The Blue Marble, the Earth seen from Apollo 17

An Earth anthem is a celebratory song or a musical composition that eulogizes, extols or exalts the planet Earth.

History

Songs composed for the United Nations

Voices for Today

Voices for Today is a song composed by Benjamin Britten in 1965 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the United Nations. The lyrics are based on Virgil’s fourth Eclogue.[1][2][3]

Hymn to the United Nations

On the request of then United Nations Secretary-General U Thant, a Hymn to the United Nations was performed on the occasion of its 26th anniversary, on October 24, 1971, by Pablo Casals, the lyrics to which were penned by the poet W. H. Auden.[4][5] Thant first approached Casals, who was a personal friend, looking to create a hymn to peace and hoping for the song to be based on the preamble of the Charter of the United Nations. Thant later commissioned Auden to write the poem after Casals requested one to set to music. Auden completed his work in three days time. The finished work, scored for chorus and orchestra, takes approximately seven minutes to play. However, there were never any plans to adopt the song as the organization's official anthem.[6][7]

Songs about Earth

There are a number of songs or a musical composition that eulogizes, extols or exalts the planet Earth. One is "World Anthem" by the Mindshare Institute and Foundation.[8] Other songs on the same theme include "Earth Anthem" by The Turtles (later covered by Dan Fogelberg[9]), "Mother Earth (Natural Anthem)" by Neil Young, "Earth Song" by Michael Jackson,[10] "Earth Hour Anthem" by Andrew Huang and "Earth Anthem" by Abhay Kumar.[11][12] The "Earth Day Anthem" lyrics by William Wallace (and sometimes the original lyrics by Barbara George) are widely sung to the tune of "Ode to Joy" by Ludwig van Beethoven to celebrate Earth Day.[13][14][15] Another song about earth is "Earth" by Lil Dicky.

Call for an official Earth anthem

The call for an official Earth Anthem was made by the Permanent Delegation of India in Paris to UNESCO in January 2014.[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Voices for Today (Benjamin Britten) Digital Sheet Music | Faber Music".
  2. ↑ "VOICES FOR TODAY Op.75, Anthem for Chorus (Men, Women & Children). Writeen for the 20th Anniversary of the United Nations 24 October 1965. By Britten, Benjamin: (1965) First Edition. Sheet Music | Edinburgh Books".
  3. ↑ "Listening to Britten – Voices for Today, Op.75". 20 December 2013.
  4. ↑ "United Nations". nationalanthems.info. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  5. ↑ "Voices : An anthem for the Earth". The-kathmandu-post. Archived from the original on 30 June 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "Does the UN have a hymn or national anthem?". October 2000.
  7. ↑ Raymont, Henry (1971-08-26). "Auden and Casals Writing 'Hymn' to Peace for U.N. (Published 1971)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  8. ↑ "A Soothing Anthem For Everybody". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  9. ↑ "Dan Fogelberg - Earth Anthem Lyrics - SongMeanings". SongMeanings. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  10. ↑ "STAR Magazine: Hottest Celeb website :: Breaking News :: Michael Jackson's Earth Song is top BRITs performance". Archived from the original on 2016-03-21. Retrieved 2014-12-20.
  11. ↑ "Nepal-Africa film festival opens with 'Earth Anthem'". Business Standard India. Business-standard.com. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  12. ↑ "The Himalayan Times : Inspiring Earth Anthem - Detail News : Nepal News Portal". Thehimalayantimes. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  13. ↑ Evans, Sophie (April 22, 2016). "What is Earth Day 2016? Everything you need to know about the environmental event". Mirror. Archived from the original on 2016-09-03.
  14. ↑ "Earth Day 2016: What it's all about and why it's extremely important". First Post. Apr 22, 2016.
  15. ↑ Saldana, Janel (Apr 22, 2016). "Earth Day 2016: Why Do We Celebrate Being Green? Find Out How The Holiday Originated". Latin Times.
  16. ↑ "UNESCO finds Indian poet-diplomat's idea of an Earth Anthem inspiring". Business Standard. February 27, 2014.
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