Before the United States officially sanctioned a national anthem and was still hesitating between “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” and “The Star-Spangled Banner,” Bloch hoped that the hymn ending his Fourth Symphony might be preferred to either. This happiness was denied him: as all the world knows, “The Star-Spangled Banner” was finally adopted. During the Second World War, I was to play it untold times and appreciated its martial virtues, although the unaggressive nobility of the chorale “My Country ‘Tis of Thee,” better known to the British as “God Save the Queen” appealed to me more. << less