Thanks to James for commenting on the National Anthem of Australia in my post on Matthew Mitcham.
I am in the process of learning the New Zealand National Anthem "God Defend New Zealand" in preparation for my move. I have sung it at Anzac day ceremonies here and at Gallipoli and attended a Remembrance day service at the cathedral in Dunedin on my last visit so it is not new to me but I have now learnt the English words and am working on the Maori which is always sung first (and is not easy).
Here sung by The New Zealand National Youth Choir with great pictures
Then I had to search to find something similar for Australia's anthem "Advance Australia Fair". Here is Julie Anthony who I think sings it best with some more pictures.
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5 comments:
That was really interesting Brian. I am fascinated that the NZ song is sung in Maori first, that is great!
I had to learn the Aussie Anthem when the Leeds Phil performed at the start of an international rugby match. I like it.
Oh, I like the NZ one best. And of course it would be sung in Maori first as they are the first peoples of the land! Were they treated as bably as we treated our Native Americans here?
I think that is a matter for debate, Susan. A treaty was signed with the Maori Chiefs in 1840 which gave them some land rights but of course not enough to make up for the white invasion and some trickery was involved on the part of the whites. Similar rights were not granted to the Australian Aborigines until 1992 in a law court decision known as the Mabo case. However we could write pages and pages on the injustices to all native peoples.
I think the Maori were treated better than the North American natives. I think it was partially because Maori spoke nearly the same language, had nearly the same culture and could provide more of a unified front against White invaders (which isn't to say that Maori didn't fight each other, they did.)
I had to learn both the NZ and Oz anthems when I lived there. I like them both.
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