Oh Canada!: Canada's National Anthem

Music by Lavalée, Lyrics by Routhier, Later English Lyrics by Weir

Sep 9, 2008

Oh Canada! was composed in 1880 in haste as a national song for an event, the lyrics written in French only. The poetic English lyrics were written twenty years later.

Needing a national song for the annual celebrations, the St. Jean-Baptiste Society considered their options. “A patriotic rallying song” was the idea, said The Canadian Encyclopedia, but there wasn’t enough time to hold a contest. It was already early in the month of June 1880, and the festival was but a few weeks away.

A young Canadian composer, Calixa Lavalée, was commissioned by Theodore Robitaille, then Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, to write the music. Another talented man, Adolphe-Basile Routhier, was given the honour of writing the lyrics for the song. The task was completed in time for the banquet on June 24th in Quebec City. The piece was performed by a brass band in front of guests Governor General John Sutherland Campbell, Marquis of Lorne and his wife, Princess Louise. The song was titled Chant National, soon to be renamed Oh Canada. Written in French, the anthem was performed regularly at events in the province of Quebec over the next twenty years.

French to English

In 1901, a version of Oh Canada was sung in English in Toronto, Ontario for the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall – the man who became King George V of England. Several different versions of the song were produced until Robert Stanley Weir, a lawyer in Montreal, wrote a poem in 1908. With a little adjustment by Weir in a few years later, his poem became the words to the national anthem we are familiar with today. During World War 1, Oh Canada became the favourite patriotic song in Canada, even more than the Maple Leaf Forever.

The Government of Canada on March 15, 1967 decided to “adopt forthwith the music for ‘Oh Canada’ composed by Calixa Lavallée as the music of the National Anthem of Canada with the following notation added to the sheet music: With dignity, not too slowly,” according to Canadian Heritage. Small tweaks to the English words were made in 1968, and have remained the same since. Twenty three years later, on July 1, 1980, Oh Canada was proclaimed the National Anthem of Canada, having been part of a bill passed in the government and given Royal assent.

The Anthem Creators

Calixa Lavalée was born on December 28, 1842 in the French town of Verchères of Lower Canada. As a youngster, Lavalée’s parents encouraged his musical desires (his father made stringed instruments along with being a blacksmith), and he learned to play the piano, organ, violin and others, said Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. At age 19, Lavalée signed up as a musician with the American Army in 1861. Over the years, he traveled the world, becoming a composer of great music performed by large choirs and orchestras. One of his most famous compositions was Le Papillon: Etude de concert pour le Piano, written in 1884. Lavalée died in Boston, Massachusetts on January 21, 1891 at the early age of 48. His remains were buried there, then brought back to Montreal in 1933 to the Côte-des-Neiges Cemetery.

One of a large family of twelve children, Adolphe-Basile Routhier was born in St-Placide in Lower Canada on May 8, 1839. He studied law at Laval University, passing the Bar in 1861. In his legal career, he reached the status of Chief Justice of the Superior Court in Quebec in 1904. Also a prolific writer with varied interests, he wrote literary pieces on law, art, travel and religion… and poetry, one of which became the French lyrics of Oh Canada. Knighted in 1911, Routhier was given membership in The Most Honourable Order of Bath. Sir Routhier died in Saint Irenee-les-Bains, Quebec on June 27, 1920 at the grand age of 81.

The composer of the English lyrics for Oh Canada, Robert Stanley Weir was also a man of power. Born on November 15, 1856 in Hamilton, Canada West to Scottish immigrant parents, Weir’s family moved to Montreal when he was a baby. An intelligent young man, he studied law, reaching the Bar in 1881, his focus was on municipal law. Weir advanced from lawyer to municipal court judge to the post of Judge for the Exchequer of Canada. His lyrics for Oh Canada were officially published for the 1927 Diamond Jubilee of Canada. On August 20, 1926, 71-year-old Judge Robert Stanley Weir died in Quebec.

O Canada!

The copyright of the article Oh Canada!: Canada's National Anthem in Canadian History is owned by Susanna McLeod. Permission to republish Oh Canada!: Canada's National Anthem in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Jan 27, 2009 12:13 PM

Guest :

Under what conditions were the words written?

Jan 29, 2009 4:34 PM

Susanna McLeod :

Hello Guest. Judge Adolphe-Basile Routhier wrote the words as a poem, with Calixa Lavalee composing the music, as a "patriotic rallying song" in time for "Congres National des Canadiens-Francais" held in the summer of 1880. Originally, a song contest was to be organized, but there wasn't enough time left before the event.

Thanks for the question and for visiting Canadian History on Suite101.