Who has the "best" national anthem?

In yesterday's post, I praised Goshen College for its decision to stick with its avowed tenets of pacifism and replace the playing of the "Star-Spangled Banner" with "America the Beautiful."  In a nutshell, the anthem--based on a 1760s fraternal drinking song--is extremely difficult for all but well-trained singers to pull off and its text speaks of the horrors of a naval bombardment of an American fort.  Enough said.

However, what makes a national anthem great?  Must it be easy to sing?  Probably.  Must its text reflect the values of its culture and people?  Definitely.  Thus, as an experiment, I have decided to put several examples to the test.  Rather than comparing every extant tune and variant, I have chosen only to include those countries that I have visited (for more than a quick lay-over, thus eliminating Great Britain, Sweden and Denmark).

First, let us example our neighbor to the north, whose anthem "O Canada," replaced "God Save the King (Queen)" in 1967.  French-Canadian-American musician Calixa Lavallée (1842-1891) wrote the tune in 1880 to a French patriotic poem by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier (1839-1920).  The words have been both translated into English (and Inuit!) and rewritten several times, taking their current form in 1980.  The tune may be found here with the text below:

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Our next stop on the national anthem tour is the Netherlands (Holland), the first European country that I spent more than a flyover within.  It's anthem, set to the tune "Wilhelmus," by an unknown composer, is considered by many to be the oldest national anthem in the world as it first appeared in song in 1568 and was first published in 1574.  It has an amazing fifteen stanzas (!), although in actual performance, usually only the first and sixth stanzas (see below) are sung:

William of Nassau
am I, of Dutch blood,
Loyal to the fatherland
I will remain until I die.
A prince of Orange
am I, free and fearless.
The king of Spain
I have always honoured.

My shield and reliance
are you, o God my Lord.
It is you on whom I want to rely,
never leave me again.
[Grant] that I may remain brave,
your servant for always,
and [may] defeat the tyranny,
which pierces my heart.

Hungary:  the country in which I made my European conducting debut with the Northern Iowa Chamber Players in the historical city of Eger.  It's anthem, with truly stunning (and understated) music by 19th century nationalistic composer Ferenc Erkel, includes the following text by Ferenc Kölcsey.  The tune is called, simply, Himnusz (Hymn).  I have included both the first and eighth (final) stanzas as they seem particularly poignant reflections of the Magyars:

O Lord, bless the nation of Hungary
With your grace and bounty
Extend over it your guarding arm
During strife with its enemies
Long torn by ill fate
Bring upon it a time of relief
This nation has suffered for all sins
Of the past and of the future!

Pity, O Lord, the Hungarians
Who are tossed by waves of danger
Extend over it your guarding arm
On the sea of its misery
Long torn by ill fate
Bring upon it a time of relief
They who have suffered for all sins
Of the past and of the future!

While this anthem may not pass my self-established "singability" test, it is perhaps the most beautiful of all national anthems.

I have visited the Czech Republic more than any other European land and must note that the unofficial anthem (which one hears on the plane approaching the Prague airport) is Smetana's "Vltava," aka "The Moldau."  One is reminded never to refer to that holiest of Bohemian rivers by its German name, for the Czechs have labored long and hard to release themselves from the yoke of the German and Russian-speaking "landlords" and become a sovereign nation.  Their official national anthem (since 1918) is Kde domov můj (Where is My Home?) with music by František Škroup and lyrics by Josef Kajetán Tyl.  The song was actually originally part of the incidental music for an 1834 comedy, Fidlovačka aneb Žádný hněv a žádná rvačka (Fidlovačka, or No Anger and No Brawl).

Where is my home, where is my home?
Water roars across the meadows,
Pinewoods rustle among crags,
The garden is glorious with spring blossom,
Paradise on earth it is to see.
And this is that beautiful land,
The Czech land, my home,
The Czech land, my home.

I spent an extremely cold and snowy week in southwestern Poland in January 2004.  Their anthem, the lively mazurka titled Mazurek Dąbrowskiego (Poland Is Not Yet Lost) with poetry by Józef Wybicki set to an anonymous tune, was not adopted until 1926.

Poland has not perished yet
So long as we still live
What foreign force has taken from us
We shall take back with the sword.

March, march, Dąbrowski

From Italy to Poland

Under thy command

Let us now rejoin the nation

Cross the Vistula and Warta
And Poles we shall be
We've been shown by Bonaparte
Ways to victory

March, march...

Like Czarniecki to Poznań
After Swedish occupation,
To rescue our homeland
We shall return by sea

March, march...

Father, in tears
Says to his Basia
Just listen, it seems that our people
Are beating the drums
March, march..

(I think it's kind of catchy!)

And my last (and most recent) visit to Europe was another land of extremely cold winters, although I managed to visit during the famous "white nights"--Russia.  Of course, this land has seen many changes in its governmental structure, from the kingdom of the Czars to 20th century communism and now its baby steps toward the establishment of a more democratic state.  Hence several different tunes have served as the national anthem, from "God Save the Tsar," to the anthem of international revolutionary socialism, "L'Internationale"(until 1944), to the current Gosudarstvenny Gimn Rossiyskoy Federatsii (State Hymn of the Russian Federation), with music by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov and lyrics by Sergey Mikhalkov:

Russia – our holy nation,
Russia – our beloved country.
A mighty will, great glory –
These are yours for all time!
Chorus:

Be glorious, our free Fatherland,

Age-old union of fraternal peoples,

National wisdom given by our forebears!

Be glorious, our country! We are proud of you!

From the southern seas to the polar lands
Spread our forests and fields.
You are unique in the world, one of a kind –
Native land protected by God!
Chorus
Wide spaces for dreams and for living
Are opened for us by the coming years
Our loyalty to our Fatherland gives us strength.
Thus it was, thus it is and always will be!
Chorus

Again we must ask if the tune is singable: probably not easily.  But it sure is stirring.

Here are some tunes once considered as replacements for the "Star-Spangled Banner:"

"Hail Columbia"

"My Country Tis of Thee"

"America the Beautiful"

I've already made my decision.  You pick yours...