It was composed in 1841, by Alberich Zwyssig (1808–1854). Since then, it has been frequently sung at patriotic events. The Federal Council declined however on numerous occasions to accept the psalm as the official anthem. This was because the council wanted the people to express their say on what they wanted as a national anthem. From 1961 to 1981 it provisionally replaced "" ("When You Call, My Country"; French ""; Italian "", Romansh ""), the anthem by Johann Rudolf Wyss (1743–1818) which was set to the melody of "God Save the Queen". On 1 April 1981, the Swiss Psalm was declared the official Swiss national anthem.