Lemuel McPherson Christian

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(1913–2000) was a Dominican music educator and composer, who wrote the music for "

Isle of Beauty, Isle of Splendour "Isle of Beauty, Isle of Splendour" is the popular title for the national anthem of Dominica. It was adopted upon the island gaining statehood in 1967 and again with Dominica's independence in 1978. The lyrics are by Wilfred Oscar Morgan Pond (19 ...

", the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

of the Commonwealth of Dominica, the words being written by Wilfred Oscar Morgan Pond (1912–1985). Also a music teacher, Christian ran the first music school in the

Eastern Caribbean The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS; French: ''Organisation des États de la Caraïbe orientale'', OECO) is an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to economic harmonisation and integration, protection of human and legal ri ...

Biography

L. M. Christian was born on the island of Saint Kitts, where his father William Matthew Christian (1879–1961) was serving as a police sergeant in the Leeward Islands Police Force, and came to Dominica as a child.Gabriel J. Christian
''Aboard the Commandante Pineres: Dominica, The 11th World Festival of Youth & Students, Cuba July 1978, & the Caribbean Struggle for National Liberation''
Pont Casse Press, 2016. Following in the footsteps of his father, a skilled guitarist who in the 1930s founded a family orchestra, L. M. Christian in 1944 opened the Christian Musical Class and Commercial School, the first music school in the

.Musicians
Cultural Icons of Dominica. He was made a

Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

1966 Queen's Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1966 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those co ...

for services to music education in Dominica. Alongside lyrics by Wilfred Oscar Morgan Pond (1912–1985), Christian's music for "

" was adopted as the national anthem in 1967 when Dominica achieved statehood status within the British Commonwealth and was retained upon the country's independence in 1978. It listed by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' as one of the 10 best national anthems of countries competing at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

. Christian was inducted into the Hall of Fame of St Luke’s Primary School.

Family life

Christian passed on his love of music to his children, all of whom are professional musicians including his daughters Peganini, Palestrina, and Verdi, and his sons Handel and Purcell. In 2013, Purcell received a Golden Drum Award, Dominica's highest cultural award, "for giving praise-worthy service work in music education and performance". L. M. Christian's siblings included Wendell McKenzie Christian (1921–2011, father of Gabriel J. Christian) and Henckell Lockinvar Christian, who was the father of music educator and composer Pearle Christian and served in as Minister of Education and Health in the Dominica government.Judge Irving Andre
"In Memory of Our Distinguished Dominicans"
Dominica Academy of Arts and Sciences, 17 October 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Christian, L. M. 1913 births 2000 deaths Dominica musicians 20th-century composers Members of the Order of the British Empire Immigrants to Dominica