Description
Spain's national anthem is one of the oldest and long-lasting in the world. Its origins pre-date the impressive blossoming of a 'genre' started by French Revolution. Therefore, if the second half of the 18th century can be assumed as the starting point of this kind of production, the two-and-a-half centuries elapsed since then have witnessed, especially in Europe, the flowering of a repertory worth serious study.
Scientific literature on topic is all but conspicuous: dictionaries show detailed but schematic entries; first published in 1960, a volume including texts and vocal scores has reached its 11th edition back in 2006, but apart from this encyclopedic enterprise the repertory seems not to have been studied critically. Little is known about the vast majority of authors of texts and music; letters have been rarely highlighted in their literary value and in their (broadly speaking) cultural significance; the changing geography of countries has never been observed through the lens of national anthems; the history of each country shows significant repercussions on the kind of music used to represent each new phase.
With its impressive richness in terms of languages and people, the Mediterranean is an area in which such a study can be carried out by a study group provided with an adequate background in languages, literature, history, and music. Therefore, Valencia's conference seems a promising occasion to launch the idea of a project that, initially centered on the Mediterranean, can be expanded to the extent of a critical survey on the national anthems of the entire world.
Needless to say, the "Fortleben" of national anthems in the realm of art music (just to give three examples, Rossini's Il viaggio a Reims, Verdi's Inno delle nazioni, and Stockhausen's Hymnen) is a natural ramification of a project that, starting from an accurate benchmarking, can lead to important, and maybe unexpected results.
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