Spain's new national anthem
Placido Domingo to sing Spanish National Anthem for the first time on 21st January
The jury commissioned by the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) and the General Society for Authors and Editors (SGAE) has finally chosen the words for the Spanish national anthem which until now only consisted of music. There were 7000 original entries to chose from. This number was whittled down to 1400 texts which were all given careful consideration.
The jury in charge of choosing the text for the national anthem had to take into consideration a number of things before making their final choice. They had to chose a text that was not only beautiful from a literary perspective but that also met certain requirements such as not being offensive to any one group, that was respectful towards Spain’s autonomous regions, diverse languages and politics and a text that was integrative.
Plácido Domingo is the person who had been chosen to sing the anthem publicly for the first time on January 21st at the Juan Carlos I Auditorium in Madrid. Other venues such as the Royal Theatre or the National Auditorium in Madrid had been considered but were unavailable. Domingo whose birthday is also on January 21st and who is currently in working in Brussels will be flown by private jet to sing the anthem for the first time.
The Orquestra for the Comunidad de Madrid directed by Miguel Roa will provide the music to accompany Domingo. Domingo was chosen in 1981 to sing the French national anthem when Mitterrand was sworn in as French president and also sang at the Spanish world cup in 1982 and at the centenary celebrations for one of Spain’s biggest football clubs Real Madrid.
Following its official acceptance by the Spanish Olympic Committee the COE hopes to get at least half a million signatures which will allow the text to be presented to parliament as a popular bill so that it can become Spain’s official national anthem.
Translation of the proposed words to the new national anthem:
Long live Spain!
We sing all together
With different voices
And one heart
Long live Spain!
From the green valleys
To the immense sea
A song for brotherhood
Love for the homeland
Which knows how to include
Below its blue skies
Free towns and villages
Glory to our children
Which give to history
Justice and greatness
Democracy and peace.
The jury commissioned by the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) and the General Society for Authors and Editors (SGAE) has finally chosen the words for the Spanish national anthem which until now only consisted of music. There were 7000 original entries to chose from. This number was whittled down to 1400 texts which were all given careful consideration.
The jury in charge of choosing the text for the national anthem had to take into consideration a number of things before making their final choice. They had to chose a text that was not only beautiful from a literary perspective but that also met certain requirements such as not being offensive to any one group, that was respectful towards Spain’s autonomous regions, diverse languages and politics and a text that was integrative.
Plácido Domingo is the person who had been chosen to sing the anthem publicly for the first time on January 21st at the Juan Carlos I Auditorium in Madrid. Other venues such as the Royal Theatre or the National Auditorium in Madrid had been considered but were unavailable. Domingo whose birthday is also on January 21st and who is currently in working in Brussels will be flown by private jet to sing the anthem for the first time.
The Orquestra for the Comunidad de Madrid directed by Miguel Roa will provide the music to accompany Domingo. Domingo was chosen in 1981 to sing the French national anthem when Mitterrand was sworn in as French president and also sang at the Spanish world cup in 1982 and at the centenary celebrations for one of Spain’s biggest football clubs Real Madrid.
Following its official acceptance by the Spanish Olympic Committee the COE hopes to get at least half a million signatures which will allow the text to be presented to parliament as a popular bill so that it can become Spain’s official national anthem.
Translation of the proposed words to the new national anthem:
Long live Spain!
We sing all together
With different voices
And one heart
Long live Spain!
From the green valleys
To the immense sea
A song for brotherhood
Love for the homeland
Which knows how to include
Below its blue skies
Free towns and villages
Glory to our children
Which give to history
Justice and greatness
Democracy and peace.
Labels: Spanish culture
4 Comments:
Today (16th January) the Spanish Olympic Committee called a press conference and said they had cancelled the recital of the Spanish anthem because of wide-spread criticisms about the words. As a result of the criticism they have withdrawn their proposal. The author of the song has told reporters he hopes to see more experienced composers who have criticised the song in the dole queue.
It's now back to the old words:
'Duh duh, duh duh, di da di da da da da da...etc' Very inspiring!
Are you sure the old words were Duh duh, duh duh, di da di da da da da da... Lenox? I thought it was more of a "Cha cha cha cha cha cha chi cha chi cha chi cha cha chu chu.....
My son knows another version of the song taught to him by his Dad - apparantly he and his school friends used to sing it at school during the final years of the dictatorship: "Franco Franco que tiene el culo bla-an-co-o, porque su mama lo lavó con Ariel" (Franco, Franco has a white bu-um, because his mum washed it with Ariel) :)
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