Music

This booklet commemorates the composition of "Oh Canada!" and its new importance during the Second World War.

This patriotic tune, available in arrangements for orchestra, military band, and male or mixed voice choir, lauded the British heritage of justice and peace.

Perhaps the most famous of Canada's soldier songwriters, Rice claimed to have come up with this tune while on guard duty at Ypres. A sales manager from Montreal, Rice had enlisted in the Canadian Field Artillery at the beginning of the war.

Imperial unity in a common cause was the theme of this patriotic song, which mixed animal metaphors and referred to "the bulldog breed" hearing "the lion's roar."

Described as "the most catchy and prettiest of all war songs," Foley's lyrics asked Canadians to remember the fate of Belgium as they thought about the war.

Perhaps the most successful of Canada's early war songs, Manley's lyrics paid tribute to all Allied soldiers but had special praise for Johnny Canuck.

Another piece sung by Mildred Manley, "Canada's greatest child vocalist," this was a typical patriotic song that contained only a hint of the reality of war.

Only the illustration of the nurse set this composition, billed as "one of the biggest Hits on the market," apart as a war song.

According to this song, khaki (the colour of Canadian soldiers' uniforms) was the most stylish colour in the fashion season of 1915.

The composer dedicated this piece to his "life long chum" Frederic Langstone, who joined the 5th Battery, Canadian Field Artillery at the beginning of the war. A graduate of Harbord Collegiate Institute in Toronto, Langstone was killed in action in April 1918.