![]() ![]() The music even crossed the Atlantic and almost became the American anthem when it was used for My Country 'Tis of Thee, a staple of presidential inaugurations. Liechtenstein still uses the music, which can be very confusing when the country plays England in soccer matches and both anthems are played. During the First World War, the anthems of Germany and Britain sounded identical. The Prussian king got his own version, which later became the anthem of the German Empire. If the British King had a song, they wanted one, too - and often, it was set to the same tune. That the British monarch now had his own musical introduction did not go unnoticed by other European rulers. ![]() The English satirical novelist and diarist, Fanny Burney, noted during a royal visit to Cheltenham in 1788 that it was impossible for the King (by now, George III) to travel any distance "without encountering a band of the most horrid fiddlers, scraping God Save the King with all their might, out of tune, out of time, and all in the rain." In all probability, it would have passed into history, except that they kept doing it." "It was thought of as an interesting and delightful song, one that could have a place at the end of theatrical performances, but not as something that would be used more broadly. "Nobody thought of it as a national anthem," Monod said. He decided the troubled times needed another inspirational song, so he created a new arrangement of a work published the previous year in the songbook Thesaurus Musicus. He then got his sister, the celebrated singer Susannah Maria Cibber, to lead a surprise performance to end the evening's entertainment at the theatre. ![]() Thomas Arne was the musical director at the Drury Lane Theatre and the composer of the patriotic song Rule, Britannia! One of England's most famous composers wanted to help raise morale. At the end of September 1745, with the Catholic army of Charles about 160 kilometres from the capital, the possibility of regime change loomed over London. The King was the German-born George II, whose father was given the throne to ensure Britain was ruled by a Protestant. "And that seems to have resulted in the first public singing of God Save the King that we know of." "London was in something of a panic," he said in an interview with CBC News. Paul Monod, a Montreal-born historian who teaches 18th-century British history at Middlebury College in Vermont, said the threat of the Jacobite Rebellion was very real. A Scottish army led by Charles Edward Stuart - known as Bonnie Prince Charlie - was marching south, intent on capturing the British crown taken from his grandfather. 28, 1745, at London's Drury Lane Theatre. The earliest known publication of the work was in 1744, according to the Oxford Companion to Music, which notes that the song was the world's first national anthem. No one knows when the song was written or even when the words and lyrics were first put together. The occasion will be celebrated by the singing of God Save the King. And on Saturday in London's Westminster Abbey, it will be at the heart of the ceremony when King Charles III is formally crowned as head of state of the United Kingdom, Canada and 13 other countries. It's one of the most famous songs in the world. (Dan Kitwood/The Associated Press - image credit) Charles will be the 40th reigning monarch to be crowned in the London church. Westminster Abbey has been used as Britain's coronation church since William the Conqueror in 1066, with the exception of two kings. The interior of Westminster Abbey, where King Charles III's coronation will take place on Saturday, is shown earlier this month. ![]()
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