"" is a patriotic song written by Goffredo Mameli and set to music by Michele Novaro in 1847, currently used as the national anthem of Italy. It is known among Italians as the ""—after the author of the lyrics—or as ""—from the song's opening line. The piece, in time signature and B-flat major key, has six strophes, and a refrain sung after each. The sixth group of verses, almost never performed, recalls the text of the first strophe.
The song was popular during the unification of Italy and the following decades. However, after the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, the republican and Jacobin connotations of "" were difficult to reconcile with the new state's monarchic constitution. The kingdom instead chose "Marcia Reale"—the House of Savoy's official anthem—composed by order of King Charles Albert of Sardinia in 1831.
After World War II, Italy became a republic. On 12 October 1946, it chose "" as a provisional national anthem. The song would retain this role as de facto anthem of the Italian Republic, and after many unsuccessful attempts, gained de jure status on 4 December 2017.
History
Origins
The text of "" was written by Goffredo Mameli, a young Genoese patriot inspired by the mass mobilizations that would lead to the revolutions of 1848 and the First Italian War of Independence. Sources differ on the precise date of the text's drafting: according to some scholars, Mameli wrote the text on 10 September 1847, while others date the composition's birth to two days prior—8 September.Associazione Nazionale Volontari di Guerra "Canti della Patria" ["Patrimonial songs" of the National Association of Veteran Volunteers] in Il Decennale – X anniversario della Vittoria, Anno VII dell'era fascista [The Decennial: The 10th anniversary of victory, Year 7 of the fascist era], Vallecchi Editore, Florence, 1928, p. 236. After discarding all extant music, on 10 November 1847 Mameli sent the text to Turin and the Genoese composer Michele Novaro, who lived at the time with the activist Lorenzo Valerio.
The poem captured Novaro, and he decided to set it to music on 24 November 1847. Thirty years later, the patriot and poet Anton Giulio Barrili recalled Novaro's description of the event thus: Mameli held Republican and Jacobin sympathies and supported the French Revolution credo . The text of "" drew inspiration from the French national anthem, "". For example, "" recalls the "" verse ('Form your battalions').
In the original version of the text, the first line of the first verse read "Hurray Italy", but Mameli changed it to "", likely at Novaro's suggestion. Novaro, after receiving the manuscript, added a rebellious "" ('Yes!') at the end of the final refrain.
Another verse in the first draft was dedicated to Italian women, but was eliminated by Mameli before the official debut. It read: "".
Debut
On 10 December 1847, a demonstration before the in , Genoa, was officially dedicated to the 101st anniversary of the Portoria quarter's popular rebellion during the War of the Austrian Succession, which had expulsed the Austrians from the city. In fact, it was an excuse to protest against foreign occupations in Italy and induce Charles Albert of Sardinia to embrace the Italian cause of liberty and of unity.
On this occasion, the flag of Italy was shown and Filarmonica Sestrese, the municipal band of Sestri Ponente, played Mameli's anthem for 30,000 patriots who had come to Genoa from other parts of Italy for the event. This event is believed to be the song's first public performance, but there may have been a previous public rendition in Genoa on 9 November 1847, of which the original documentation was lost.
That performance would have been by the Filarmonica Voltrese founded by Goffredo's brother , and used a first draft of "" that differs from the final version. As its author was infamously Mazzinian, the piece was forbidden by the Piedmontese police until March 1848. Its execution was also forbidden by the Austrian police, which also pursued its singing interpretation — considered a political crime — until their empire's dissolution. On 18 December 1847, the Pisan newspaper wrote how the song evoked public spirits:
Two of Mameli's autographed manuscripts have survived to the 21st century: the first draft, with Mameli's hand annotations, at the ; and the letter, from Mameli on 10 November 1847, to Novaro, at the Museo del Risorgimento in Turin.
Novaro's autographed manuscript to the publisher is located in the Ricordi Historical Archive. The later Istituto Mazziniano sheet lacks the final strophe ("") for fear of censorship. These leaflets were to be distributed at the 10 December demonstration in Genoa. The hymn was also printed on leaflets in Genoa, by the printer Casamara.
The following decades
"" debuted with a few months left to the revolutions of 1848. Shortly before the promulgation of the , the constitution that Charles Albert of Sardinia conceded to the Kingdom of Sardinia on 4 March 1848, political gatherings of more than ten people had become legal, and songs like "" could spread by word of mouth. Patriots from the 10 December demonstration spread the hymn all over the Italian Peninsula. It became popular among the Italian people and the ranks of the Republican volunteers. The hymn was commonly sung in most parts of Italy during demonstrations, protests and revolts as a symbol of the unification.
The Savoyard authorities censored the fifth strophe to preserve diplomatic relations with the Austrians; however, after the declaration of war against the Austrian Empire and the beginning of the First Italian War of Independence in 1848, the soldiers and the Savoy military bands performed it so frequently that King Charles Albert was forced to withdraw all censorship. The rebels sang "" during the Five Days of Milan and at Charles Albert of Piedmont-Sardinia's promulgation of the . Volunteers for the short-lived Roman Republic sang it, and Giuseppe Garibaldi hummed and whistled it during the defense of Rome and the flight to Venice.
Between the unification and World War I
In the 1860, the corps of volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi used to sing the hymn in the battles against the Bourbons in Sicily and southern Italy during the Expedition of the Thousand. Giuseppe Verdi, in his ('Hymn of the Nations'), composed for the London International Exhibition of 1862, chose "" to represent Italy, putting it beside "God Save the Queen" and "".
After the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, the "Royal March", composed in 1831, was chosen as the national anthem of unified Italy. "" had politically radical content, with its strong republican and Jacobin connotations, and did not combine well with the monarchical conclusion to the unification of Italy. Mameli's creed was, however, more historical than political, and socialist and anarchist circles also regarded "" as too conservative.
The song was one of the most common songs during the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866. At the Capture of Rome on 20 September 1870, the last step in Italian unification, choirs sang it together with "La bella Gigogin" and the "Royal March"; and "" received bersaglieri fanfare.
After the end of the Italian unification, "" was taught in schools, and remained popular among Italians. However, other musical pieces connected to the political and social situation of the time, such as the "" ('Hymn of the Workers') or "Goodbye to Lugano", addressed daily problems. These partly obscured the popularity of reunification hymns.
"", thanks to references to patriotism and armed struggle, returned to success during the Italo-Turkish War, whereby it joined ""; and in the trenches of World War I. Italian irredentism of that time found a symbol in ""; although, in the years following, in the patriotic ambit, musical pieces of greater military style such as "", the "" or "" would have been preferred over it. Shortly after Italy entered World War I, on 25 July 1915, Arturo Toscanini performed "" at an interventionist demonstration.
During fascism
Fascist chants, such as "", became important symbols, after the 1922 March on Rome. Although not official, they were widely disseminated, publicized, and taught in schools. Non-fascist melodies including "" were discouraged.
In 1932, National Fascist Party secretary Achille Starace decided to prohibit musical pieces that did not sing to Benito Mussolini and—more generally—did not link to fascism. "Subversive" songs (i.e., those of the anarchist or socialist type), such as the anthem of the workers or "The Internationale", and non-sympathetic foreign nations' official anthems, such as "", were banned. Sympathetic regimes' anthems, such as the Nazi hymn "" and the Francoist song "", were contrariwise encouraged. After the 1929 Lateran Treaty with the Holy See, anti-clerical passages were also banned.
In the spirit of this directive, some songs were resized, such as "", which was sung almost exclusively during the National Unity and Armed Forces Day every 4 November. The chants used during the Italian unification were tolerated, however: "", which was forbidden in official ceremonies, received a certain condescension on particular occasions.
During World War II, regime musicians released fascist pieces via radio, but few songs spontaneously arose among the population. Songs like "", "", "" and "" were common. The most famous spontaneous song was "".
After the armistice of 8 September 1943, the Italian government provisionally adopted as a national anthem "", replacing the "". Cooperation with the fascist dictatorship was now egg on the monarchy's face; a song that recalled the Italian victory in World War I could infuse courage and hope to the Royal Italian Army troops who now fought against Mussolini's Social Republic and Nazi Germany.
"" resounded in Southern Italy (freed by the Allies) and in partisan-controlled areas to the north. "", in particular, had success in anti-fascist circles, where it joined partisan songs "" and "". Some scholars believe that the success of the piece in anti-fascist circles then was decisive for its choice as provisional anthem of the Italian Republic.
Often, "" is wrongly referred to as the national anthem of the Italian Social Republic. However, Mussolini's Republic had no official anthem, playing "" and ""Review of I canti di Salò (De Marzi) (in Italian). Accessed 17 November 2014. equally often at the ceremonies. "" retained value to the fascists only for propaganda.
Thus, Mameli's hymn was sung by both partisans and fascists.
From provisional to official anthem
In 1945, at the end of the war, Arturo Toscanini directed a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's 1862 "" in London, including "". However, even after the birth of the Italian Republic, "" remained the temporary national anthem.
For the new anthem, a debate arose. Possible options included "" from Verdi's ; a completely new piece; ""; the ""; and confirmation of "". The government then approved Republican War Minister Cipriano Facchinetti's proposal to adopt "" as provisional anthem.
"" thus served as national anthem until the Council of Ministers meeting on 12 October 1946, when Facchinetti officially announced the provisional anthem for the 4 November National Unity and Armed Forces Day celebrations. The press release stated:
Facchinetti also declared that a draft decree would be proposed to confirm "" as the provisional national anthem of the newly formed Republic, but did not follow up on this promise. Instead, he proposed to formalize "" in the Constitution of Italy, then being drafted.