‘The words stink and the music is just pathetic’: The Making of a Popular National Anthem in New Zealand

Abstract

New Zealand's national anthem God Defend New Zealand is the subject of two studies that approach, in different ways, its history and popularity. Originating in the nineteenth century, the anthem has a hymn-like idiom and the grandiose concepts which are shared by many of the world's national anthems of the era. God Defend New Zealand has an intriguing history: although it was intended as a national anthem it was a full century from its composition to its official acceptance in 1977 when it became an additional national anthem in New Zealand alongside God Save the Queen. And although it may seem that, in a century of waiting, the song would have lost its relevance and appeal, the reverse seems true, as is shown in its steadily growing popularity, especially as it is reflected in its mid-twentieth century use (at New Zealand's centennial) and in its present currency. Neither of the books under review has much to say on the relation of God Defend New Zealand to the development of an independent nationalism in New Zealand, and whether the song has reflected or encouraged nationalistic movements within New Zealand society; which raises the question, ‘What kind of musicology is best suited to the study of this song?’ My answer, outlined below, is that performance style recreates the song in each generation and that a musicological approach that concentrated on this, and on reception history, could access the popularity of the anthem and the links that it has to its society.