大象传媒

God Save the Queen, a setting of patriotic verse that has been bringing us to our feet for 250 years, has never been officially adopted by royal proclamation or Act of Parliament as the National Anthem of the United Kingdom.

Tommy Pearson asks whether this anthem that has come to reign over us is still 'fit for purpose' and seeks testimonies from musicians and wordsmiths about the function of an anthem or national hymn in the 21st century.

They include Queen's Brian May, sound artist Scanner, who recomposed all the anthems of the EU into one Euro-anthem, anthologist Daisy Goodwin, lyricist Don Black and composer Carl Davis.