Il Canto degli Italiani
| English: The Song of the Italians | |
|---|---|
 Original text | |
National anthem of  Italy | |
| Also known as | Inno di Mameli (English: Mameli's Hymn) Fratelli d'Italia (English: Brothers of Italy) |
| Lyrics | Goffredo Mameli, 1847 |
| Music | Michele Novaro, 1847 |
| Adopted | 12 October 1946 (de facto) 4 December 2017 (de jure) |
| Audio sample | |
"Il Canto degli Italiani" (instrumental) | |
"Il Canto degli Italiani" (Italian pronunciation: [il ˈkanto deʎʎ itaˈljaːni];[1] "The Song of Italians") is the national anthem of Italy. It is best known among Italians as the "Inno di Mameli" ([ˈinno di maˈmɛːli], "Mameli's Hymn"), after the author of the lyrics, or "Fratelli d'Italia" ([fraˈtɛlli diˈtaːlja], "Brothers of Italy"), from its opening line.
The words were written in the autumn of 1847 in Genoa, by the then 20-year-old student and patriot Goffredo Mameli. Two months later, they were set to music in Turin by another Genoese, Michele Novaro.[2] The hymn enjoyed widespread popularity throughout the period of the Italian unification and in the following decades. Nevertheless, after the proclamation of unified Kingdom of Italy in 1861, the adopted national anthem was the "Marcia Reale" (Royal March), the official hymn of the House of Savoy composed in 1831 by order of King Charles Albert of Sardinia.
After the World War II, Italy became a republic, and on 12 October 1946, "Il Canto degli Italiani" was provisionally chosen as the country's new national anthem. It was made official on 4 December 2017 de jure.
Contents
History[edit]
The first manuscript of the poem, preserved at the Istituto Mazziniano in Genoa, appears in a personal copybook of the poet, where he collected notes, thoughts and other writings. Of uncertain dating, the manuscript reveals anxiety and inspiration at the same time. The poet begins with È sorta dal feretro (It's risen from the bier) then seems to change his mind: leaves some room, begins a new paragraph and writes "Evviva l'Italia, l'Italia s'è desta" ("Hurray Italy, Italy has awakened"). The handwriting appears agitated and frenetic, with numerous spelling errors, among which are "Ilia" for "Italia" and "Ballilla" for "Balilla".
The second manuscript is the copy that Goffredo Mameli sent to Michele Novaro for setting to music. It shows a much steadier handwriting, fixes misspellings, and has a significant modification: the incipit is "Fratelli d'Italia". This copy is in the Museo del Risorgimento in Turin. The hymn was also printed on leaflets in Genoa, by the printing office Casamara. The Istituto Mazziniano has a copy of these, with hand annotations by Mameli himself. This sheet, subsequent to the two manuscripts, lacks the last strophe ("Son giunchi che piegano...") for fear of censorship. These leaflets were to be distributed at the 10 December demonstration, in Genoa.[3]
10 December 1847 was an historical day for Italy: the demonstration, organized in front of santuario della Nostra Signora di Loreto of the Genoese district of Oregina, was officially dedicated to the 101st anniversary of the popular rebellion which led to the expulsion of the Austrian powers from the city; in fact it was an excuse to protest against foreign occupations in Italy and induce Carlo Alberto to embrace the Italian cause of liberty. In this occasion the tricolor flag was shown and Mameli's hymn was publicly sung for the first time.
After 10 December the hymn spread all over the Italian peninsula, brought by the same patriots that participated in the Genoa demonstration. In the 1848, Mameli's hymn was very popular among the Italian people and it was commonly sung during demonstrations, protests and revolts as a symbol of the Italian Unification in most parts of Italy. In the Five Days of Milan, the rebels sang the Song of the Italians during clashes against the Austrian Empire.[4] In the 1860, the corps of volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi used to sing the hymn in the battles against the Bourbons in Sicily and Southern Italy.[5] Giuseppe Verdi, in his "Inno delle nazioni" (Hymn of the nations), composed for the London International Exhibition of 1862, chose "Il Canto degli Italiani" to represent Italy, putting it beside "God Save the Queen" and "La Marseillaise". On 20 September 1870, in the last part of the Italian Risorgimento, the Capture of Rome was characterised by the people who sang Mameli's hymn played by the Bersaglieri marching band although the Kingdom of Italy had adopted the "Marcia Reale" as national anthem in 1861.[6]
During the period of Italian Fascism, the "Song of the Italians" continued to play an important role as patriotic hymn along with several popular fascist songs. After the armistice of Cassibile, Mameli's hymn was curiously sung by both the Italian partisans and the people who supported the Italian Social Republic (fascists).[7]
After the World War II, following the birth of the Italian Republic, the "Song of the Italians" was de facto adopted as national anthem. On 23 November 2012, this choice was made official in law.[8][9] In August 2016, in the wake of this measure, a bill was submitted to the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies to make the "Canto degli Italiani" an official hymn of the Italian Republic.[10] In July 2017 the committee approved this bill.[11] On 15 December 2017, the publication in the Gazzetta Ufficiale of the law nº 181 of 4 December 2017, which came into force on 30 December 2017.[12]
Lyrics[edit]
This is the complete text of the original poem written by Goffredo Mameli. However, the Italian anthem, as commonly performed in official occasions, is composed of the first stanza sung twice, and the chorus, then ends with a loud "Sì!" ("Yes!").
The first stanza presents the personification of Italy who is ready to go to war to become free, and shall be victorious as Rome was in ancient times, "wearing" the helmet of Scipio Africanus who defeated Hannibal at the final battle of the Second Punic War at Zama; there is also a reference to the ancient Roman custom of slaves who used to cut their hair short as a sign of servitude, hence the Goddess of Victory must cut her hair in order to be slave of Rome (to make Italy victorious).[13]
In the second stanza the author complains that Italy has been a divided nation for a long time, and calls for unity; in this stanza Goffredo Mameli uses three words taken from the Italian poetic and archaic language: calpesti (modern Italian: calpestati), speme (modern speranza), raccolgaci (modern ci raccolga).
The third stanza is an invocation to God to protect the loving union of the Italians struggling to unify their nation once and for all. The fourth stanza recalls popular heroic figures and moments of the Italian fight for independence such as the battle of Legnano, the defence of Florence led by Ferruccio during the Italian Wars, the riot started in Genoa by Balilla, and the Sicilian Vespers. The last stanza of the poem refers to the part played by Habsburg Austria and Czarist Russia in the partitions of Poland, linking its quest for independence to the Italian one.[14]
Additional verses[edit]
The last strophe was deleted by the author, to the point of being barely readable. It was dedicated to Italian women:
Tessete o fanciulle |
[tesˈseːte o fanˈtʃulle] [banˈdjɛːr(e) e kkokˈkarde] [fan ˈlalme ɡaʎˈʎarde] [liɱˈviːto daˈmor ǁ] |
Music[edit]
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The music of the anthem was composed by Michele Novaro. Novaro was born on 23 December 1818 in Genoa, where he studied composition and singing. On 23 November 1847, Mameli arrived in Turin and asked his friend Novaro to set the lyrics of the anthem to music. Novaro completed the composition overnight and Mameli was able to return to Genoa the very next day with the completed anthem. The tune helped the anthem spread quickly throughout the nation, and was sung in defiance of the Austrian, Bourbon, and Papal police.[15] Novaro was a convinced liberal and offered his compositional talents to the unification cause without deriving any personal benefits. He died poor on 20 October 1885, after a life riddled with financial and health difficulties.[16]
The anthem is set in the key of B flat major and at an allegro marziale tempo. The beginning of the anthem is characterised by twelve measures of instrumental eighth notes and sixteenth notes played fortissimo, or “very loud”. The vocals begin in the thirteenth measure, and are sung forte. The rhythms present in the anthem are mostly dotted eighth notes, quarter notes, and sixteenth notes. The rhythm is straight, with little syncopation. Essentially, the beat is on the first note of each measure, and the timing is regular. The rhythm in combination with the tempo gives an especially march-like feel to the composition.
During the events[edit]
Over the years a public ceremonial has been established for its execution, which is still in force[17]. According to the label, during his execution, the soldiers must present their weapons, while the officers must stand at attention[17]. Civilians, if they wish, can also put themselves to attention[18].
According to the ceremonial, on the occasion of official events, only the first two stanzas should be performed without the introduction[19][17]. If the event is institutional, and a foreign hymn must also be performed, this is played first as an act of courtesy[17].
In 1970 the obligation, however, remained almost always unfulfilled, to execute the Ode to Joy of Ludwig van Beethoven, that is the official anthem of Europe, whenever the Il Canto degli Italiani is played[17].
Notes[edit]
- ^ The Italians belong to a single people and are therefore "brothers"
- ^ "Italy has woken up", that is, it is ready to fight.
- ^ Scipio Africanus, winner of Battle of Zama, is brought as an example for the ability of the Roman Republic to recover from the defeat and fight valiantly and victoriously against the enemy.
- ^ Scipione's helmet, which Italy has now worn, is a symbol of the impending struggle against the Austrian Empire oppressor
- ^ The goddess Victoria. For a long time the goddess Vittoria was closely linked to ancient Rome, but now she is ready to dedicate herself to the new Italy for the series of wars that are necessary to drive the foreigner out of the national soil and to unify the country.
- ^ Le porga la chioma can also be more literally translated as "Let her tender her hair to Rome" or "Tender her hair". Here the poet refers to the use, in ancient Rome, of cutting hair to slaves to distinguish them from free women who instead wore long hair. So the Victory must turn the hair to Italy to be cut off and become "slave" of it.
- ^ The sense is that ancient Rome made, with its conquests, the goddess Victoria "its slave".
- ^ Ancient Rome was great by God's design.
- ^ The phrase can also be translated more literally as "Let us tighten in a cohort". The cohort (in Latin cohors, cohortis) was a combat unit of the Roman army, tenth part of a Roman legion. This very strong military reference, reinforced by the appeal to the glory and military power of ancient Rome, once again calls all men to arms against the oppressor.
- ^ Siam pronti alla morte may be understood both as an indicative ("We are ready to die") and as an imperative ("Let us be ready to die").
- ^ It alludes to the call to arms of the Italian people with the aim of driving out the foreign ruler from national soil and unifying Italy, still divided into pre-unification states.
- ^ Although the final exclamation, "Yes!", is not included in the original text, it is always used in all official occasions.
- ^ A different tense may be found: Noi siamo da secoli, "We have been for centuries".
- ^ Mameli underlines the fact that Italy, understood as an Italian peninsula, was not united. At the time, in fact, (1847) it was still divided into seven states. For this reason, Italy had for centuries been often treated as a land of conquest.
- ^ The hope that Italy, still divided in the pre-unification states, will finally gather under a single flag, merging into one nation.
- ^ The third verse, which is dedicated to the political thought of Giuseppe Mazzini, founder of Young Italy and Young Europe, incites the search for national unity through the help of divine providence and thanks to the participation of the entire Italian people finally united in an intent common.
- ^ In the Battle of Legnano of May 29, 1176 the Lombard League defeated Frederick Barbarossa, here the event rises to symbolize the fight against foreign oppression. Legnano, thanks to the historic battle, is the only city, besides Rome, to be mentioned in the Italian national anthem.
- ^ Francesco Ferruccio, symbol of the siege of Florence (2 August 1530), with which the troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, wanted to bring down the Republic of Florence to restore the Medici lordship. In this circumstance, the dying Ferruccio was cowardly finished with a stab by Fabrizio Maramaldo, a captain of fortune in the service of Carlo V. "Vile, you kill a dead man", were the famous words of infamy that the hero addressed to his killer.
- ^ Nickname of Giovan Battista Perasso who on 5 December 1746 began, with the throwing of a stone, to an officer, to the Genoese revolt that ended with the chase of the Austrians, who had occupied the city for several months.
- ^ The Sicilian Vespers, the Easter Monday uprising of 1282 against the French extended to all of Sicily after having begun in Palermo, unleashed by the sound of all the bells of the city.
- ^ Mercenaries, whose use is anachronistically attributed to Austrian Empire, not valiant as the patriotic heroes, but weak as rushes.
- ^ Austrian Empire is in decline.
- ^ Poland, too, had been invaded by Austrian Empire, which had been dismembered with the help of Russian Empire and Kingdom of Prussia. The fate of Poland is singularly linked to that of Italy: also in his hymn (Dabrowski's Mazurca) there is a reference to the Italians, and of the Polish soldiers who fought in Italy with the allied troops against the Germans at the end of the World War II, also participating in the final assault on Montecassino.
- ^ With the Russian Empire.
- ^ A wish and an omen: the blood of oppressed peoples, who will rise up against Austrian Empire, will mark the end.
- ^ It alludes to the flag of Italy and to the cockade of Italy, both symbols of the battle for the unification of Italy.
Citations[edit]
- ^ (in Italian) DOP entry .
- ^ "Italy – Il Canto degli Italiani/Fratelli d'Italia". NationalAnthems.me. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
- ^ "Inno di Mameli – Il canto degli Italiani: testo, analisi e storia". labandadeisei.it. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ^ "IL CANTO DEGLI ITALIANI: il significato". Radiomarconi.com. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ^ "Il canto degli italiani – 150 anni di". Progettocentocin.altervista.org. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ^ "La breccia di Porta Pia". 150anni-lanostrastoria.it. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ^ "I canti di Salò". Archiviostorico.info. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ^ "Legge 23 novembre 2012, n. 222: Norme sull'acquisizione di conoscenze e competenze in materia di "Cittadinanza e Costituzione" e sull'insegnamento dell'inno di Mameli nelle scuole. (12G0243)". Comune di Jesi. 18 December 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ^ "Inno di Mameli, insegnamento obbligatorio nelle scuole italiane. La Camera approva il DDL" [= The Parliament passes the bill that makes mandatory the teaching of Mameli's Hymn in every school of Italy] (in Italian). Clandestinoweb. 14 June 2012. Archived from the original on 13 November 2014.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
- ^ "L'inno di Mameli è ancora provvisorio. Proposta di legge per renderlo ufficiale" (in Italian).
- ^ "Saranno ufficiali tutte e sei le strofe dell'Inno di Mameli e non solo le prime due" (in Italian). ANSA.it. 24 July 2017.
- ^ "LEGGE 4 dicembre 2017, n. 181 – Gazzetta Ufficiale" (in Italian). 15 December 2017.
- ^ "Il testo dell'Inno di Mameli. Materiali didattici di Scuola d'Italiano Roma a cura di Roberto Tartaglione" (in Italian). Scudit.net. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ^ "L'Inno nazionale". Quirinale.it. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
- ^ "History Of The Italian Anthem". www.arcaini.com. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
- ^ "The Song of the Italians, brief history of a national anthem". Europeana Sounds. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Maiorino, 2002 & p. 73.
- ^ "Proposta di legge n. 4331 della XVI legislatura" (in Italian). Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ^ "Inno nazionale" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
References[edit]
- Maiorino, Tarquinio; Marchetti Tricamo, Giuseppe; Zagami, Andrea (2002). Il tricolore degli italiani. Storia avventurosa della nostra bandiera (in Italian). Arnoldo Mondadori Editore. ISBN 978-88-04-50946-2.
External links[edit]
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Italian Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
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Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
- Page on the official site of the Quirinale, residence of the Head of State
(in Italian with several recorded performances – click on ascolta l'Inno and choose a file to listen) - Free sheet music of Il Canto degli Italiani from Cantorion.org
- Streaming audio, lyrics and information about the Italian national anthem
- Listen to the Italian national anthem
- Fratelli d'Italia: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP) (Version for chorus and piano by Claudio Dall'Albero on a musical proposal of Luciano Berio)
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