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National Anthem
The predecessors of national anthems were those pathetic poems
and religious songs, which were sung in the churches of Europe
from the 16th century onward. It was from these popular tunes
that first the religious hymns came into being, which were later
sung in large communities, and then, under favourable conditions,
they did become national anthems.
In 18th century Hungary two religious songs became popular as
hymns. Both of them can be found in old songbooks; one of them
is entitled ’Oh, where are thou, bright star of Hungarians,’ and
the other one bears the title ’ Our Virgin Mother’. It was
important features of these songs that they were widely known;
their content was agreed upon within the community and they
struck deep common cords in all members of the given community.
The songs were sung together by community members as breathed
prayers.
At the beginning of the 19th century it was the Austrian
imperial hymn that was sung on the occasion of official
ceremonies in the country and it was considered a community
song, which was to symbolize the entire nation. In the same
period, the Rákóczi Song and the Rákóczi March could also be
heard on special occasions, and they were meant to symbolize
Hungarian national identity.
Poet Ferenc Kölcsey completed his Anthem on January 22nd 1823
and dated it accordingly. Had he not written anything else in
his life, but this, his name still would be remembered as the
author of this poem. According to literary historians it was not
likely that Kölcsey completed the poem on that very day. Several
of its ideas and phrases can be found in earlier works of the
poet, while other thoughts are detectable in different works by
earlier Hungarian poets. But it took Kölcsey’s exceptional
sensitivity to compress all the important facts of several
centuries of the nation’s history into a perfect unity of form
and content. The poem features such emotional intensity that
some of its interpreters see it as an example of the nation’s
ultimate pessimism, while others consider it as an example of
confidence in the success of the nation’s future struggles.
There is another Hungarian literary work that was to be raised
to the rank of the nation’s national anthem. It was the poem
Proclamation by Mihály Vörösmarty. In
 1836, the year of its
appearance it was praised as follows (on the pages of the
almanac entitled Aurora): we hope it will not be recited
without attention and impact; we wish that this proclamation
bear its fruit, which is action. The poems and the quoted
commentary are authentic descriptions of contemporary thoughts,
feelings,and they reflect tension as well. At the same time they
serve as evidence to prove national confidence and the nation’s
willingness to act.
In these circumstances there was a man of great worth, Endre
Bartai, the director of the National Theatre and himself a
composer, who must have sensed the greatness of both poems. He
had conducted several competitions and decided to have set the
words of these poems to music. He called for competitive works
to the words of the Proclamation in 1843 and to the words of the
Anthem in 1844. Both events excited nation-wide interest and
they were a great success. The winning pieces of music were
composed by Béni Egressy and Ferenc Erkel. Athough neither of
these two works renders itself easily to singing, both songs
became widely known and popular in no time. The winning piece of
the Anthem competition composed by Ferenc Erkel, conductor of
the National Theatre, was deemed to success as early as the
moment of its birth. On the occasion of its debut on July 2nd,
1844, the piece was introduced on the pages of Honderű as
follows: ….What’s left now be given the opportunity to hear
our Erkel’s beautiful national anthem as often as possible; it's
worth knowing and learning by heart because it will gain itself
the popularity it deserves in the very near future and it will
become a true national anthem.
This prophecy soon came true. The words as well as the music
score have been published on many occasions since that time,
continually, albeit with varying frequency. It was the will of
the entire Hungarian nation that really made Erkel’s work the
national anthem of the Hungarian people. Unfortunately, official
recognition was very slow in coming, since it was only in the
1990s that the Hungarian National Anthem by Constitution became
one of our national symbols together with the Hungarian national
flag and the coat-of-arms of the country. It would not be very
wise to rank the national anthems of the world, but by its
literary and musical merits, as well as by its unsurpassable
form and content the Hungarian national anthem is an outstanding
piece among them and it deserves the pride of the whole country.
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Ferenc Kölcsey: HYMN
Translated by WILLIAM N. LOEW (1881)
O my God, the Magyar bless
With Thy plenty and good cheer!
With Thine aid his just cause press,
Where his foes to fight appear.
Fate, who for so long didst frown,
Bring him happy times and ways;
Atoning sorrow hath weighed down
Sins of past and future days.
By Thy help our fathers gained
Kárpát's proud and sacred height;
Here by Thee a home obtained
Heirs of Bendegúz, the knight.
Where're Danube's waters flow
And the streams of Tisza swell,
Árpád's children, Thou dost know,
Flourished and did prosper well.
For us let the golden grain
Grow upon the fields of Kún,
And let Nectar's silver rain
Ripen grapes of Tokay soon.
Thou our flags hast planted o'er
Forts where once wild Turks held sway;
Proud Vienna suffered sore
From King Mátyás' dark array.
But, alas! for our misdeed,
Anger rose within Thy breast,
And Thy lightnings Thou didst speed
From Thy thundering sky with zest.
Now the Mongol arrow flew
Over our devoted heads;
Or the Turkish yoke we knew,
Which a free-born nation dreads.
Oh, how often has the voice
Sounded of wild Osman's hordes,
When in songs they did rejoice
O'er our heroes' captured swords!
Yea, how often rose thy sons,
My fair land, upon thy sod,
And thou gavest to these sons,
Tombs within the breast they trod!
Though in caves pursued he lie,
Even there he fears attacks.
Coming forth the land to spy,
Even a home he finds he lacks.
Mountain, valego where he would,
Grief and sorrow all the same
Underneath a sea of blood
While above a sea of flame.
Neath the fort, a ruin now,
Joy and pleasure erst were found,
Only groans and sighs, I trow,
In its limits now abound.
But no freedom's flowers return
From the spilt blood of the dead,
And the tears of slavery burn,
Which the eyes of orphans shed.
Pity, God, the Magyar, then,
Long by waves of danger tossed;
Help him by Thy strong hand when
He on grief's sea may be lost.
Fate, who for so long did frown,
Bring him happy times and ways;
Atoning sorrow hath weighed down
All the sins of all his days.
Autograph of Ferenc Kölcsey |
Kezdőlapra 
