150 years ago today - Mar 6, 1862

[General] Brigham Young and several of his wives attend the performance of a choir and band perform a dedicatory piece. The text of the new anthem (written by one of Young's wives) was titled "God Bless Brigham Young." The orchestra conductor, Charles John Thomas, composed the music in the style of a patriotic air and had dubbed it "The Saints' National Anthem." Like "The Star-Spangled Banner," which preceded it on the program, it drew wild applause (though Thomas observed that the fiercely patriotic Saints would have applauded the anthems "no matter how they had been played, or by whom")

[Source: Advent Adam website (defunct) - based on http://amzn.to/originsofpower]

1 comment:

  1. O God bless Brigham Young;
    Bless him and all that bless him:
    Waste them away, O God, we pray,
    Who, rising to oppose him,
    Contend with thee.
    O God, bless Brigham Young;
    Preserve his health and vigor:
    We pray Thee, give him pow'r to live
    Until the resurrection
    Gives back our dead.

    Bless thou thy chosen ones,
    Who prompt this mighty people
    To God-like worth -- restoring earth --
    By faith and works, prolonging
    The life of man.
    Bless all thy servants, Lord,
    Who wield the holy Priesthood;
    Till through its light -- its grace and might,
    To thy eternal kingdom,
    All nations bow.

    Long live the wise and just,
    To guide the hosts of Israel;
    Till Ephraim reigns o'er his domains,
    And Judah's royal sceptre
    Shall be restor'd.
    Long, long live Brigham Young,
    To battle with tradition--
    To break in twain each yoke and chain,
    And give the world its freedom,
    And truth its throne.

    --Eliza R. Snow, published in Deseret News, March 12, 1862.

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