TOP 5 Stories of Anthems Played at EURO 2024

1. “Where my home is!?”

The deeply felt Czech national anthem was written for the character of the blind violinist Mareš, who sings it in the fourth act of Josef Kajetán Tyl's 1834 play Fidlovačka or No Rage and No Fight. The music was composed by František Škroup, who also slightly adapted the original text. Even though the heavyweights of the Czech patriotic front criticized the play, people liked the song "Where my home is so" much that it naturally became an informal patriotic anthem.

Later, in the times of Bach's absolutism, its privileged status was also contributed to by the fact that it was included on the list of dangerous materials and even the police director himself caught students who dared to sing it in public. Thanks to this sweet taste of forbidden fruit, the song gained enormous fame after 1860, when it could again be reproduced without penalty.

As František Škroup composed the melody during a quiet night at his sick wife's bedside, some critics accused the song of being too weepy or sweet for a national anthem. It certainly had more critics than supporters among the national elite but a famous Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, when challenged to compose something better, replied that he would not compete with a composition that the nation had chosen for itself and that was so popular.

2. A Portuguesa

On 11th January 1890, the British Empire issued an ultimatum demanding that Portugal refrain from colonizing the territory lying between the Portuguese colonies of Angola on the west coast of Africa and Mozambique on the east coast, thus creating one contiguous state. The Portuguese government accepted their demands, even though it knew that this would not meet with the approval of the majority of the people. This decision contributed to the great unpopularity of King Charles I and the monarchy in general. The popular republican movement in Portugal was thus forging its way to the top.

A Portuguesa, with music by Alfredo Keil and lyrics by Henrique Lopes de Mendonça, certainly contributed to this. It was first heard as the marching song of the failed republican uprising in Porto in January 1891, only to be adopted as the anthem of the newly formed Portuguese Republic in 1911, replacing the Hino da Carta of the overthrown constitutional monarchy. However, neither of the anthem's authors were initially happy that the piece was often used as a political weapon and were keen to emphasise its non-partisan nature.

3. Tavisupleba

This Georgian anthem is rather new, as it saw the light of day only in 2004 when the then president Mikheil Saakashvili had a competition for a new national anthem. The reason for this was a rather amusing story when Chancellor Gerhard Schröder confused the German and Georgian anthems during Saakashvili's visit to Germany because their melodies were too similar. Of course, this could not be allowed to continue, a new anthem had to be written, and in the end, the song Tavisuleba was chosen. The music was written by the leading Georgian composer Zakaria Paliashvili (it is an excerpt from the 1919 opera "Abesalom and Eteri" and the 1923 opera "Daisi") and the words were supplied by Davir Maghradze.

The new anthem caught on very quickly because, unlike its predecessor, its lyrics were easier to remember and simpler. In fact, the best proof that the novelty resonated with the people was an event that President Saakashvili experienced first-hand. During the visit of US President George W. Bush in 2005, the Tavisupleba playback in Freedom Square did not work, where the event was attended by crowds of many thousands of Georgians. Saakashvili reacted promptly and called on everyone present to simply sing the anthem. It must have been quite an experience and the ultimate goosebumps factor to hear the new anthem sung by the entire square, and in front of the US President to boot.

4. Independence March

The Turkish national anthem was a collaborative work of several prominent poets, musicians and composers, which was created quite intricately during the tumultuous years of the struggle for independence. In its final form, the lyrics were written by Mehmet Akif Ersoy and the music was eventually composed by Osman Zeki Üngör. The anthem conveys a strong theme of love of country and freedom. In Ersoy's original manuscript, a dedication is inserted to the army, whose heroic deployment helped the birth of modern Turkey.

Before the Ottoman Empire officially collapsed in 1921, the leader of the independence movement, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, launched a national anthem competition. The main goal was to select an original composition suitable for motivating the militias fighting for the new state while providing inspiration and pride in the nascent homeland, which could only become a reality after victory was achieved, of course.

It was not an easy situation for the nascent modern Turkish nation. A total of 724 poems were submitted, combined with twenty-four composers who provided their musical themes. Interestingly, Mehmet Akif Ersoy, a well-known poet of the time and ultimately the author of the winning text, initially refused to participate because of the financial reward offered in the competition.

However, due to the Turkish War of Independence in 1919-1923, the committee selecting from the proposals was not able to meet until 1924, when they favoured the music composed by Ali Rıfat Çağatay. Only, this composition lasted only six years. In 1930, Parliament adopted a new composition by Osman Zeki Üngör as a permanent musical arrangement, only to have Edgar Manas complete the final musical arrangements of the already final and official version of the anthem two years later.

5. The Song of the Germans

And since there are only four teams in the group, but we need one more for our Top 5, let's take a look at the story of the host country of the European Football Championship, which is Germany. There aren't many pieces of music that are also skeletons in the closet, which can be said of the German anthem Deutschlandlied (Song of the Germans). The musical content is the composition Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser, written in 1797 by the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn to celebrate the birthday of Franz II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (later Austria).

In 1841, the German linguist and poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote the text Das Lied der Deutschen specifically for this piece. It contains the infamous phrase 'Deutschland, Deutschland, über alles' ('Germany, Germany, above all'), but in its time it had a completely different, even revolutionary context. It was a call for the unification of Germany, which was otherwise divided into the rival countries of the German Confederation.

Since the Second World War, after the fall of Nazi Germany, only the third verse, with the phrase 'Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit' ('Unity and Justice and Freedom') has been used as the national anthem and is considered the unofficial national motto of Germany. Otherwise, the composition has been the German national anthem since 1922 during the Weimar Republic (all three stanzas were sung) and, with the exception of a seven-year hiatus after the Second World War in West Germany (where only the third stanza was then sung from 1952).

In East Germany, the anthem from 1949-1990 was Auferstanden aus Ruinen (From the Ruins Risen). After German reunification in 1990, the national anthem was again Deutschlandlied, but only the third stanza was allowed. Interestingly, while it is not illegal to sing the first verse, it is not officially recommended due to the historical association.