Anthem
- For the novel by Ayn Rand, see: Anthem (novel)
An
anthem is a song of praise or gladness, usually acting as a symbol for a certain group of people. Particularly well known are
national anthems; see
List of national anthems for a list of these.
In
religious worship an anthem is a short composition based on
scripture to be sung by a
choir. It is part of
Anglican services and developed from the
motet. Originally written without solo parts by the likes of
Thomas Tallis and
William Byrd, composers such as
Henry Purcell and
John Blow developed the "verse anthem", which places material for solo voices between the choral passages.
The following is a list of articles on other anthems.
