The concept and institutional functions of national anthems date back to fairly recent times.
When we query their origin, we often presume this goes back to the days of the ancient Romans or Greeks. We are in fact in the habit of delving back into ancient Roman or Greek history to find answers to our queries when really all we need do is step back a year or two into the England of the late-18th century, when the motif God Save the King was first performed, in 1745, at the Drury Lane Theatre of London as a patriotic piece that soon became famous throughout the country. Delving even deeper into the matter, we see that England was spiritually the birthplace of national anthems. Traces of the English National Anthem can be found in the 19th century, and more precisely in 1825. The other countries followed in England’s wake by creating their own anthems, to be played at all cultural and political events. The function of national anthems slowly changed over the years because initially they were played in honour and as a sign of welcome to visiting foreign heads of state or high-ranking personages. Later on, use was extended to also include the above-mentioned events. Other important points can be made as regards the metamorphosis of musical excerpts sung side by side with official anthems, but which, for various reasons, became more popular than the latter. This is the case of G. Verdi’s Va’ pensiero which closely threatens the Mameli anthem.

History becomes confused with popular taste and with a demonstration of affection for our most beloved composer. In actual fact, we should ask ourselves whether the national anthem stems from a popular experience or a form of government or a legacy of the past. The answer is to be found in those countries that have had stable governments for longer and consequently continue to use the same anthem. In other situations, we notice that anthem writers are often from different countries.
This is the case of the US anthem, written by an Englishman, or the Bolivian anthem, written by an Italian, or the Spanish anthem, written by a German. Anthems also exist that are used by different countries.
For example, the English anthem played in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, USA. Another interesting aspect of anthems concerns the presence of famous composers who, though not having dedicated themselves expressly to this purpose, saw their compositions become the anthems of leading countries. As always, exceptions exist: Franz Joseph Haydn wrote the Austrian anthem and Hanns Eisler won the competition for writing the DDR anthem. While few musicians have shown interest in this musical aspect, others have changed, rewritten, re-orchestrated and paraphrased the major and most famous anthems. We should not forget Stockhausen, who wrote Hymnen by building on quotations of anthems belonging to various countries. A prestigious precedent is provided by Inno delle nazioni written by the great and far-sighted G. Verdi, to words by the profligate Arrigo Boito. From what has been said, the history of anthems has had different, often positive, sometimes negative fates, but quite apart from fashions and temporary interest, the direct testimony remains of the thought and culture of a nation. Many are the anthems in the world and a knowledge of their history and the origin of their often popular themes, sheds light on the reasons that have made numerous pages of history famous and unforgettable and in some cases, why not, legendary.

Let us analyse in detail the characteristics of the anthems belonging to the most famous countries.

In Austria, starting in 1797 up to the end of the empire, the national anthem was the famous piece Kaiser written by Franz Joseph Haydn with words by Lorenzo Leopold Haschk. The composition was the result of an idea of the count of Saurau, who wanted his country to have an anthem as famous as God Save the King. Thus Haydn’s score saw the light and was used by the composer in Quartet 76 no. 3 known as Kaiser Quartett. In 1920, the piece was replaced by Deutsch Österreich Du herrliches Land written by Wilhelm Kierzl with words by Karl Renner. In 1922, Haydn’s composition was used by the Republic of Weimar in an 1841 version: Deutschland, Deutschland Über Alles! In 1939, the anthem was reintroduced into Austria alongside the Nazi piece Lebens der jugend written in 1933 by Herman Leopoldi. In the years after the war, the anthem was further changed by adapting a melody attributed to Mozart with words by P. Peradovic.

In Belgium, the excerpt called Brabanconne was written in 1930 by François van Campenhout during the struggle for Dutch independence. The music was probably based on a song of the Polish lancers, a Brabant military corps dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries. The text was replaced in 1860 by Après de siècles d’esclavage by Charles Rogier.
The Flemish people on the other hand have another anthem entitled De Vlaamse leeuw written in 1845 by Karel Miry with texts by H. van Peene. In 1951, a further change occurred with the adoption of Brabanconne, but in the Flemish version O Valderland, or edel land Belgen.

And in France? History tells us the Marseillaise is the best known anthem in the world. The initial strophes were written at Strasbourg between 24 and 26 April 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle by appointment of Baron P.F. Dietrich, mayor of the city. The piece was intended as a march for the soldiers of marshall Luckner.
The original title, Chant de guerre pour l’armée du Rhin was soon changed to Marche de Marseille. The composition served as a song for the Marseilles volunteers when they entered Paris in 1792. The song became the banner of the revolution and in 1795 was officially adopted as national anthem by decree of the Convention of 7 July. During the reign of Napoleon III, it was replaced by Partant pour la Syrie used in Saint-Saens’ Carnaval des animaux of 1886. In 1879, after the fall of the Napoleonic empire, the Marsellaise was reinstated and used, in 1864, by the German Social-Democratic Party. Many excerpts based on the Marsellaise are to be found in classic compositions, among which are A. Salieri’s introductory chorus to Palmira of 1795 or, R. Schumann’s the Fanschingschwank Wien op. 26 for pianoforte of 1839. R. Wagner used it in the lyric Les deux grénadiers of 1839. F. Listz in the symphonic poem Heroide Funèbre of 1851.

Things are somewhat more complicated as regards Germany. Until just a short while ago, the anthem of the German Democratic Republic (DDR) was Auferstanden aus Ruinen, used since 1949 and written by Johannes R. Becher with music by Hanns Eisler. After the Second World War, the German Federal Republic (BRG) adopted Lied des Glaubens Deutsches Land as its national anthem. 1950 saw the return of Haydn’s famous composition, mentioned earlier for Austria. The Germans have used numerous patriotic anthems and songs over the centuries.
Among these are: Bayern or Heimatland written in 1848 by Franz Lachner or Gott Mit Dir Du Land des Bayern, written by Konrad Max Kunz before 1857 to words by Micael Ochxeu. The anthem of the Bavarian monarchy at the beginning of the proclamation of the kingdom in 1806 was Heil unser Konig, heil! Similar in melody to the British anthem God Save the King.
During the First World War, there were two favourite anthems, later used by the Nazis, considering that during the Third Reich, besides Deutschlandlied, the Nazi anthem Die Fahne hoch known as Horst Wessel Lied was also adopted. This took its name from the author of the text and later became a music-hall melody.

In Britain, God Save the King has always dominated the scene. It was performed for the first time on 28 September 1745 at the Drury Lane Theatre in London. Many people have tried to discover the precise origin of the piece, but so far in vain. It is probably based on popular songs.
The British anthem was adopted in 1811 in Switzerland, using a text by Rodolf Wyss entitled: Rufst Du, mein Vaterland.
In America, after the proclamation of independence, the piece was used with some changes. For instance: God Save George Washington. Some composers used it as a theme element in their compositions. Among these was L.V. Beethoven, who included the theme in piano variations in 1803. G. Donizetti used it in the Symphony of the opera Roberto Devereux dated 1837. Brahms used it in the Triumphli op.55 dedicating the piece to emperor William I in 1871.

Always in Great Britain, mention should be made of another song, Rule Britannia. This was written by A. Arne for the masque Alfred to a text by James Thomson and David Mallet.
It was first performed in 1740 at Cliefden House, the home of the Price of Wales. It was closely tied to the political and chiefly patriotic environment, being inspired by anti-Jacobin feeling. In this case as well, a bond exists with the symphonic environment, quoting J.F. Haendel, considering that the composer used the melody in the Occasional Oratorio. As we have seen, anthems underwent unthinkable changes over time, serving as precious elements for the development of important excerpts by major and by now legendary musicians.

In Russia, we find an anthem that remained popular until 1917, during the Czarist period, and more precisely Boze, Tsarja chrani (God save the Czar) written by V.A. Zukovskij in 1833 at the request of Nicola I.
In this case as well, important examples have remained of classical composers who have made use of anthems. For instance, P. I. Cajkovskij used the melody of the Slav March op. 31 of 1876.
Another composer who was not insensitive to Russian charm was Italian composer, Umberto Giordano, who included the melody in his opera Fedora of 1898. After the revolutionary period in 1917 the piece was replaced by the International written in 1871 by Pierre Degeyter with text by Eugène Pottier.
The present official anthem Sojuz nerusimyj respublik svobodninch (Eternal alliance of the free republics) was written in 1942 by Aleksandr Vasil’evic Aleksandrov with text by Lebeder-Kumach. Finally, the words were changed with others by Sergej Michalkov and Elj Registan.

Continuing our journey among anthems, we find that Poland has an anthem Feszcz Polka nie zginela (Poland is not yet lost) based on a patriotic anti-Russian song, already popular in the 18th century. The text was written by Jozef Wybicki, a young legionary who adopted it to a Polish musical excerpt. It was officially recognised in 1917, and the text was changed in 1948.

In this story, Italy could hardly go missing. The country had a hard time finding its official anthem. During the Savoy monarchy, the Marcia reale d’ordinanza was used. This had been commissioned in 1831 by the king of Sardinia, Carlo Felice, to band-master Giuseppe Gambetti.
The anthem was used until the fall of Mussolini.
Afterwards, two excerpts were used, the Inno del Piave by E. A. Mario and Fratelli d’Italia written in 1847 by Goffredo Mameli with music by Michele Novaro, with the title Canto degli Italiani. After the advent of the Republic, the name was changed to Inno di Mameli. It must be emphasised however that during the Risorgimento period, Verdi’s famous Va’ Pensiero and other songs like the Inno di Guerra dei Cacciatori delle Alpi written in 1851 by A. Olivieri with text by Luigi Mercantini, entitled All’armi, all’armi! Si scopran le tombe, or the Fascist song Giovinezza, originally a goliardic song written by Giuseppe Blanc in 1909 and changed by Salvator Gotta in Su compagni, in forti schiere, were all worthy rivals of our present national anthem. The story is still a long and complex one, as many countries each adopted a national anthem of their own. Iceland, Ireland, Yugoslavia, Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and other countries still, all have a long history and great musical traditions that are lost in the mists of time.

We can end this world journey through anthems with the USA, whose national song is based on an Anacreontic lyric, naturally of British origin, entitled To Anacreon in Heaven written by John Stafford Smith for the London Anacreontic Society, a Masonic association active between 1771 and 1794.
The present anthem is called The Star Spangled Banner. The text was written by Francis Scott Key between 13 and 14 September 1814 on board the ship Surprise docked in Baltimore harbour. Part of the melody was used by Puccini for the opera Madama Butterfly, yet another case of a classical composer making use of national anthems.
Besides the U.S. anthem, other patriotic songs exist like Yankee Doodle, of uncertain origin, as many lay claim to its paternity. What is sure is that the melody was known in 1771 in the British colonies in the New World, and A. Barton included it in Disappointment, the first opera-ballet based on the American libretto. During the war of independence, Yankee Doodle, until then sung by the British troops for the purpose of offending the American patriots, was taken by the latter, after adapting it to a new text, as their national anthem. Another piece, Hail Columbia!, was performed in a Philadelphia theatre in 1800.
A patriotic song written around 1798 by judge Joseph Hopkinson , it met with very little success.
Finally, the song My Country’tis of thee (known as America) was written in Boston in 1832 by the Baptist reverend Samuel Francis Smith to the melody of God Save the King/Queen.
(translation by Interpres)