

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.

I teach 'God Save the Queen' to all of my students. It is the world's oldest national anthem. It has a long and rich history. This is from the British Monarchy Website.

'God Save The King' was a patriotic song first publicly performed in London in 1745, which came to be referred to as the National Anthem from the beginning of the nineteenth century. The words and tune are anonymous, and may date back to the seventeenth 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 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.

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 are those sung in 1745, substituting 'Queen' for 'King' where appropriate.

The British tune has been used in other countries - as European visitors to Britain in the eighteenth century noticed the advantage of a country possessing such a recognised musical symbol - including Germany, Russia, Switzerland and America (where use of the tune continued after independence). Some 140 composers, including Beethoven, Haydn and Brahms, have used the tune in their compositions.