Anthems

Anthems in Context

The term anthem appeared under antiphon in the earlier Catholic Church settings but saw a rise in prominence during the period of the Reformation in England. John Bull, Thomas Tallis, and William Byrd all wrote anthems during this period but for the service of the Church of England. It also acquired other connotations, such as a choral work of religious content, and later as a composition based on an English religious context (which signaled a departure from religious text that might be translated into English). John Blow and Henry Purcell went on to write more elaborate musical compositions that marked a departure from the earlier versions, which privileged the significance of the text. George Frideric Handel wrote a coronation anthem for King George II and Queen Caroline, “My Heart Is Inditing.” Samuel Wesley wrote more extended versions of the anthem that comprised more than one movement. Perhaps the more outstanding anthems in the 20th century were by Edward Elgar and Benjamin Britten. Ralph Vaughan Williams's “O Taste and See” was used for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II of England when she assumed the throne.

Anthems as Political Entities

The religious contexts in anthems soon acquired national and, by consequence, political ramifications. The term anthem took on a later meaning—nationalist—or patriotic—into the present. “God Save the Queen,” an anthem that dates back to 1745 (even as other details suggest earlier provenance), has become in the present widely accepted as the United Kingdom's (UK) national anthem. The juxtaposition of this anthem also draws into question who this anthem speaks to in the UK, not to mention its identity and function across all of its colonies around the world. Moreover, “God Save the Queen” and “America” (“My Country ’Tis of Thee”) are seen to be built out of the very same melodic line, if not even its harmonies.

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