Anthems (7) – Latin Interlude

My original interest in anthems came about because of my love of the Russian anthems, my history with the German/Austrian anthems, and my discovery of the wide-spread distribution of God Save the Queen (more of which later).  I’ve discussed the Russian anthems and I’m holding the other business for the end.  Pending the end, I wanted to get an idea of what else was out there, lurking in places I usually don’t inhabit.  Thus this temporary interlude.

I’ve always felt that white United States folks have been raised to neglect Latin America, so I went off to explore those national anthems.  I came back only with preliminary impressions.

I quickly explored Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile—and Puerto Rico.  What I remember is mostly Brazil.  I have a friend there, and I’d listened to the anthem before.  The others I’ve heard only once even now—and Venezuela disconnected half-way through.  I remember the Mexican anthem seemed rather bellicose—but that’s from my U.S. perspective (more of that later).  But Brazil I was actually on the verge of learning.

The Brazilian anthem struck me the first time (and later on) as a Verdi opera.   Sources tell me that the style is actually more that of a Rossini opera.  Someone online commented that “it’s so much fun to sing!”  And it probably is.  I just haven’t attempted to learn the words yet—I don’t know the vocabulary, and I’d have to learn how to run all the vowels together.  It’s a future project.

For reference, I also listened to the anthems from Spain and Portugal—and Italy (someone had said it was the prettiest); I’m left with a general sense that they sound “Latin”; they generally don’t sound like Verdi operas, and yet…somehow they remind me of Italian opera—and is that really so surprising?

I guess I’m only half surprised.  It’s Brazil I remember, which does sound like 1830s Italian opera—and in fact the anthem was written around that time, so why shouldn’t it?

I explored other world regions too—more of that shortly.  I intend to return to many of the places I’ve only glanced at; you really do find surprises out there.  I found myself rather touched by what I found in Puerto Rico—though perhaps that was because the singer reminded me of a girlfriend.  (And which “anthem,” actually, was she singing?  Puerto Rico is a commonwealth within the United States.  I think after her I stumbled onto a Puerto Rican revolutionary song!)

Yes, I’ve found many surprises.  Stay tuned.