Pruden's first arrangement of God Save the Queen was made to precede the New Zealand premiere of Benjamin Britten's comic opera Albert Herring in Auckland on 18 May 1966. The circumstances of Pruden's arrangement are explained in an article headed "Anthem got bounced at Opera," which appeared in the Auckland Star on the day of the first performance:

A new, bouncy version of the National Anthem has been composed especially for the N.Z. Opera Company's orchestra. Yesterday, when the orchestra was in full rehearsal, it was discovered there was no arrangement of the anthem [customarily sung before such events] to suit the unusual combination of instruments for which Benjamin Britten has composed the opera, Albert Herring. The Wellington composer Larry Pruden, the orchestra percussionist, went away and in a few hours came up with a new version of the National Anthem. It incorporates two of the tunes from the opera. The anthem starts off in the usual way and then becomes very jaunty with a tune called "Bounce me high, bounce me low, bounce me up to Jericho." [Sung by village children at the beginning of the second scene in Act 1] It returns to dignity with another interpolated song, "Albert the Good." [Sung by villagers towards the end of the second scene in Act 2] The assistant conductor of the Opera Company, Mr. Russell Channell, said today that he didn't think anyone could take exception to the new arrangement. "It's not a spoof on the National Anthem but simply something in the style of the opera itself," he said. "I suppose there are things in the opera which people could take exception to if they wanted, because it is a take-off of the outlook of Victorian England." Mr. Channell said the arrangement had been used at a dress rehearsal last night at which a few invited guests were present. "The tune of the National Anthem keeps going throughout but wisps of the other tunes float through it."

Linden Saunders of the New Zealand Herald noted in his review of 19 May: "The final touch of brightness was Larry Pruden's witty version of the National Anthem, slightly satirical to match the opera's mood, clever and inoffensive." The performance took place at the Technical Institute Hall with tenor Peter Baillie in the title role.