Eighth Note Publications

Composer: Calixa Lavallee
Arranger: Kenneth Bray
Format: Score and Parts
Instrumentation: Brass Quintet
Level: Easy

O Canada was not officially declared the national anthem until 1980 but had been the most popular national song since it had been written 100 years earlier. The need for a national song had been felt for some time and many people had attempted to compose such a piece.

Calixa Lavallee, a pianist and composer, was asked in early 1880 to write music for national song to be performed at the French-Canadian National Festival. After the music was written, the festival president Ernest Gagnon asked Judge AB Routhier to write appropriate words for this new composition. It is also a fact that Gagnon suggested the first line to Routhier "O Canada, terre des nos aieux". Even before its first public performance, the Quebec press proclaimed: "at last we have a truly French Canadian National Song".

Although originally intended for French Canadians, it became popular all over the country and was accepted as a national song. Following the first English performance in Toronto in 1901 there have been several English texts, the most widely used being the version by Stanley Weir written in 1908.
Duration: 1:35