Anthem

What it means

An anthem is a sacred choral composition set to an English, usually biblical, text, sung during Anglican church services. The word is related to “antiphon,” but since the Reformation it has denoted a distinct genre of English church music rather than a liturgical refrain.

The main distinction is between the full anthem, sung throughout by the full choir, and the verse anthem, in which solo sections (verses) alternate with choral sections, often accompanied by organ or instruments.

Musical use

The anthem emerged in sixteenth-century England as a musical counterpart to the Latin motet once the Anglican church had shifted its services to English. Composers such as Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, and later Henry Purcell shaped the genre; it has remained central to Anglican worship, coronations, and state occasions ever since.

The anthem should be distinguished from the hymn, a mostly strophic congregational form, since the anthem is a more elaborate choral composition reserved for a trained church choir. It differs from the Latin motet chiefly in its English text and its place within Anglican liturgy. In a broader, non-musical sense, “anthem” is also used in English for an identity-affirming song, such as a national anthem or a club song; that use lies outside the church-music genre.

Performance practice

When singing an anthem, aim for clear diction, which was central to English Reformation-era church music, and shape the alternation between homophonic and imitative sections. In a verse anthem, bring out the contrast between solo and choral passages deliberately so the formal structure remains audible.