God Defend New Zealand Piano, Vocal - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1344114

God Defend New Zealand - Arrangement for Voice, Piano and Guitar by Michael Thomas Coull

God Defend New Zealand was first performed in Dunedin's Queen's Theatre on Christmas Day, 1876. Played by the Royal Artillery Band and sung by the Lydia Howard Burlesque and Opera Burle Troupe, the patriotic song found immediate favour with the Dunedin public.

The words, a poem written by Thomas Bracken in the 1870s, was first published in a competition run by The Saturday Advertiser and New Zealand Literary Miscellany. The competition was to compose a 'National Air' based on five verses of Bracken's poem, and appeared in the Advertiser on 1 July, 1876 listing a grand prize of 10 guineas. On 9 September the Advertiser reported that 12 completed entries had been received. Several weeks later on the 21 October the winning entry by John Joseph Woods, a school teacher from Lawrence, was announced.

The popularity of God Defend New Zealand grew throughout the 19th century and entered the 20th century as one of the most popular songs. In 1935-39 with the help of John McDermott, chief engineer of the NZ Post Office, and others God Defend New Zealand was made New Zealand's national song in time for the 1940 Centennial celebrations.

In 1976, almost 100 years after the first public performance, a petition calling for God Defend New Zealand to become the national anthem of New Zealand, organised in Dunedin by Gareth Henry Latta and others, was presented to the Petitions Committee of Parliament with 7750 signatures. With the permission of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Government adopted God Defend New Zealand as the countries national anthem.

Traditionally God Defend New Zealand is performed in G major, but this can often be rather high for amateur voices. So the anthem is presented here with both G major and F major versions. Also included in this arrangement is a full lyric page of all five verses, both in English and Maori.