Song of a Nation: The Untold Story of Canada's National Anthem

by Robert Harris

The greatest story never told, this formidable and gorgeously written biography documents the amazing and controversial short life of Calixa Lavallée--the composer of "O Canada"--and the tumult of 19th-century North America.The story of "O Canada" is one of the great unknowns of our collective lives. No longer. This formidable and gorgeously written tale documents the history of this song of a nation, from its origins in French Canada in the years just after Confederation to the surprisingly controversial story of its adoption as Canada's national anthem a hundred years later. Song of a Nation is also the extraordinary and mysterious story of Calixa Lavallée--the anthem's French-Canadian composer--and his compelling, almost unbelievable personal his early life as a blackface minstrel, travelling throughout the United States for more than a decade; his service for the Union Army in the American Civil War; his production of the first opera in Quebec; and, in a final act, becoming a leading figure in American music education. To understand "O Canada," and to understand the man who wrote it, is to return to the Canada of the mid-1800s, just forming as a nation, bringing together ancient racial hatreds and novel political possibilities. More than just a song, in its own story "O Canada" evokes the history of a country creating an identity for itself out of the unique forces and rivalries of French and English Canada, and looking to the infinite possibilities that lay ahead.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Canada, Music

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Robert Harris is a long-time music journalist, writer, teacher, and broadcaster. From 2000-2008, he was the host and producer of I Hear Music, a weekly show presented on CBC Radio 2. He is the author of two books, What to Listen for in Mozart, and What to Listen for in Beethoven. He is the classical music critic for The Globe and Mail.

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uniting by definition, a country’s national anthem can bring a people together under a single tune. Robert Harris takes time not only to explore Canada’s national anthem, but also provides the reader with a comprehensive biographical piece on the song’s creator, Calixa Lavallée. This is a sensational piece for Canadians and non-Canadians alike, to see how time consuming and divisive developing a national anthem (in two languages, which are not mirrors of one another) can be. Harris keeps things succinct and yet is thorough in his presentation. A perfect piece for those with a passion for history and Canadiana.

Born Calixe Paquet dit Lavallée in 1842, he had a penchant for all things musical from an early age. Calixe’s father was a talented musician and fostered that love in his son, who took up the piano while living in rural Quebec. Harris explores the life that awaited Lavallée in the big city of Montreal, when he had exhausted all that he could do at home. It was there that music and the world of the arts came together for Lavallée. Harris explores Lavallée’s discovery of life in a minstrel group—yes, he wore blackface—and the role that sort of entertainment held for both those in the Canadian colonies as well as the perceptions in the United States.

When the Civil War broke out, Lavallée went to join the troops, though his placement was both surprising and yet completely to be expected. Harris explores not only the importance of the Civil War on Lavallée’s future, but also on its impact for the Canadian colonies, who would soon enter a unification oddly called ‘confederation’. This lit a flame inside Lavallée, whose passion for Quebec saw him push back and flee Canada soon thereafter.

When he made a name for himself in Boston, Lavallée continued work in minstrel shows, but also honed his skills of composition. Harris delves into the new and exciting world that Lavallée discovered, though knew that his name and homeland might impede his ability to make an impact. By this time, Canada was looking for a song that might unite its people. Many pieces of writing were being considered and Lavallée was asked to pen a song for the occasion. However, he chose something that might appear somewhat peculiar to Canadians today; he wrote a nationalistic piece—words and music alike—that promoted a strong Quebec within the larger Canada.

Harris examines the nationalistic sentiment in the song, as well as the tune and rhythms, in order to help readers understand how brilliant it ended up being. While Lavallée continued his music work in the United States, he was becoming a beloved entity in his home province of Quebec, so much so that his name is imprinted all over the province to this day. Harris continues the narrative to explore how Canada got its first set of English lyrics to the piece—while I should have known this, growing up singing both English and French versions, they are not translations of one another—and the fight to get ‘just the right’ sentiment flowing through the melody.

From there, Harris ties off the discussion with the long and arduous task of getting Canada to formally acknowledge O Canada as the national anthem through means of parliamentary debate. A masterful biographical piece, Harris takes on not only a piece of Canadian history, but a massive chunk that will forever live in the heart of those who rise and hear the opening bars of the tune. Recommended for those who love stories of patriotism without the need for nationalistic isolation, perfect for anyone who feels a sense of pride in their homeland.

Harris has undertaken a wonderful exploration of a highly sensitive subject with this piece. Hoping not only to explore the life of Calixa Lavallée, Harris weaves together the life of this man who did so much for Canada, while also showing just how little many (English) Canadians likely know about the man. The biography of Lavallée throughout this piece is an essential part to better understanding not only the song—rich in its symbolism—but also the struggles that could be found within the precarious union of two distinct peoples before and after formal confederation of Canada. Harris does not shy away from the clashes or issues between English and French Canada, nor does not seek to smooth it over.

While reading this, I did learn a great deal, but also felt that Harris presents his information in such a way that many outside of Canada could enjoy this piece while learning much about our history. How Lavallée was so connected to the United States was shocking, as well as some of the activities he undertook to make a living, things that would be scandalous and likely scrubbed from history texts today. Harris refuses to leave the politics out of the story, for they are essential to understanding what went on, including some of the more painful memories of how Canada almost tore itself apart.

Harris is blunt in his depiction of the national anthem being highly divisive and how its very words drive wedges between parts of the country. How one song, meant to unite a country in times of pride, can be so divisive and politically scandalous was one thing that I had never considered.

Harris’s exploration of getting the Government of Canada to formally make O Canada our national anthem is quite interesting, pointing out how the Americans and British also struggled with formal national anthem recognition. How a book that is so brief could pack such a punch, I will never know.

I cannot say enough about this book and the impact it had on me, as a Canadian, as well as fuelling my passion for all things political and history-based. As many of my country folk will understand, I think of beer commercials from days of old.... I AM CANADIAN!

Kudos, Mr. Harris, for this masterful piece. You show how Canadians can have pride in their country without the need to offend others—though you surely make a case for how Canada is not as peaceful within its own borders—while telling this masterful story about Calixa Lavallée. I will look to see what else you may have penned to whet my appetite.

Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/

[Andrew Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

The biggest problem with this book is that, with the exception of chapters 8, 9, 11, and 12, this is a biography of Calixa Lavallée, the man who composed the music to Ô Canada. Those four chapters, however, are excellent. They are a mix of political storytelling along with analysis of the song itself. The chapters about Lavallée's life are also fine, but it's not what I signed up for.

The other problem I have with this book is the lengths that the author goes to criticize Anglo-Canadian nationalism while humming and hawing about where Franco-Canadienne nationalism fits into our modern world. Let me give you two examples:
1) When discussing the lyrics of Maple Leaf Forever, the author points to the first line in which "In days of yore, from Britain's shore Wolfe the dauntless hero came and planted firm Britannia's flag." Harris asks, "What other putative national anthem celebrates the military humiliation of one part of the country by another?" and calls the lyrics, "insensitive" and "anglocentric". Anglocentric, no doubt. But let us not forget the opening French lines to Ô Canada: "Ô Canada! Terre de nos aïeux" nor should we forget the final lines. Against whom does Harris presume must Canada Protégera their foyers and their droits? No doubt, the French anthem is equally antagonistic towards their neighbors.
2) According to Harris, the French lyrics were, in a sense, easier to come up with because there was more "history, continuity, glory, faith, common values, and rights" for the French to speak of. But, according to Harris, "In 1908, no such country yet existed for English Canadians." But on the very next page he gives us the lyrics that stuck with English Canadians. And what is the very first line? "O Canada! Our home and native land!" Perhaps Anglo-Canadians also felt connected to their home land in which they had lived for nearly one hundred and fifty years at that point! Again, the French can have their nationalism, their patriotism, but it is unthinkable that we might as well.

Finally, the author likes to put his own little historical quips in throughout the book. Did you know that it was really Battle of Antietam, not Gettysburg, which was the true deciding battle in the American Civil war? Maybe he's right, but it's not really Harris, a music journalist's, place to enter into the debate between historians.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting look at the man who wrote Canada's anthem, and the cultural background that fed its creation. I suppose I was either (a) expecting more, or (b) I didn't find the biography as compelling as I hoped it would be...but not every book one reads hits a home run.

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit speculative, a little too protective of Lavallée's past, but still interesting enough as background knowledge for trivia nights.

[HadiDee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this: a bio of LaValle, the man who composed 'O, Canada's and an analysis of the song. A short, well written book, that gave me lots of relevant and interesting information. Highly recommended for Canadians everywhere!

[Richard Summerbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

My multi-talented partner decided, with Canada`s sesquicentennial under way in 2017, that he didn’t really like any of the widely reproduced musical arrangements of Canada’s national anthem, O Canada. Since he’d been geeking out on music production techniques and related software, he undertook to arrange his own version, one suitable for use in a video by Alexander A. Wilson about the 1917 Battle of Vimy Ridge, 100 years earlier. The result was a fine, magnificently scored video that went panda, rather than viral, on the internet and has 212 precious cubs, that is, views, at the moment. That’s probably about one for every hour of thought about O Canada that went into the music.

When I was at the U. of Toronto bookstore looking for Christmas presents for the young man (the over-60 young man) in 2018, an obvious choice suddenly struck my eye: a book called “Song of a Nation, the Untold Story of Canada’s National Anthem” by Robert Harris. Like all good book gifters, I’ve had to read it myself, and I think it was one of the most fortunate present choices I’ve ever stumbled into.

The story Harris tells about the song itself is interesting, and as a professional classical music critic and analyst, he is well poised to do the composition justice. What I didn’t expect in the book was the number of fascinating, sometimes almost excruciating, historical stories the song’s background would intersect with. Calixa Lavallée, the composer, was born in 1842 in a quiet Québec nook called Labonté – now renamed Calixa Lavallée – but immense talent prevented him from staying in the dappled shadow of its silver maple trees. He was playing public classical piano recitals in the big city, Montréal, by the time he turned 16, but even Montréal was too sleepy a backwater, in the 1850s, to hold the restless, energetic young man.

When he moves out of town, however, suddenly the history is no longer that of an individual musician. He finds a way to make a living in the U.S. in the biggest form of popular music going – minstrel shows. Yes, blackface ministrel shows. Suddenly our story, which now includes the story of the whole U.S.A., plunges into embarrassment. As Harris explains, after properly acknowledging the racism involved, “it was a cultural vehicle by which high and low forms of art were brought together and mediated, where satire was used to deflate the pompous, where pop music emerged as a political and cultural expression of American values, and where an authentic American cultural vernacular began to be created.” Then, suddenly, we find our Canadian hero – who never thought much of English Canada and cleaved to the northeastern U.S. mostly because so many Québec emigrants lived there – enlisting as an army band member in the Union army and going off to fight for the liberation of the slaves! Lavallée was one of 50,000 Canadians, mostly French Canadians, who enlisted for the Union.

The book is just one surprise after another like that. There are many more shocking turnarounds on the way to composing us a national anthem. As the story unfolds, many realities that historians have traditionally been reluctant to tell get exposed.

The book transforms from exotic delight to essential cultural understanding.

And the best part is that, even if you completely lack the slightest shred of patriotism, this book will make you desperate to listen to Lavallée’s national anthem.

It’s a good piece, that anthem. The piece of sheet music went viral slowly, but kept snowballing, and it’s still getting clicks 138 years later.


This book now deserves to get a whole lot of clicks and page-flips from everyone interested in North American history.

[Mike Barat · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first three quarters of this book was excellent. And than book started to drag and was tough get through. There's even one chapter that said nothing, it just explained the music of O'Canada from a technical point of view. If I was musician I may have got something out of that chapter, since I'm not a musician it was just torture. That was chapter nine I think it was. The writer Robert Harris just did not know how to end this book. I realize that's a strange thing to say about a book that's only roughly 200 pages, yet that's the case. After the main charter died ( Calixa Lavallee ) there were still three more chapters to get through that had a few interesting stories ( very few interesting stories. ) however it was mostly babbling that was tedious. Nonetheless this book is still worth reading. O'Canada I now see in a very different light, now that I know something about the person who wrote the music for O'Canada. Calixa Lavallee first job as a musician was doing minstrel shows in the United States, ( Or at least his first job on a long term basis. ) not because he was racist but because he was trying make a living. He also volunteered for the American civil War on the side of the north. Without giving anything away there's several connection in Calixa Lavallee life between Canada the United States. I recommend this book with a warning. Just be prepared for this book to be tough to finish, nonetheless it's an interesting part of Canadian history that's worth going through it.

[Sunita Mehta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book! What a pleasant surprise to find such a well written story that brings history alive. After 26 years in Canada, things suddenly began to fall into place as I listened to the beautiflly produced audiobook. Brilliant.
Should be made compulsory reading in high schools.
Should be offered / suggested to new immigrants.
Now I understand the context of the 1995 Quebec referendum. Was new in Canada in 1995 and was alarmed and puzzled at all the news and commentary at the time. Remained baffled all these years as to why Quebec would want to separate. Have a better understanding now as pieces of random information I've gathered over the years fell into place
We did not get our national anthem till 1980! I did not know that. Was surprised and reminded again of how young Canada is as a country.
I spent this afternoon singing O Canada in French, following Robert Harris's guidance on how it was intended to be sung. AMAZING. It does make a difference. I could hardly sing it, because I kept wanting to cry.
Highly, highly recomend this book.

[Kaitlyn R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edit: spelling oTL

I always like books read by the author. This is mostly a biography of the composer of Oh Canada, perhaps necessarily, but there was a lot of neat intrigue and surprising truths in here! Very cool to see the historic context leading up to and reaching past the conception of the song and the changing attitudes around it.
Especially interesting to see the the change in the "in all thy sons command" line was proposed from the very start and not purely a modern liberal conceit.
Over all a nice piece of Canadian history, especially french Canadian history, and a surprising amount of american history too. Enjoyable!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best $1.80 I ever spent (marked down multiple times at Chapters). I don’t understand how this book isn’t more popular - it is absolutely fascinating. Lavallee is an interesting character is his own right and the author does justice to his moral struggles and musical brilliance. But then the reader also gets simultaneous histories of minstrelsy, the American Civil War, the spirit of French Canada, and of course our national anthem. All packed into 300 pages?!!!

[Adam Keung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened. Great way to undersand Canada as well as Amercia. It was boring at certain moments only because of my ignorance in music but excited at others because of my ignorance in Canadian history. Also had felt unsatisfied because the whole book has not make me get closer or know better to the hero. Until at the last 15 min, the author has explained that he was a lonely man. Very touching !

[Roxann · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the book actually gets to the story of the anthem it's decent, but the first half of the book is inexplicably focused on a shallow analysis (defense??) of minstrel shows and something about the American civil war. Anyway did you know Gilbert and Sullivan wrote a Canadian anthem? But it was so bad it flopped??

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

A neat little pocket history of our national anthem and its composer. Famous in his time, but largely unknown today. And because of that unique topic, I genuinely learned quite a bit new.

But the author, as a music historian, does enjoy quite a bit of dal segno al fine.

[David Cavaco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful biography of Calixa Lavalee, the creator of Canada's national anthem. The origins of Lavalee's music and the two lyrical versions of 'O Canada' are explored as seen from the eyes of French and English Canada. Enjoyable read!

[Meharvan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Provides an excellent history of the national anthem. Really spectacular

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

The information and history is interesting, but the writing is just okay. Nothing really wrong with it, but I wasn't engaged enough to finish.

[Agata Konopka · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a fascinating story of an unknown man who's song united Canada into a nation.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting! Had no idea!

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m willing to admit the Canada thing has gone too far, now

[shimmerr]

Not sure how to rate this, but I learned a lot about 'O Canada''s ironies and also the history of the minstrel show

made me want to read more and dig in further

[Amanda Borys · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a word - boring. The author says the same things about 5 times each chapter. And it is obvious that there isn't a lot of information specifically about Calixa Lavallee, but instead of explaining what conditions were like at the time or what was happening during certain events (Lavallee joined a U.S. regiment during the American Civil War), he tries to push Calixa into the situation. There is also too much of the author assuming he knew what Calixa was thinking or why he did something. It would have been better if he had just told what Calixa was doing and left it up to the reader to decide why.

Because this book is about the writer of the Canadian national anthem, I gave it an second star. But it is not a good resource and, if there is no other secondary sources available, I would recommend that those who are truly interested try to find the primary ones online.