European anthem
The European anthem is the anthem of the European Union and the Council of Europe and one of the official symbols of the European Union .
The hymn is an instrumental version of the main theme Ode to Joy from the last movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's ninth symphony .
History of the European anthem
On January 19, 1972, the Council of Europe adopted the melody as its own hymn and commissioned the conductor Herbert von Karajan to arrange three versions: a solo piano version and an orchestral version for wind and symphony orchestra. In 1985, the instrumental version was adopted as the official anthem of the EC by the heads of state and government of the European Communities on a proposal by the Adonnino Committee . It does not replace the national anthems of the Member States, but is an expression of the values - freedom, peace and solidarity - shared by all members and an expression of the unity of Europe in diversity.
Anthem without text
In order not to prefer a European language, and because of the symbolic universality of the music, the European anthem is not Beethoven's choral version with the German text by Friedrich Schiller (" Joy, beautiful Götterfunken ... ") , which Count Coudenhove-Kalergi , the founder of the Paneuropean Union , It was proposed as a European anthem in 1955, but a purely instrumental arrangement.
There are various text suggestions in different languages, some of which were presented by choirs at events. And the first application for a European citizens' initiative proposed an Esperanto translation of Beethoven's choral version as the text for the European anthem. However, the European Commission rejected the request and none of the other text proposals were officially recognized.
Others
On the day of Kosovo's declaration of independence , February 17, 2008, the European anthem was played there as the provisional national anthem of the new republic.
The so-called Eurovision anthem, known from television, must be distinguished from the European anthem , the prelude from the Te Deum by Marc-Antoine Charpentier .
See also
- Latin text of the European anthem
- List of national anthems
literature
-
Albrecht Riethmüller : The anthem of the European Union . In: Pim den Boer, Heinz Duchhardt, Georg Kreis, Wolfgang Schmale (eds.): European places of remembrance 2 . The house of Europe. Oldenbourg, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-11-048507-3 , pp. 89-96.
- ( Online (limited preview) as a digitized version from Google Books ; accessed March 11, 2019)
Web links
- European Union website on the anthem - with audio sample.
- Archive of the basic documents for the anthem on the website of the Council of Europe (PDF of the originals)
- The European anthem - audio sample and basic documents (transcriptions) at the Center Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l'Europe (CVCE)
Remarks
- ↑ Explanation on the website of the European Union for the anthem , last accessed February 15, 2012
- ↑ Correspondence between Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi and Paul MG Lévy, Director of the Press Service at the Council of Europe from August and September 1955 (PDF) at the Center Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l'Europe , last accessed February 15, 2012
- ↑ on the proposal of MEP Ingo Friedrich (MEP) for a competition initiative 2006 see. Der Standard , competition for European anthems text , August 4, 2006; accessed March 11, 2019.
- ^ First EU citizens' initiative: European hymn to Esperanto , dpa , April 3, 2012; accessed March 11, 2019.
- ^ Caille Millner: Giving People a Say in the European Union , Spiegel Online, May 4, 2012; accessed March 11, 2019.
- ↑ Enver Robelli: The Last Battle of Kosovo - The Kosovo before independence , Sueddeutsche Zeitung , May 11, 2010; accessed March 11, 2019.
- ↑ Latin text of the hymn