Song Of A Nation by Robert Harris


ISBN
9780771050923
Published
Binding
Hardcover
Pages
272
Dimensions
148 x 220mm

He was a composer, a performer, an entrepreneur, and an educator; played pop and classical music; and appeared in his quasi-colonial society, tragically, just ahead of his time. Calixa Lavallee, the French Canadian composer of "O Canada," has a compelling, almost unbelievable personal story. He left home at 12 and worked as a blackface minstrel, travelling throughout the United States for more than a decade; he fought and was injured in the American Civil War in perhaps the most important battle of that war, at Antietam Creek; performed for President Lincoln several times; produced the first opera in Quebec and wrote two of his own; became a leading figure in American music education, representing American music in London; journeyed to Paris to study for two years; tried and failed to create a Quebec national conservatory. And he wrote our national anthem.
But LavallUe also represents all the contradictions and confusions of Canadian identity as our country came together in the last half of the nineteenth century. To understand "O Canada," and to understand the man who wrote it, is to return to the Canada of the mid-nineteenth century, a Canada just forming as a nation, bringing together ancient racial hatreds and novel political possibilities, as culture faced culture, religion faced religion, economy faced economy. Calixa LavallUe is the most famous Canadian you have never heard of, living a life and ultimately composing a song that stands the test of time.
Christmas Catalogue 2024 x BookFrenzy
42.49
RRP: $49.99
15% off RRP


This product is unable to be ordered online. Please check in-store availability.
Instore Price: $49.99
Song Of A Nation is Out of Print

Other Titles by Robert Harris

Precipice
34.99
24.99
29% Off
V2  A Novel Of World War II
49.99
14.99
70% Off
Imperium
34.99
29.74
15% Off
Conclave Film TieIn
22.99
19.54
15% Off
Munich
22.99
19.54
15% Off
V2
30.99
26.34
15% Off
V2
22.99
19.54
15% Off
The Second Sleep
30.99
26.34
15% Off
The Second Sleep
22.99
19.54
15% Off
V2
32.99
28.04
15% Off
V2
43.99
37.39
15% Off
The Second Sleep
32.99
28.04
15% Off
Dictator
73.99
62.89
15% Off
Enigma
22.99
19.54
15% Off
Munich
22.99
19.54
15% Off
Act of Oblivion
22.99
19.54
15% Off
Act Of Oblivion
32.99
28.04
15% Off
Using Sources Effectively
114.99
97.74
15% Off
Gloucester Rugby Miscellany
24.99
21.24
15% Off
Gloucester Rugby Miscellany
19.99
16.99
15% Off
An Officer and a Spy
32.99
28.04
15% Off
Pompeii
22.99
19.54
15% Off


RRP refers to the Recommended Retail Price as set out by the original publisher at time of release.
The RRP set by overseas publishers may vary to those set by local publishers due to exchange rates and shipping costs.
Due to our competitive pricing, we may have not sold all products at their original RRP.