I was married in 1987. As a musician, I didn't want any of those tired, standard wedding marches, so I chose the hymn "Zion's King Shall Reign Victorious". It is a glorious, regal tune that was written by Franz Josef Haydn. It had been my favourite for as long as I could remember.
Some months after the wedding, a friend wondered why I had chosen the German national anthem for my wedding march. I told them I didn't, it was "Zion's King". They assured me that it was the same tune, and sure enough, it is.
It has only been in recent years, when I have thought upon it, that I realized that as an infant and toddler living in Germany, I must have heard the national anthem many times. When I returned to Canada and started hearing the hymns out of the 1938 "Book of Common Praise", #287, "Zion's King", must have resonated deeply.
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