God Defend New Zealand

Original manuscript of words for "God Defend New Zealand" by Thomas Bracken[1]

First page of Woods' original manuscript setting Bracken's poem to music[2]

Heritage New Zealand blue plaque at the site of the first performance in Dunedin

"God Defend New Zealand" was written as a poem in the 1870s by Irish-born, Victorian-raised immigrant Thomas Bracken of Dunedin.[3] A competition to compose music for the poem was held in 1876 by The Saturday Advertiser and judged by three prominent Melbourne musicians, with a prize of ten guineas.[4] The winner of the competition was the Vandemonian-born John Joseph Woods of Lawrence, Otago, who composed the melody in a single sitting the evening after finding out about the competition.[5] The song was first performed at the Queen's Theatre, Princes Street in Dunedin, on Christmas Day, 1876.[4] In February 1878, sheet music was published.[6]

A Māori version of the song was produced in 1878 by Thomas Henry Smith of Auckland, a judge in the Native Land Court, on request of Premier George Edward Grey.[4] A copy of the Māori lyrics, using Aotearoa for its title, was printed in Otago newspapers in October 1878.[6] In Smith's original text the word "whakarangona" was used to translate 'hear', rather than the modern "whakarongona".[7]

In 1897, Premier Richard Seddon presented a copy of words and music to Queen Victoria.[4] The song became increasingly popular during the early 20th century, and in 1940 the New Zealand government bought the copyright and made it New Zealand's 'national hymn' in time for that year's centennial celebrations.[6] It was used at the British Empire Games from 1950 onward, and first used at the Olympics during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.[note 1] Following the performance at the Munich games, a campaign began to have the song adopted as the national anthem.[9]

"God Save the Queen" was New Zealand's sole national anthem until the 1970s.[9] In May 1973 a remit to change the New Zealand flag, declare a New Zealand republic and change the national anthem was voted down by the Labour Party at their national conference.[10] In 1976 Garth Henry Latta from Dunedin presented a petition to Parliament asking "God Defend New Zealand" to be made the national anthem. With the permission of Queen Elizabeth II, it was gazetted as the country's second national anthem on 21 November 1977, on equal standing with "God Save the Queen".[11]

An alternative official arrangement for massed singing by Maxwell Fernie was announced by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Allan Highet on 31 May 1979.[12] Woods' original score was written in the key of A-flat major (concert pitch) and was better suited for solo and choral singing; Fernie's arrangement changed the key down a semitone to G major.

Until the 1990s, only the first verse of the English version was commonly sung. A public debate emerged after only the first Māori verse was sung at the 1999 Rugby World Cup match against England, and it then became conventional to sing both the Māori and English first verses one after the other.[13]

In 1987 Alan Slater produced a new arrangement of the song, having been commissioned to do so by the Department of Internal Affairs, which was used for World Expo 88. It was titled The New Zealand Expo Song and consisted of the first verse in Māori sung by Annie Crummer, the second verse in English sung by Peter Morgan, the fourth verse in Māori sung by Dalvanius Prime and the Patea Māori Club, the fifth verse in English sung by Crummer and Morgan, and finally the first verse in English sung by everybody. The singers were backed by the NZ Youth Jazz Orchestra. The third verse was omitted.[14] This version was played, accompanied by a video montage of New Zealand scenes, animals, plants etc, as TVNZ's transmission opening from the second quarter of 1988 right through to the early 1990s.[15]

The Ministry for Culture and Heritage has responsibility for the national anthems.[16] The guidelines in the 1977 Gazette notice for choosing which anthem should be used on any occasion advise that "God Save the Queen" would be appropriate at any occasion where the Queen, a member of the royal family, or the Governor-General, when within New Zealand, is officially present or when loyalty to the Crown is to be stressed; while "God Defend New Zealand" would be appropriate whenever the national identity of New Zealand is to be stressed, even in association with a toast to Elizabeth II as Queen of New Zealand.[11][16]

Copyright on the English lyrics for "God Defend New Zealand" expired from the end of the year that was 50 years after the death of the author (Bracken),[17] that is, from 1 January 1949. The rights to the musical score passed into the public domain in the 1980s.[6]

The anthem has five verses, each in English and Māori. The Māori version is not a direct translation of the English version.

The underlying structure of the piece is a prayer or invocation to God, with the refrain "God defend New Zealand" (in English).

Meaning of "Pacific's triple star"

There is some discussion, with no official explanation, of the meaning of "Pacific's triple star". Unofficial explanations range from New Zealand's three biggest islands (North, South, and Stewart Island),[4] to the three stars on the flag of Te Kooti (a Māori political and religious leader of the 19th century).[18][19]

Note on "whakarangona"

The original 1878 Māori version uses "whakarangona" (to be heard), the passive form of the verb "whakarongo" (to hear). An alternate passive form of the verb, "whakarongona", first appeared as one of several errors in the Māori version when "God Defend New Zealand" was published as the national hymn in 1940. The latter form of the verb has appeared in many versions of the anthem since this time, although the Ministry of Culture and Heritage continues to use "whakarangona".[7]

Both the lyrics and melody of "God Defend New Zealand" have been criticised in some quarters as being dull and irrelevant.[6] Many of the words and concepts have been perceived as antiquated or obscure: for example, "thy", "thee", "ramparts", "assail", and "nations' van".[6] It was perceived as being difficult to sing at the original pitch.[12] However, no widely acceptable replacement has been found, and it has not faced major opposition.[6]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: God Defend New Zealand

Wikimedia Commons has media related to God Defend New Zealand.

• The story of "God Defend New Zealand" by Tui Kowhai c.1939
• "National Anthem in English and Maori". SOUNZ: Centre for New Zealand Music. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
• National anthems, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage
• "God Defend New Zealand" – Audio of the national anthem of New Zealand, with information and lyrics
• Page about the national anthem includes a recording by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
• Arrangement of "God Defend New Zealand" formerly played on New Zealand television at the beginning and close of each day's programming on YouTube
• National Anthem performed in sign language, 3 News, 5 May 2011