Spain and Portugal for Visitors

Posted by : John Ross on Oct 03, 2007 - 12:09 PM Music

The Spanish national anthem is notable for two things: big bits of it sound just like the Geordie folk song The Keel Row (and it can be almost as jolly when played at a reasonable speed*), and it has no words. The latter fact makes little difference, except, modern times being what they are, at sports events. One occasion a year or two ago especially pleased me - at the medal award ceremony, with the Spanish (waterpolo, I think) team on the podium, the music system failed. Unphased either by the non-accompaniment or by lack of words, the valiant Spaniards provided their own, relatively tuneful version - "Naa naa, naa naa, na-na-na-na na-na-na-na..." and so on. It was glorious. Now the Spanish Olympic Committee has decided the situation cannot continue and is running a competition to find suitable lyrics. More of this story.

*Don't take my word for it, listen to this fine, spirited midi version of it, courtesy of those nice young folks over at Wikipedia.

The Spanish national anthem is called the Marcha Real, Royal March, or Marcha Granadera, Grenadiers' March , and the page dedicated to it on the Spanish prime minister's office's website says, "It has no words, only music. There are two versions, full and short, either of which should be played in its entirety, once only." It has had unofficial lyrics at different times in history, most dreadfully in the Spanish post-war, when its words were repugnantly fascist, exhorting its listeners (children of Spanish soil) to raise their arms to the glorious Fatherland, with a good deal of marching and triumphing thrown in. Calls for the anthem to be given more up-to-date and acceptable lyrics are made regularly, but the reason for the present competition is that Spain is bidding (again) to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

The competition is being organized by the Spanish General Society of Authors and Editors. Its closing date is October 26th, after which a panel of experts selected by the very academic Complutense Institute of Musical Sciences will take until Christmas to choose a winner, which will even be presented to parliament for approval. Thousands of entries have already been received, including one by left-wing singer-songwriter Joaquín Sabina, something of a veteran in the matter - he wrote a popular anthem for the Atlético de Madrid football team.

More information:
The Spanish prime minister's office's page about the national anthem:
http://www.la-moncloa.es/Espana/ElEstado/Simbolos/Elhimno.htm
The Guardian story: http://www.guardian.co.uk/spain/article/0,,2182414,00.html
The Spanish Olympic Committee: http://www.coe.es/
Sociedad General de Autores y Editores: http://www.sgae.es
Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales: http://www.iccmu.es/