Salve, Oh Patria
English: We Salute You, Our Homeland | |
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National anthem of Ecuador | |
Lyrics | Juan León Mera, 1865 |
Music | Antonio Neumane |
Adopted | 23 November 1948 |
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Music sample | |
Salve, Oh Patria |
"¡Salve, Oh Patria!" ("We Salute You, Our Homeland") is the national anthem of Ecuador. The lyrics were written in 1865 by the poet Juan León Mera, under request of the Ecuadorian Senate; the music was composed by Antonio Neumane. However, the anthem was not officially adopted by the Congress until September 29, 1948.[1]
The anthem consists of a chorus and six verses, of which only the second verse and the chorus (before and after the verse) are sung.
History
In 1830-1832, José Joaquín de Olmedo wrote a national anthem (chorus and four verses) as an homage to the infant Ecuadorian state. This composition, suggested by General Juan José Flores, was not set to music and did not gain popularity. In 1833, a hymn entitled Canción Ecuatoriana (Ecuadorian Song), of six verses, was published in the Gaceta del Gobierno del Ecuador No. 125 of December 28. A composition date of 1830 was given, but most historians do not consider this definitive, because it was by an anonymous author. In 1838, a Canción Nacional (National Song), of a chorus and six verses, appeared included in the pamphlet Poesías by General Flores, which was published by the Government Press. In a later editions, there were changes to the third verse. Even so, for historians, it is the second Canción Nacional that is known.
In 1865, the Argentine musician Juan José Allende, in collaboration with the Ecuadorian Army, presented to the National Congress a musical project for the lyrics by José Joaquín de Olmedo, but it was not well received. In November of this year, at the express request of the president of the Senate, Nicolás Espinosa, the Ambateño poet Juan León Mera Martínez, who was then the secretary of the Senate, wrote and submitted the lyrics of the National Anthem. These lyrics were then sent, with Congressional approval, to Guayaquil, so that Antonio Neumane would set them to music. This is the hymn that would later be officialized as the definitive national anthem.
On January 16, 1866, the complete version of the lyrics by Juan León Mera were published in the Quiteño weekly El Sud Americano. In 1870, the national anthem premiered in the Plaza Grande (Plaza de la Independencia facing the Palacio de Gobierno), performed by the 2nd Battalion and the Compañía Lírica de Pablo Ferreti, directed by Antonio Neumane. The music was in the key of C flat major. The current introduction of 16 measures was composed by Domingo Brescia and Enrique Marconi in 1901. Today, the hymn is performed in the key of E major from 2001 onward.
In 1913, the Guayaquileño writer and diplomat Víctor Manuel Rendón submitted a new hymn with lyrics adapted from the music of Antonio Neumane, but ultimately the Legislature rejected the proposal.
Spanish lyrics
- Coro
- ¡Salve, Oh Patria, mil veces! ¡Oh Patria,
- gloria a ti! ¡Gloria a ti!
- Ya tu pecho, tu pecho, rebosa
- Gozo y paz y a tu pecho rebosa;
- Y tu frente, tu frente radiosa
- Más que el sol contemplamos lucir,
- Y tu frente, tu frente radiosa
- Más que el sol contemplamos lucir.
- 2da Estrofa
- Los primeros los hijos del suelo
- Que soberbio, el Pichincha decora
- Te aclamaron por siempre señora
- Y vertieron su sangre por ti.
- Dios miró y aceptó el holocausto
- Y esa sangre fue germen fecundo
- De otros héroes que atónito el mundo
- Vio en tu torno a millares surgir.
- A millares surgir, a millares surgir.
- Coro
Spanish full lyrics
- Coro[2]
- ¡Salve, Oh Patria, mil veces! ¡Oh Patria,
- gloria a ti! Y a tu pecho rebosa
- gozo y paz, y tu frente radiosa
- más que el sol contemplamos lucir.
- I
- Indignados tus hijos del yugo
- que te impuso la ibérica audacia,
- de la injusta y horrenda desgracia
- que pesaba fatal sobre ti,
- santa voz a los cielos alzaron,
- voz de noble y sin par juramento,
- de vengarte del monstruo sangriento,
- de romper ese yugo servil.
- II
- Los primeros los hijos del suelo
- que, soberbio, el Pichincha decora
- te aclamaron por siempre señora
- y vertieron su sangre por ti.
- Dios miró y aceptó el holocausto,
- y esa sangre fue germen fecundo
- de otros héroes que, atónito, el mundo
- vio en tu torno a millares surgir.
- III
- Cedió al fin la fiereza española,
- y hoy, oh Patria, tu libre existencia
- es la noble y magnífica herencia
- que nos dio el heroísmo feliz:
- de las manos paternas la hubimos,
- nadie intente arrancárnosla ahora,
- ni nuestra ira excitar vengadora
- quiera, necio o audaz, contra si.
- IV
- De esos héroes el brazo de hierro
- nada tuvo invencible la tierra
- y del valle a la altísima sierra
- se escuchaba el fragor de la lid;
- tras la lid la victoria volaba,
- libertad tras el triunfo venía,
- y al león destrozado se oía
- de impotencia y despecho rugir
- V
- Nadie, oh Patria, lo intente. Las sombras
- de tus héroes gloriosos nos miran
- y el valor y el orgullo que inspiran
- son augurios de triunfos por ti.
- Venga el hierro y el plomo fulmíneo,
- que a la idea de guerra y venganza
- se despierta la heroica pujanza
- que hizo al fiero español sucumbir.
- VI
- Y si nuevas cadenas prepara
- la injusticia de bárbara suerte,
- ¡gran Pichincha! prevén tú la muerte
- de la Patria y sus hijos al fin;
- hunde al punto en tus hondas entrañas
- cuando existe en tu tierra; el tirano
- huelle solo cenizas y en vano
- busque rastro de ser junto a ti.
English translation
- Chorus
- We greet you, Oh Fatherland, a thousand times!
- Oh Fatherland, Glory be to you! Glory be to you!
- Your breast, your breast, overflows,
- Your breast overflows with joy and peace;
- And your radiant face, your radiant face
- is brighter than the shining sun we see,
- And your radiant face, your radiant face
- is brighter than the shining sun we see.
- 1st verse
- Your children of the yoke were outraged,
- For they were imposed by the audacious Iberians,
- By the unjust and horrendous disgrace,
- Fatally weighing upon you.
- From the skies a holy voice cried out,
- that noble voice of a unbreakable pledge,
- to defeat that monster of blood,
- that this yoke of yours would disappear.
- 2nd verse
- The first sons of the soil, noble
- Which the proud; the Pichincha adorns,
- They declared you as their sovereign lady forever
- And shed their blood for you.
- God observed and accepted the holocaust,
- And that blood was the prolific seed
- Of other heroes whom the world in astonishment
- Saw rise up around you by the thousands.
- Rise up by the thousands, Rise up by the thousands.
- Chorus
- 3rd verse
- At last the fierce Spanish yielded,
- And now, oh fatherland, your free existence
- The noble and magnificent heritage,
- That gave us the happy heroism:
- It was given to us from our fathers hands,
- Let no one take it from us now,
- Nor wish to excite our vengeful anger,
- Any foolish or bold, against itself.
- 4th verse
- Of those heroes of iron arm
- No land was invincible,
- And from the valley to the highest sierra
- You could hear the roar of the fray;
- After the fray that victory would fly,
- Freedom after the triumph would come,
- And the Lion was heard broken
- With a roar of helplessness and despair.
- 5th verse
- No one, oh fatherland, tries it. The shadows of
- Your glorious heroes watch us,
- And the value and pride that inspire
- They are omens of victories for you.
- Come lead and the striking iron,
- That the idea of war and revenge
- Wakes the heroic strength
- That made the fierce Spanish succumb.
- 6th verse
- And if new chains are prepared by
- The barbaric injustice of fate,
- Great Pichincha! you prevent the death
- Of the country and their children in the end;
- Sinks to the deep point in your gut
- When there in your land, the tyrant
- Let him trample upon only ashes and in vain
- Look for trace of any being by you.