Jersey’s anthem is ‘dreary and uninspiring’ and shouldn’t be played at Island Games says former Minister – what do you think Jersey’s anthem should be?

• Former Minister calls for new anthem for the Island Games.
• Watch a video of our current anthem, Island Home, and read the background to it.
• See what the Islanders we spoke to think the anthem should be.
• Take part in our poll.

GOLD medal winning athletes should ignore Jersey’s Island Home anthem if the song is played at the NatWest Island Games – and the States should commission a new piece of music, a former Senator has said.

Jim Perchard, a former Health Minister and well-known figure in Island cricket, has said that Island Home, which was written by Jersey composer Gerard Le Feuvre and has been adopted as an unofficial anthem for gold medallists, is ‘dreary and uninspiring’ and should not be used.

Ours is an Island home

Firm on rock and strong by sea.

Loyal and proud in history,

Our thankful hearts are Raised to God for Jersey.

The beauty of this land

Long inspires both eye and mind.

Ours the privilege to guard its shore

So help we God that Jersey might through grace endure.

The song won a competition in 2008 to find a new anthem to be used at special events, including sporting occasions.

Mr Perchard believes that a new anthem needs to be composed and chosen by the public and that if that cannot be done in time for the Games then Beautiful Jersey, which is often sung on Liberation Day by St Saviour Constable Sadie Rennard, should be used instead.

What will be played in the event of any Jersey competitors winning gold has yet to be decided and in the past, Jersey has used Island Home, the unofficial anthem of the Normandy region Ma Normandie, and Beautiful Jersey when its athletes are presented with medals.

The decision is expected to be made at the next committee meeting later this month.

Mr Perchard said: ‘In about 2006, when Sir Philip Bailhache was Bailiff, he suggested Jersey should have an anthem and launched a competition to choose a song.

‘The States have never debated and approved ‘Island Home’ as an anthem, so it is not an official anthem.’

He added: ‘I would invite all our athletes to ignore it at the NatWest Island Games.’

The opening ceremony for the Games will take place at Howard Davis Park on Saturday 27 June.

Skip to 6 mins 21 to hear Jersey’s anthem in full

• The composer of Jersey’s anthem, Island Home, was born in Jersey 1962.
• Gerard Le Feuvre was educated at Victoria College and Hautlieu School.
• He then won music scholarships, as a cellist and composer, to study at the Royal Academy of Music, the Banff Arts Centre, Yale and the Sibelius Academy in Finland.
• He has broadcast and performed as a soloist across Europe and the Americas and he founded the Kings Chamber Orchestra of London, which gives 40 concerts a year and has a worldwide following through its recordings.
• In 2000, he was made him an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.
• His work for cello and string orchestra, Jersey Dreams, has received over 15 performances in the UK and attracted interest around the world.

This is not the first time that Island Home has been criticized:

• In May 2009, States Members indicated that they did not like the Island’s official anthem after Jersey’s youngest politician called for it to be scrapped. During questions without notice in the States yesterday, Deputy Jeremy Maçon encouraged the then Education Minister James Reed to ‘scrap the dirge’ and replace the anthem with Beautiful Jersey – a request that was met by laughter, feet stamping and cheers of ‘yes’ from a number of States Members.
• In June 2010, the then Senator Jim Perchard – the man who is now calling for a new anthem – described Island Home as ‘miserable and uninspiring’ and said it ‘hits the wrong note’. At the time, he asked the States to ban people from referring to the tune as Jersey’s anthem.

Some things you may not know about Island Home (courtesy of gov.je):

• The melody was in part inspired by the sounds of Jersey wildlife.
• The first three notes if played two octaves lower are the lowing of a Jersey cow.
• Often in the melody there are two tied notes descending, imitating various island sea birds.
• The musical genre was inspired from the Peter Kennedy (internationally renowned folk music collector) collection of Jèrriais folk song recordings made in Jersey in the 1950s.
• Island Home was not written for the competition but written in 2002 in St Ouen’s bay.
• Island Home formed the backbone of Gerard’s enormous symphonic work about 800 years of Jersey history entitled ‘The Rock’. The work was written specifically to unify the Island in thanksgiving.
• Gerard’s vision for a unified Island came in part from JJ Le Marquand’s remarkable poem ‘La Vie’ written as a song of hope during the occupation.
• In 2008, the local antiques dealer Steven Cohu uncovered a 19th century Jersey song set to traditional English music called ‘Hurrah for Jersey’. The song declares ‘the English, French and Jersey men form a joyous band’ – a fore-runner of Gerard’s dream of unity that today includes the Portuguese and Polish communities among others
• Further inspiration for Island Home was found in the writing of Victor Hugo

Island Home was chosen as Jersey’s anthem at a competition at the Jersey Opera House in 2008.

Previously there had been some confision over what should be played when the Island was represented at sporting events and cultural occasions which required an anthem to be played.

The competition was launched in 2007 by the then Assistant Education Minister, Carolyn Labey, to find the most suitable anthem for the Island. As well as being open to existing pieces of local significance, the competition also gave local composers the chance to write something new.

In total 27 entries were put forward for the competition which were then reduced to a shortlist of five pieces.

At the Opera House final, the five shortlisted entries were performed by the Jersey Festival Choir, conducted by Elizabeth Farnon. The five anthems were then performed again by the choir, and members of the audience, led by Jersey Festival Choir president Philip Le Brocq, were invited to sing along.

Although the criteria for entries was fairly broad, the works obviously had to be suitable to be played on occasions when an anthem might be required, such as medal ceremonies and formal events. Because of this, the length of the pieces had to be between 30 seconds and a minute long, but with two or three verses for longer performances. It was also essential that the pieces clearly celebrated Jersey’s identity.

Judging the competition were the Island’s then Bailiff, Sir Philip Bailhache, Chief Minister Frank Walker, Education Minister Mike Vibert, head of the Jersey Instrumental Music Service, Neil Courtney, and concert pianist and teacher Chris George. As well as the votes of the five judges, the audience’s view was also taken into account in the final judging.

The other four finalists were: My Jersey, My Home by Derek Lawrence, Arise, Arise by Kevin Porée and Matheson Bayle, Beautiful Jersey (traditional), and Jersey Island Home by James Taberner.

ON the 70th anniversary of Liberation and as Jersey prepares for the NatWest Island Games – and the prospect of another impressive medal haul – it is about time we had an anthem which Islanders actually liked.

Former Senator Jim Perchard has ignited the debate by calling Island Home, which was written by Jersey composer Gerard Le Feuvre in 2008 and has been adopted as an unofficial anthem for gold medallists in the past, as ‘dreary and uninspiring’.

But is Beautiful Jersey any better? It certainly has its place on 9 May, but it is hardly the rousing anthem athletes will want to hear on the podium this summer.

If a new anthem is to be commissioned or chosen, it has to strike a chord with the people of this Island. We are a happy, upbeat, dynamic and inclusive community with a proud heritage and a bright future. Our Island song should reflect that.