National anthems and other national songs.

[Wowbagger]

I've always thought the English "national" anthem was a heap of shite and very divisive. I'd much rather we had Jerusalem (I'm not sure why Blake wrote that poem, but Parry's music is very good).

I've been struck by the superb music of Sibelius, whose anthem from Finlandia is just marvellous, and it's hard to beat this wonderful rendition with minimalist forces.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiQjEqa8cGc&ab_channel=IL-TV

Although this one, for male voice choir, and sung in Iceland, is also superb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns2A5yUMZhU&ab_channel=Karlak%C3%B3rinnF%C3%B3stbr%C3%A6%C3%B0ur

Here is the actual Finnish national anthem, which is also very good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kapKhQR7WjI&ab_channel=TheMarches09

Which other countries have rousing national anthems, and another, rival, song which is at least as good?

[Pingu]

What is the English national anthem?

[Wowbagger]

What is the English national anthem?

I think most would consider it to be "Deity preserve the monarch" or something like that and therefore it cannot be sung by patriotic republicans.

[Pingu]

What is the English national anthem?

I think most would consider it to be "Deity preserve the monarch" or something like that and therefore it cannot be sung by patriotic republicans.

And it's a fecking awful dirge.

[Mr Larrington]

The Italian one is a cracking tune, but doesn’t get played nearly often enough at F1 races these days chiz.

[Hot Flatus]

It isn't a patch on the Myanmar national anthem of 1974-88.

https://youtu.be/JKZTzsRSycY

[Wowbagger]

What is the English national anthem?

I think most would consider it to be "Deity preserve the monarch" or something like that and therefore it cannot be sung by patriotic republicans.

And it's a fecking awful dirge.

It is.

[hellymedic]

I like a spot of Haydn for Deutschland …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2IaFaJrmno

[Pedal Castro]

What is the English national anthem?

I think most would consider it to be "Deity preserve the monarch" or something like that and therefore it cannot be sung by patriotic republicans.

And it's a fecking awful dirge.

It is.

Doesn't have to be
https://youtu.be/yqrAPOZxgzU

[T42]

Then there's Serge Gainsbourg's version of the Marseillaise that wiped a few dozen sclerotic colonels off the military pensions list.

https://youtu.be/mLq7EcvRaf0

[Mrs Pingu]

What about the British National anthem then? 
And you can shove Jerusalem for that too.

[Canardly]

Billy Connolly has the answer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9nnnM-__JQ

[Mr Larrington]

What about the British National anthem then? 
And you can shove Jerusalem for that too.

The Chicken Song off of TV's “Spitting Image”?

An independent Scotland will clearly need a rousing ditty created by one or more Scots so independent they moved to the side of the planet opposite Westminster.  I therefore nominate “It's A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock'n'Roll)”, written by Scots-in-exile Angus Young and Bon Scott.

[Wowbagger]

What about the British National anthem then? 
And you can shove Jerusalem for that too.

Jerusalem is specifically English. It says so. Scotland's green and pleasant lands don't feature I'm afraid.

[Tim Hall]

What is the English national anthem?

I think most would consider it to be "Deity preserve the monarch" or something like that and therefore it cannot be sung by patriotic republicans.

But surely it's not the English national anthem. It's the British national anthem.
Here are some nice national anthem lyrics, from ABROAD where the FOREIGNS come from

To arms, citizens,
Form your battalions,
March, march!
Let an impure blood
Water our furrows!

What does this horde of slaves,
Of traitors and conspiring kings want?
For whom have these vile chains,
These irons, been long prepared? (repeat)
Frenchmen, for us, ah! What outrage
What furious action it must arouse!
It is to us they dare plan
A return to the old slavery!

Flanders and Swann for the English National Anthem, obvs.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Then there's Serge Gainsbourg's version of the Marseillaise that wiped a few dozen sclerotic colonels off the military pensions list.

https://youtu.be/mLq7EcvRaf0

McClernand4
5 years ago
L' adaptation des paroles de l'hymne du régime qui fut le premier dans le monde à abolir l'esclavage (la 1ère République, en 1794) sur une musique (le reggae) précisément conçue et développée par des esclaves (de la Jamaïque).

Quel meilleur hommage pouvait-on lui rendre ?

Like Barenboim conducting Wagner in Jerusalem. 

[Peter]

The Italian one is a cracking tune, but doesn’t get played nearly often enough at F1 races these days chiz.

It's been played with almost monotonous, though excellent regularity at both the Olympic athletics and most cycling events this year.

A shout for "Nkosi Sikelele Afrika", the South African one.  It's a fabulous tune but it should stop before the "development, or middle eight, which is so inferior it makes me wonder if someone else wrote that bit.

[Efrogwr]

Hen Wlad yn Nhadau.

I rest my case.

[Peter]

Yes, that's a great one, though very rarely heard at a medal ceremony, as is nowadays the case with the terrific Russian one.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I believe the Russian anthem, and Soviet anthem before it, is an adaptation of a piece originally written by Glinka. It pays to start with proper music.

[Peter]

 

[Wowbagger]

@Tim Hall: I don't think our Scots or Welsh contingent would consider the "British" national anthem to be particularly British. I doubt that it ever gets played in Wales for events which demand a national anthem. Nor Scotland.

Curiously, I found a recording of an ancient rugby match in which the Scots sang Auld Lang Syne as a national anthem. I have to say I'm not a fan of "Flower of Scotland". There are some far better Scots tunes about.

[Wowbagger]

I like the Internationale. Wonderful piece.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8EMx7Y16Vo&ab_channel=VladimirGLenin

[fd3]

But surely it's not the English national anthem. It's the British national anthem.

It's both, the downside of ENGERLAND being in charge of Britain is that, while it stuck it's anthem on the union it doesn't have a separate one of it's own.

I like the European anthem myself.

[Rod Marton]

I believe the Russian anthem, and Soviet anthem before it, is an adaptation of a piece originally written by Glinka. It pays to start with proper music.

Actually the Glinka piece was the one adopted by the Russian Federation after the fall of the Soviet Union. However it wasn't very popular, as it didn't have any words and the music was fairly uninspiring, so they re-adopted the old Soviet anthem, with the lyrics rewritten to avoid the references to an everlasting union of fifteen republics and the inevitable victory of communism. I was in Russia when it was re-adopted, and it seemed quite a popular move.