History of the Italian national anthem
In the fall of 1847, a young man of just twenty years named Goffredo Mameli put pen to paper and penned a stirring set of lyrics. Little did he know that it would become the Italian national anthem. His inspiration? None other than the rousing strains of La Marseillaise, that fiery call-to-arms of the French.
But Mameli did not stop there. Rather than setting his words to existing music, he sent them off to fellow Genoese composer Michele Novaro, who began crafting a melody that would do justice to Mameli’s stirring words.
Not long after, their creation was ready to be unveiled. In December of that same year, a crowd of thirty thousand gathered in Genoa to mark the 101st anniversary of a popular rebellion in the city’s Portoria quarter during the War of the Austrian Succession. They came from all corners of Italy to protest against the foreign occupations that had plagued their land for years. And before that crowd of passionate patriots, Mameli and Novaro’s creation was first publicly played. It was called Il Canto degli Italiani, and its stirring melody and powerful lyrics captured the hearts and minds of those who heard it.
In later years, during the dark reign of Benito Mussolini, many songs were banned or discouraged for not fitting the fascist mold. But Il Canto degli Italiani was different. The regime tolerated it. Eventually, Il Canto received the people’s recognition as the country’s official anthem.
After World War II, the song enjoyed a resurgence in popularity, particularly among those who had fought against the fascist regime. And in 1946, it was even declared the nation’s provisional national anthem.
But even though many thought it would be officially approved, no law confirmed it.
Still, the song continues to be beloved by Italians at home and abroad. In 2017, after many long years, the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies finally approved a bill that made Il Canto degli Italiani the official hymn of the Italian Republic.
Il Canto degli Italiani
First Strophe
Fratelli d’Italia,
l’Italia s’è desta,
dell’elmo di Scipio
s’è cinta la testa.
Dov’è la Vittoria?
Le porga la chioma,
ché schiava di Roma
Iddio la creò.
Chorus
Stringiamci a coorte,
siam pronti alla morte.
Siam pronti alla morte,
l’Italia chiamò.
Stringiamci a coorte,
siam pronti alla morte.
Siam pronti alla morte,
l’Italia chiamò!
Second Strophe
Noi fummo da secoli
calpesti, derisi,
perché non siam popolo,
perché siam divisi.
Raccolgaci un’unica
bandiera, una speme:
di fonderci insieme
già l’ora suonò.
Third Strophe
Uniamoci, amiamoci,
l’unione e l’amore
rivelano ai popoli
le vie del Signore.
Giuriamo far libero
il suolo natio:
uniti, per Dio,
chi vincer ci può?
Forth Strophe
Dall’Alpi a Sicilia
dovunque è Legnano,
ogn’uom di Ferruccio
ha il core, ha la mano,
i bimbi d’Italia
si chiaman Balilla,
il suon d’ogni squilla
i Vespri suonò.
Fifth Strophe
Son giunchi che piegano
le spade vendute:
già l’Aquila d’Austria
le penne ha perdute.
Il sangue d’Italia,
il sangue Polacco,
bevé, col cosacco,
ma il cor le bruciò.
Italian national anthem in English
First Strophe
Brothers of Italy,
Italy has woken,
Bound Scipio’s helmet
Upon her head.
Where is Victory?
Let her bow down,
For God created her
Chorus
Slave of Rome.
Let us join in a cohort,
We are ready to die.
We are ready to die,
Italy has called.
Let us join in a cohort,
We are ready to die.
We are ready to die,
Italy has called, yes!
Second Strophe
We were for centuries
downtrodden, derided,
because we are not one people,
because we are divided.
Let one flag, one hope
gather us all.
The hour has struck
for us to unite.
Third Strophe
Let us unite, let us love one another,
For union and love
Reveal to the people
The ways of the Lord.
Let us swear to set free
The land of our birth:
United, for God,
Who can overcome us?
Fourth Strophe
From the Alps to Sicily,
Legnano is everywhere;
Every man has the heart
and hand of Ferruccio
The children of Italy
Are all called Balilla;
Every trumpet blast
sounds the Vespers.
Fifth Strophe
Mercenary swords,
they’re feeble reeds.
The Austrian eagle
Has already lost its plumes.
The blood of Italy
and the Polish blood
It drank, along with the Cossack,
But it burned its heart.
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