Rise, O Voices Of Rhodesia
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"Rise, O Voices of Rhodesia" (or "Voices of Rhodesia") was 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 ...
of
Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...
and
Zimbabwe Rhodesia Zimbabwe Rhodesia (), alternatively known as Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, also informally known as Zimbabwe or Rhodesia, was a short-lived unrecognised sovereign state that existed from 1 June 1979 to 18 April 1980, though it lacked international recog ...
(renamed Zimbabwe in April 1980) between 1974 and 1979. The tune was that of "
Ode to Joy "Ode to Joy" ( ) is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by the German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller. It was published the following year in the Thalia (German magazine), German magazine ''Thalia''. In 1808, a slightly revi ...
", the Fourth Movement from
Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
's Ninth Symphony, which had been adopted as the official European continental anthem by the
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...
in 1972 (it remains the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
's anthem today). The music used in Rhodesia was an original sixteen-bar arrangement by Captain Ken MacDonald, the bandmaster of the Rhodesian African Rifles. A national competition was organised by the government to find an appropriate set of lyrics to match the chosen tune, and won by Mary Bloom of Gwelo. In the fallout from
Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) was a statement adopted by the Cabinet of Rhodesia on 11 November 1965, announcing that Rhodesia (previously Southern Rhodesia), a British crown colony in southern Africa that had respon ...
from the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
on 11 November 1965, the country still claimed loyalty to
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
as its professed
head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "
he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
, and so retained "
God Save the Queen "God Save the King" ("God Save the Queen" when the monarch is female) is '' de facto'' the national anthem of the United Kingdom. It is one of two national anthems of New Zealand and the royal anthem of the Isle of Man, Australia, Canada and ...
" as its national anthem. With Rhodesia's reconstitution in 1970 as a
republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...
, however, the royal anthem was dropped along with many other references to the
monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...
, leaving it without a national anthem until it adopted "Rise, O Voices of Rhodesia" in 1974. The national anthem lost its legal status in December 1979, when the United Kingdom retook interim control of the country pending its internationally recognised
independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...
as
Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
five months later. Rhodesia's use of the well-known Beethoven tune has since caused the playing of "Ode to Joy" to be controversial in modern-day Zimbabwe.


History


Background

A dispute over the terms for the granting of full statehood to the
self-governing colony In the British Empire, a self-governing colony was a colony with responsible government in which the Executive council (Commonwealth countries), Executive Council was appointed from the majority in the elected Legislative assembly, Legislative A ...
of
Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...
led its predominantly white minority government, headed by
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 191920 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to 1979. He w ...
, to unilaterally declare independence from the UK on 11 November 1965. As
Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...
had been insisting on
majority rule In social choice theory, the majority rule (MR) is a social choice rule which says that, when comparing two options (such as bills or candidates), the option preferred by more than half of the voters (a ''majority'') should win. In political ...
as a condition for independence, this declaration went unrecognised and caused the UK and the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
to impose
economic sanctions Economic sanctions or embargoes are Commerce, commercial and Finance, financial penalties applied by states or institutions against states, groups, or individuals. Economic sanctions are a form of Coercion (international relations), coercion tha ...
on Rhodesia.
Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...
continued to be "Queen of Rhodesia" in the eyes of Smith's government, hence "
God Save the Queen "God Save the King" ("God Save the Queen" when the monarch is female) is '' de facto'' the national anthem of the United Kingdom. It is one of two national anthems of New Zealand and the royal anthem of the Isle of Man, Australia, Canada and ...
" remained the Rhodesian national anthem. Though this was intended to demonstrate Rhodesia's enduring loyalty to the Queen, the retention of a song so associated with the UK in the midst of the Anglo-Rhodesian constitutional struggle soon gave Rhodesian state occasions "a faintly ironic tone", in the words of the London '' Times''.


Adoption

The Rhodesian government initiated a search for a new anthem around the time of its adoption of a new green-and-white flag in November 1968, but continued to use "God Save the Queen" until June 1969, when the mostly white electorate voted in favour of a republican form of government. The royal anthem officially remained in place until the formal declaration of a republic in March 1970, when it was abandoned along with numerous other overt references to the Crown. Republican Rhodesia was without an anthem for over four years before the chosen music was announced on 28 August 1974: the Fourth Movement, commonly called "
Ode to Joy "Ode to Joy" ( ) is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by the German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller. It was published the following year in the Thalia (German magazine), German magazine ''Thalia''. In 1808, a slightly revi ...
", from
Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
's Ninth Symphony. The fact that the
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...
had adopted this tune as the "
Anthem of Europe The Anthem of Europe or European Anthem, also known as Ode to Joy, is a piece of instrumental music adapted from the prelude of the final movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony composed in 1823, originally set to words adapted from Friedric ...
" in January 1972 apparently did not perturb the Rhodesian government; John Sutherland and Stephen Fender comment that Rhodesia's choice proved deeply embarrassing for the UK's Labour government, whose leaders now had to respect a melody associated with Rhodesia when attending official European functions. With a tune now in place, the Rhodesian government organised a nationwide competition to write matching lyrics, the winner of which would receive a cash prize of R$500 (equal to about
US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
1,000). The
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...
, though less than pleased with Rhodesia's selection, did not object to it, reasoning that so long as Rhodesia was using "Ode to Joy" in its original form, it could not be subject to reproach as the music was long out of
copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...
and in the
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
. It did announce, however, that should Rhodesia use the same arrangement as the Council of Europe, then the author of that score,
Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan (; born ''Heribert Adolf Ernst Karajan''; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, ...
, would have grounds for a plagiarism lawsuit. Such an incident was averted when Rhodesia adopted an original sixteen-bar arrangement by Captain Ken MacDonald, the Rhodesian African Rifles' bandmaster. The anthem's inaugural instrumental performance in Salisbury provoked mixed reactions: some were enthusiastic—including a
coloured Coloureds () are multiracial people in South Africa, Namibia and, to a smaller extent, Zimbabwe and Zambia. Their ancestry descends from the interracial mixing that occurred between Europeans, Africans and Asians. Interracial mixing in South ...
sergeant musician who proudly told the '' Rhodesia Herald'' that "it's just like 'God Save Our Gracious Queen'"—but many others were disappointed that the government had not commissioned an original tune. Rhys Lewis, music critic for the ''Herald'', wrote that he was "stupefied" by the government's choice, which he said was not only unoriginal, but also so associated with supranational brotherhood that it risked making internationally isolated Rhodesia the subject of ridicule. Phinias Sithole, who headed the African Trade Union Congress (a black Rhodesian trade union federation), commented that he did not believe most of the country's blacks would identify with a song chosen while people of their ethnicity remained largely absent from the government's top levels. The winning lyricist was confirmed on 24 September 1974 to be Mary Bloom, a company director,
music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...
and
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
from Gwelo, who had moved to Rhodesia from
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
in 1947. Bloom titled her work "Voices of Rhodesia", but the full first line, "Rise, O Voices of Rhodesia", ultimately entered common parlance as the song's title. Foreign observers were less than impressed; the British journalist Richard West, remarking that white Rhodesians were "renownedly
philistine Philistines (; Septuagint, LXX: ; ) were ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia. There is compelling evidence to suggest that the Philist ...
", asked "how could one not... squirm with embarrassment when the TV ends at night with the Rhodesian national anthem to the tune of Beethoven's Choral Symphony?"


Lyrics

The lyrics officially adopted were as follows:
Rise, O voices of Rhodesia, God may we Thy bounty share. Give us strength to face all danger, And where challenge is, to dare. Guide us, Lord, to wise decision, Ever of Thy grace aware, Oh, let our hearts beat bravely always For this land within Thy care. Rise, O voices of Rhodesia, Bringing her your proud acclaim, Grandly echoing through the mountains, Rolling o'er the far flung plain. Roaring in the mighty rivers, Joining in one grand refrain, Ascending to the sunlit heavens, Telling of her honoured name.


Fall from use and legacy

"Rise, O Voices of Rhodesia" remained in official usage for the rest of Rhodesia's history, as well as between June and December 1979, when Rhodesia was reconstituted as
Zimbabwe Rhodesia Zimbabwe Rhodesia (), alternatively known as Zimbabwe-Rhodesia, also informally known as Zimbabwe or Rhodesia, was a short-lived unrecognised sovereign state that existed from 1 June 1979 to 18 April 1980, though it lacked international recog ...
, a black-ruled version of the same country, which also failed to achieve legitimacy in the eyes of the United Kingdom and the United Nations. Though the anthem remained in place during these six months, a new flag was adopted and Rhodesia's
national holidays National holiday may refer to: *General strike, a mass work stoppage as part of an industrial dispute *National day, a day when a nation celebrates a very important event in its history, such as its establishment *Public holiday, a holiday establish ...
, largely based around colonial figures and milestones, were replaced by alternatives intended to be more inclusive: President's Day, Unity Day and Ancestors Day. The national anthem remained unchanged on 12 December 1979, when Zimbabwe Rhodesia came under the UK's control for an interim period once again as
Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...
, before internationally recognised independence came in April 1980, with the country now called Zimbabwe. " Ishe Komborera Africa", a Shona translation of
Enoch Sontonga Enoch Mankayi Sontonga ( – 18 April 1905) was a South African composer, who is best known for writing the Xhosa hymn "" (), which, in abbreviated version, has been sung as the first half of the national anthem of South Africa since 1994. Prev ...
's
Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...
hymn "
Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika "" (, ) is a Christian hymn composed in 1897 by Enoch Sontonga, a Xhosa people, Xhosa clergyman at a Methodism, Methodist mission school near Johannesburg. The song became a pan-African liberation song and versions of it were later adopted as ...
" ("God Bless Africa" in English), was made Zimbabwe's first national anthem, and remained in place until 1994, when it was replaced by the present anthem, " Simudzai Mureza wedu WeZimbabwe" ("Blessed be the Land of Zimbabwe"). Because of its use by "Rise, O Voices of Rhodesia", the "Ode to Joy" melody is controversial in Zimbabwe, where its annual playing at foreign embassies on
Europe Day Europe Day is a day celebrating "peace and unity in Europe" celebrated on 5 May by the Council of Europe and on 9 May by the European Union. The first recognition of Europe Day was by the Council of Europe, introduced in 1964. The European Uni ...
initially caused shock to Zimbabwean government officials who, according to historian Josephine Fisher, had not previously been aware of the tune's use by the Council of Europe. During the 1980s, Derek Hudson, the long-time conductor of the Bulawayo Philharmonic Orchestra, had considerable difficulty securing official permission to give the first Zimbabwean performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. He was eventually able to do so, but only after prolonged negotiations with the authorities. When "Ode to Joy" was included in a fundraising organ recital held by a
Harare Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...
church at Christmas 1994, it provoked angry protests from some who attended.


References

;Notes ;Newspaper and journal articles * * * * ;Bibliography * * * * * * * * *


External links


MP3 version

Anthem on Rhodesian Television, 1970sChildren's Choral Version – 1978
{{Authority control
Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...
1974 songs History of Rhodesia
Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...
National symbols of Rhodesia Rhodesian patriotic songs African anthems Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven) Race-related controversies in music Popular songs based on classical music Arrangements of compositions by Ludwig van Beethoven