- Latin American epic anthems: Possibly the easiest to identify, these are found in Latin American (Spanish-speaking Central and South America) countries and tend to be rather long, have an epic quality in the music, often containing both a quick, patriotic section of music, and a slower, stately part, and consists of many verses, usually chronicling the history of the country. Many are also composed by Italians (or other Europeans). They also tend to have a similar history in that they are usually written for another piece of music, but later the music is replaced but the original words are kept. In many cases, all the verses are official and, whether or not all verses are often sung in the country or not, children are expected to memorize the entire anthem in school in some of these countries. Examples include Argentina, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, and Uruguay.
Mexican National Anthem for String Orchestra
Mexican National Anthem for Brass Quintet
The "Mexican National Anthem", also known by its incipit "Mexicans, at the cry of war" (Spanish: Mexicanos, al grito de guerra), is the national anthem of Mexico. The lyrics of the national anthem, which allude to historical Mexican military victories in the heat of battle and including cries of defending the homeland, were composed by poet Francisco González Bocanegra after a Federal contest in 1853. Later, in 1854, he asked Jaime Nunó to compose the music that now accompanies González's poem. The national anthem, consisting of ten stanzas and a chorus, effectively entered into use on September 16, 1854.
The melody of the anthem goes back to the 1700s as a liturgical anthem in Spain. It was brought to Nicaragua shortly before independence in 1821, and was declared as the country’s first official anthem sometime between 1835 and 1837. The wordless melody was used until 1876, when it was replaced with the song “Soldados, ciudadanos” (Soldiers, Citizens). (This anthem may have been wordless until 1889). It was replaced yet again in 1893 after General José Santos Zelaya took over the country; the anthem “Hermosa Soberana” (Beautiful Sovereign) was composed by Zelaya’s son-in-law Alejandro Cousin and was written by either Rubén Darío, Santiago Argüello or Manuel Maldonado. Despite being replaced in 1910 after Zelaya fled the country, the song remains a popular patriotic song in Nicaragua.
The first priority was to arrange the old music of the national anthem, and Luis Abraham Delgadillo, a Nicaraguan composer who studied in Milan, was chosen to arrange the anthem. In 1918, the key of the anthem was changed to G major and it was made to be played by a band more easily; the new arrangement made the anthem also sound more like other “Latin American epic anthems” also in use by neighbouring countries. A contest was then held for the new lyrics for the anthem. The requirements were that there be words for both parts of the anthem, the only topic would be peace and work (as a contrast to the political upheavals of recent history) and that the words fit the melody. The winning lyrics were adopted by the government in 1939.
The "National Anthem of Peru", also known as the "National March of Peru" and "We Are Free", was adopted in 1821. The music was composed by José Bernardo Alcedo, and the lyrics were written by José de la Torre Ugarte.
The first leader of Peru declared a contest to compose a new national anthem shortly after independence. The winning anthem, entitled “Marcha Nacional” (National March) was accepted immediately as the new national anthem, and was sung for the first time in the Principal Theatre of Lima on the night of 24 September 1821. In the intervening years, there were efforts to alter the lyrics (partly due to the anthem’s anti-Spanish tone) but in 1913 the lyrics were declared to be sacrosanct and not to be rewritten (previous efforts to do so didn’t catch on in popularity anyway). Despite this, the anthem continued to be revised in the ensuing decades. Different words for the first verse, then the second and third verses, were written, with varying degrees of success, during different presidential regimes but after their terms were over, the lyrics reverted back to the original ones.
In 2005, it was determined that the first verse, which was most commonly sung at the time, was not written by José de la Torre Ugarte, but it had become part of the popular ethos by this time, as well as being part of the 1913 law regarding the intangibleness of the anthem. It was also determined that the original fifth stanza had been excluded from the anthem, and was reinstated as the sixth stanza, making seven stanzas in all. In 2009, the government declared the last verse to be the official verse to be sung when the anthem is played.