Hymn to Liberty
The Ymnos is tin Eleftherian (Greek Ύμνος είς την Ελευθερίαν [ imnos is tin ɛlɛfθɛrian ], Hymn to Freedom ') is the national anthem of Greece. The text is taken from the eponymous 1823 poem written by Dionysios Solomos from 158 quatrains, the music is by Nikolaos Mantzaros, the 'father' of the Ionian school, the first school of composers of modern Greece.
The Ymnos is tin Eleftherian is also used as the national anthem of the Republic of Cyprus since 1966. He also sounds at the celebrations of the modern Olympic Games, as a reminder of their origin.
Seal
According to the first print edition Solomos wrote the text in May 1823 Zakynthos. The island was then part of the first Greek-speaking state of the modern era, the United States of the Ionian Islands, whose intellectuals followed the Greek revolution on the mainland with enthusiasm. Solomos had his education in Italy ended in 1818 and also written in Greek poems, first in Italian, at the suggestion of Spyridon Trikoupis from 1822. He used a the dialect of his native island related vernacular, which was also relevant to the He founded the Ionian school. The Hymn to Liberty is the first of a large number of patriotic, the Greek struggle for freedom of reflective poems, Solomos created in the following years. The first edition appeared in 1824 bilingual Greek and Italian in the city of Messolonghi, which soon fell into Ottoman siege for years and was in Europe the symbol of the Greek struggle.
The 158 stanzas are quatrains with the rhyme scheme ABAB, in four-footed trochaic, the second and fourth lines end with an incomplete trochee, so katalektisch.
The hymn is addressed to the allegorical figure of liberty and praise the Greek struggle for freedom, which is guided by the idea of freedom victorious end. The text describes the initial efforts of Greek emancipation in the 18th century, mentioned Rigas Velestinlis that liberated ' Greeks of the Ionian Islands, the attitude of leading Western countries, notably the United States, Spain, the UK and Austria, whose foreign minister Metternich one of the most prominent opponents the Greek revolution. Then follow descriptions of the events of the first two years of the revolution and the justification of the revolution from the Christian religion, in whose name it is done. The second verse ( " Yes, you're new to us were ...", see below), is repeated like a refrain as the 16th, 74th and 87th verse, the first verse emerged as 122 a second time; these repetitions divided the work, which ends with an appeal of freedom to the unity of the Greeks and an ironic jab at Europe: " Can we save himself / uns're freedom ancestral / Or has eternal chains / us politics condemns? / / So if you have decided / Behold: the cross stands here in front of you / kings! Skin undaunted / Lead me also this trick! "
The seal Solomos ' quickly became popular in Europe in the philhellenes, already a year later published translations of the anthem in English and French; Was published anonymously in 1825, the first German translation of excerpts of Goethe 's friend Johann Friedrich Heinrich Schlosser. Three other excerpts German translations published until 1842. Well Mindler 1844 translated for the first time all the text into German, apparently to facilitate assessment of the Greek King Otto, who had received from Mantzaros the second composition of Solomos ' Hymn.
The Hymn to Liberty remained until today Solomos ' most famous work, among other things by the fact that they became popular as a national anthem.
Composition
Nikolaos Mantzaros, was good friends with Dionysios Solomos, who settled in 1828 in Corfu. He created three complete musical versions of the hymn to freedom, all for four-part male choir and piano.
Between 1828 and 1830 dates the first composition. You used for the text verses 1-8 the model for the used today melody in F major, in each case correspond to two text verses a musical stanza, but with a slightly larger range (f- a ¹ in the first tenor) and some ornate final twists that later have been simplified for the national anthem. Also a short introduction and a four-bar interlude between musical verses later fell away with the National Anthem. This work integrates text Solomos ' in 25 sections with some more verses, it was not published until after the composer's death in London in 1873 in print, financed by British Phil Hellenes and Greeks abroad. The musical structure is largely homophonic, obviously the work of the implementation was designed by laymen.
A second setting sent Mantzaros ' in 1844 the Greek King Otto. Here the proportions of polyphonic sections are significantly larger, fugati or small joints alternating with homophonic sections starting. The melody of today's national anthem is used here for stanzas 5-8 of Solomos'schen text. This composition was used on formal occasions in the royal palace well, but served as the National Anthem National Anthem of the Kingdom of Bavaria.
A third - largely polyphonic - version, which has been preserved in manuscript in the old Teatro San Giacomo, now the Town Hall of the city of Corfu, documented Mantzaros ' decades of work on the composition. The first two sections of this version appeared in 1897 in Italy in print, the melody of the national anthem is not included here.
When George I. 1865 was welcomed in the port of Corfu by the Banda of the Philharmonic Society of Corfu with Mantzaros ' original soundtrack, he was so impressed that the work with the melody used today with 24 stanzas on 4 August in 1865 by royal decree of the Ministry of the Marine "official national song" ( " ἐπίσημον ἐθνικόν ἄσμα " ) and thus de facto was proclaimed the national anthem. Sung, however, only the setting of the first two stanzas of the text today. Later Single show the melody slightly simplified with the range f -f ¹ ( ¹ and f -f ² for female voices ), and occasionally a sound transposed down to E flat major.
Text of the Greek national anthem
Σὲ γνωρίζω ἀπὸ τὴν κόψη τοῦ σπαθιοῦ τὴν τρομερή, σὲ γνωρίζω ἀπὸ τὴν ὄψη ποὺ μὲ βιὰ μετράει τὴ γῆ.
Ἀπ τὰ κόκκαλα βγαλμένη τῶν Ἑλλήνων τὰ ἱερά, καὶ σὰν πρῶτα ἀνδρειωμένη, χαῖρε, ὦ χαῖρε, Ἐλευθεριά!
Σε γνωρίζω από την κόψη του σπαθιού την τρομερή, σε γνωρίζω από την όψη που με βια μετράει τη γη.
Απ ' τα κόκκαλα βγαλμένη των Ελλήνων τα ιερά, και σαν πρώτα ανδρειωμένη, χαίρε, ω χαίρε, Ελευθεριά!
Ap ' ta Kokkala vgalmeni ton Ellinon ta iera, ke san prota andriomeni, chere, chere o, Eleftheria!
Sɛ ɣnɔrizɔ ‿ apɔ tin kɔpsi tu spaθju tin trɔmɛri sɛ ɣnɔrizɔ ‿ apɔ tin ɔpsi pu mɛ VJA mɛtrai ti ʝi
Ap ta kɔkala vɣalmɛni tɔn ɛlinɔn ta jɛra k ʲ ɛ san prɔta ‿ anðriɔmɛni Çɛrɛ ‿ ɔ çɛrɛ ɛlɛfθɛrja
I recognize you at the blade of the sword, the mighty. I recognize you by sight, the measures the Earth with force.
The bone sprung the Greeks, the sacred ( sc bone ) and, as before, brave, Hail, oh hail freedom!
Yes, I know 'up on the blade thy sword, so sharp and bare, how on this earth rings below your gewalt'ger gear.
The you from the Greeks bone rage sprung are, the broken the yoke of slavery, sweet freedom, hail!
At the sharp giant sword Your enemies terribly At the glance of the Earth Measures on the fly, I know you.
Yes, you're new to us were From the fathers Bloodvalor Hail Freedom! Was re- We in thee the ancestral courage.
I recognize ' you on the cutting edge, The terror of the sword is. At the look of pride into the distance Aims and bold measures the earth.
Hellas ' shrine kept you safe, And dodged heroes ash Light of a new morning glory, Freedom, healing, I greet you.