Il Canto degli Italiani
Il Canto degli Italiani (The Song of the Italians) is the Italian national anthem. The anthem is also popularly known, from its first line, as Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy) and, after its author, as the Inno di Mameli (Mameli's Hymn).
The words were written in 1847 by the poet Goffredo Mameli as an expression of the popular struggle for the unification and independence of Italy. His poem, set to music by Michele Novaro, enjoyed widespread popularity throughout the period of the Risorgimento (Resurgence) – the 19th-century Italian movement towards unification. Following unification in (1861), the anthem of the royal house of Savoy was adopted as a national anthem. When, in 1946, Italy became a republic, Il Canto degli Italiani was provisionally chosen as the country's new national anthem. This choice has never been officially re-examined, with the result that it has remained Italy's "temporary" anthem for more than 50 years.
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Lyrics in Italian
- 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,
- che schiava di Roma
- Iddio la creò.
- CHORUS:
- Stringiamoci a coorte,
- siam pronti alla morte.
- Siam pronti alla morte,
- l'Italia chiamò.
- Stringiamoci a coorte,
- siam pronti alla morte.
- Siam pronti alla morte,
- l'Italia chiamò!
- Noi fummo da secoli
- calpesti, derisi,
- perché non siam popoli,
- perché siam divisi.
- Raccolgaci un'unica
- bandiera, una speme:
- di fonderci insieme
- già l'ora suonò.
- CHORUS
- Uniamoci, uniamoci,
- 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?
- CHORUS
- 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.
- CHORUS
- 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.
- CHORUS
English translation
- Italian brothers,
- Italy has arisen,
- With Scipio's helmet
- binding her head.
- Where is Victory?
- Let her bow down,
- For God has made her
- The slave of Rome.
- CHORUS
- Let us form a cohort,
- We are ready to die!
- We are ready to die!
- Italy has called!
- Let us form a cohort,
- We are ready to die!
- We are ready to die!
- Italy has called!
- We for centuries
- Have been downtrodden and derided,
- Because we are not a people,
- Because we are divided.
- Let one flag, one hope
- Bring us together;
- The hour has struck
- For us to join forces.
- CHORUS
- Let us form a cohort,
- We are ready to die!
- We are ready to die!
- Italy has called!
- Let us form a cohort,
- We are ready to die!
- We are ready to die!
- Italy has called!
- Let us unite and love one another;
- For union and love
- Reveal to peoples
- The way of the Lord
- Let us swear to free
- Our native soil;
- If we are united under God,
- Who can conquer us?
- CHORUS
- Let us form a cohort,
- We are ready to die!
- We are ready to die!
- Italy has called!
- Let us form a cohort,
- We are ready to die!
- We are ready to die!
- Italy has called!
- From the Alps to Sicily,
- Everywhere it is Legnano;
- Every man has the heart
- and hand of Ferruccio.
- The children of Italy
- Are all called Balilla;
- Every trumpet blast
- Sounds the (Sicilian) Vespers.
- CHORUS
- Let us form a cohort,
- We are ready to die!
- We are ready to die!
- Italy has called!
- Let us form a cohort,
- We are ready to die!
- We are ready to die!
- Italy has called!
- Mercenary swords
- Are feeble reeds,
- And the Austrian eagle
- Has lost his plumes.
- This eagle that drunk the blood
- of Italy and Poland,
- togheter with the Cossack,
- But this has burned his gut.
- CHORUS
- Let us form a cohort,
- We are ready to die!
- We are ready to die!
- Italy has called!
- Let us form a cohort,
- We are ready to die!
- We are ready to die!
- Italy has called!
Controversy
The desirability or otherwise of replacing Fratelli d'Italia with a different anthem has recently been discussed in Italy. The music of Fratelli d'Italia is viewed by some (both laymen and experts) as poor, especially when compared with the renonwed Italian classical music tradition (for example, Giuseppe Verdi or Giacomo Puccini). And the lyrics, far from being universal, refer to some very specific episodes in Italian history which, while they were well known to all in the 19th century, are almost meaningless now. Nevertheless, Fratelli d'Italia is immediately recognizable to everyone in Italy, and it is difficult to believe that Italians will allow it to be replaced without a fierce debate.
Audio
Listen to the audio file (~2 Megs download):
| Missing image Gnome-speakernotes.png (audio) | Fratelli D'Italia (info) |
| The complete anthem with vocals. | |
| Problems listening to the file? See media help. |
External links
- Italian government official page - includes lyrics and sound file
- From Quirinale, residence of the Head of State, lyrics and music (in Italian)
- MP3 file without vocals