Salve, Oh Patria

¡Salve, Oh Patria!

English: We Salute You, Our Homeland
National anthem of  Ecuador
Lyrics	Juan León Mera, 1865
Music	Antonio Neumane
Adopted	23 November 1948
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.

References

1. Presidency of Ecuador
2. Government of Pichincha

External links

• Ecuador National Anthem