Argentine National Anthem

The lyrics of the Himno Nacional Argentino (the national anthem of Argentina) were written by Vicente López y Planes, and the music was composed by Blas Parera. This song was adopted as the national anthem on May 11, 1813, three years before the formal declaration of independence from Spain. May 11 is therefore Anthem Day in Argentina.

On May 24 1812, Vicente López attended a play presented at the Casa de la Comedia, Buenos Aires, titled El 25 de Mayo, which retold the story of the May Revolution that happened two years earlier. The play, written by Luis Ambrosio Morante, concluded with an anthem sung by the actors. López felt inspired and that same night wrote the first verses of an anthem that would replace Morante's, for which Blas Parera had composed the music.

The General Constituent Assembly, the autonomous government of the time, approved the new anthem as Marcha Patriótica (Patriotic March) on May 11 1813, and commanded Parera to compose a new music. Some authors say that Parera accepted, but after many days no result was presented. Finally, he refused, being a Spaniard himself, as the lyrics were offensive to Spain, and he feared the reaction of the King. He was jailed by the Assembly and forced to compose under threat of execution. In a single night he finished the partiture, by simply copying the musical score he had composed for the theatre play. He was then released and later he abandoned the country forever, living for many years at Rio de Janeiro and later in Spain, where he died.

The finished song was first played on May 14 1813 at the home of the aristocrat Mariquita Sánchez de Thompson, and presented publicly on May 25 of the same year. It was then known as Canción Patriótica Nacional (National Patriotic Song), and later simply as Canción Patriótica (Patriotic Song), but in a 1847 copy it appears under the title Himno Nacional Argentino, retaining that name until today.

In the complete version of the Anthem of May (as was christened by López) it is noted that the political vision portrayed is not only Argentinian, but Latin American. The lyrics are burningly independentist and anti-Spanish, as the country was at that time fighting for its independence from Spain. The anthem suffered a modification in 1860, commended to the musician Juan Pablo Esnaola, who arranged a more orchestrated and harmonically richer version of the original music.

Along the 19th century, the Anthem was sung in its entirety. However, once the harsh feelings against Spain had disappeared, and the country had become home to many Spanish immigrants, a modification was introduced by a decree by President Roca on March 30 1900. The decree read as follows:

"Without producing alterations in the lyrics of the National Anthem, there are in it verses that perfectly describe the concept that nations universally have regarding their anthems in peaceful times, and that harmonize with the serenity and dignity of thousands of Spanish that share our living, those that can and must be preferred to be sung in official parties, for they respect the traditions and the law in no offence to anyone, the President of the Republic decrees that:

In official or public parties, as well as in public schools, shall be sung only the first and last verses and the chorus of the National Song sanctioned by the General Assembly on May 11 1813."

In this way the lyrics which contained vivid attacks against Spain stopped being sung publicly. On August 2 1924, another executive resolution, inspired in an investigation commanded by the government, sanctioned that the music composed by Parera, with the arrangements added by Esnaola, would constitute the music that would be played with the singing of the anthem in public events, forbidding the musical variations that had taken place until then.

Performance of the anthem is mandatory during all official events, and those in attendance are expected to stand up and sing it. Radio broadcasters voluntarily perfom the anthem at midnight, while TV channels do so before closing down their daily broadcast. On national holidays, it is mandatory to perfom the anthem at midnight and noon.

The Anthem is ruled in Argentine law by the Decree 10302/1944.{{cite web | publisher=Ministerio de Economía y Producción | url=http://infoleg.mecon.gov.ar/infolegInternet/verNorma.do;jsessionid=C36B79D471B5A2D4CD4EAFC9D0F490D5?id=59311