O Canada

"O Canada"

Sheet music from 1906, using now-obsolete lyrics.
National anthem of Canada
Also known as	French: Ô Canada
Lyrics	Adolphe-Basile Routhier (French, 1880), Robert Stanley Weir (English, 1908)
Music	Calixa Lavallée, 1880
Adopted	July 1, 1980
Audio sample
"O Canada" (instrumental) file help

"O Canada" (French: Ô Canada) is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée composed the music, after which, words were written by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The original lyrics were in French; an English translation was published in 1906.^[1] Multiple English versions ensued, with Robert Stanley Weir's version in 1908 gaining the most popularity, eventually serving as the basis for the official lyrics enacted by Parliament.^[1] Weir's lyrics have been revised three times, most recently when An Act to amend the National Anthem Act (gender) was enacted in 2018.^[2] The French lyrics remain unaltered. "O Canada" had served as a de facto national anthem since 1939, officially becoming the country's national anthem in 1980 when Canada's National Anthem Act received royal assent and became effective on July 1 as part of that year's Dominion Day (today's Canada Day) celebrations.^[1][3]

Melody

"O Canada" is a 28-bar song originally written in the key of F major for four voices and piano, as a march in 4/4 time to be played "maestoso è risoluto" ("majestic and resolved"). The original manuscript has been lost.^[4]

The opening theme of "O Canada" has been noted to bear a strong resemblance to the "March of the Priests" from the opera The Magic Flute, composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.^[5]

Lyrics

The National Anthem Act established set lyrics for "O Canada" in Canada's two official languages, English and French. However, the two sets of lyrics are not translations of each other.

The lyrics are as follows:^[1][6][7]

	English (1937) (2:56) Edward Johnson singing Weir's original lyrics French (1918) (2:53) First and Fourth verses sung by the Quatuor Octave Pelletier Instrumental (1927) (3:20) "O Canada" and the Royal Anthem, "God Save the King", performed by Percival Price using carillon bell at the Peace Tower in Ottawa Instrumental (1916) (2:58) An instrumental version of "O Canada" from 1916
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