"Anthem of Europe" is the
anthem
An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...
of both the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
(EU) and
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
.
It is used to represent both the European Union and the whole of
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
; its purpose is to honour shared
European values
European values are the norms and values that Europeans are said to have in common, and which transcend national or state identity. In addition to helping promote European integration, this doctrine also provides the basis for analyses that charac ...
. The EU describes it as expressing the ideals of freedom, peace and solidarity.
It is based on "
Ode to Joy" from the final
movement
Movement may refer to:
Common uses
* Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece
* Motion, commonly referred to as movement
Arts, entertainment, and media
Literature
* "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...
of
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
's
9th Symphony composed in 1823. The anthem is played on official occasions such as political or civil events.
History
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...
wrote the poem "
An die Freude
"Ode to Joy" (German: , literally "To heJoy") is an ode written in the summer of 1785 by German poet, playwright, and historian Friedrich Schiller and published the following year in ''Thalia''. A slightly revised version appeared in 1808, cha ...
" ("To Joy") in 1785 as a "celebration of the brotherhood of man". In later life, the poet was contemptuous of this popularity and dismissed the poem as typical of "the bad taste of the age" in which it had been written. After Schiller's death, the poem provided the words for the choral movement of
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
's
9th Symphony.
In 1971 the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
The Assembly is made up o ...
decided to propose adopting the prelude to the "Ode to Joy" from
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
's
9th Symphony as the anthem, taking up a suggestion made by
Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi in 1955. Beethoven was generally seen as the natural choice for a European anthem. The
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe
The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe ( French: ''Comité des ministres du Conseil de l'Europe'') or Committee of Ministers ( French: ''Comité des ministres'') is the Council of Europe's decision-making body. It comprises the Forei ...
officially announced the European Anthem on 19 January 1972 at Strasbourg: the prelude to "Ode to Joy", 4th movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's 9th symphony.
Conductor
Herbert von Karajan was asked to write three instrumental arrangementsfor solo piano, for wind instruments and for symphony orchestra and he conducted the performance used to make the official recording. He wrote his decisions on the score, notably those concerning the tempo. Karajan decided on
minim (half note) = 80 whereas Beethoven had written
crotchet
A quarter note (American) or crotchet ( ) (British) is a musical note played for one quarter of the duration of a whole note (or semibreve). Quarter notes are notated with a filled-in oval note head and a straight, flagless stem. The stem u ...
(quarter note) = 120.
Marten Noorduin (in
Early Music, Volume 49:1, February 2021, pages 129ff)gives
Beethoven's mark as minim = 80 for the initial statement, and semibreve = 88 for the concluding prestissimo-->
The anthem was launched via a major information campaign on
Europe Day
Europe Day is a day celebrating "peace and unity in Europe" celebrated on 5 May by the Council of Europe and on 9 May by the European Union.
The first recognition of Europe Day was by the Council of Europe, introduced in 1964. The European Un ...
in 1972. In 1985, it was adopted by EU heads of state and government as the official anthem of the then European Communitysince 1993 the European Union. It is not intended to replace the national anthems of the member states but rather to celebrate the values they all share and their
unity in diversity. It expresses the ideals of a united Europe: freedom, peace, and solidarity.
It was to have been included in the
European Constitution
The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European U ...
along with the other
European symbols; however, the treaty failed ratification and was replaced by the
Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member sta ...
, which does not include any symbols.
A declaration was attached to the treaty, in which sixteen member states formally recognised the proposed symbols.
In response, the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
decided that it would make greater use of the anthem, for example at official occasions.
In October 2008, the Parliament changed its rules of procedure to have the anthem played at the opening of Parliament after elections and at formal sittings.
Usage
"Ode to Joy" is the anthem of the
Council of Europe (CoE) and the
European Union (EU). In the context of the CoE, the anthem is used to represent all of Europe. In the context of the EU, the anthem is used to represent the union and its people. It is used on occasions such as Europe Day and formal events such as the signing of treaties. The European Parliament seeks to make greater use of the music; then-
Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering
Hans-Gert Pöttering (born 15 September 1945) is a German lawyer, historian and conservative politician ( CDU, European People's Party), who served as President of the European Parliament from January 2007 to July 2009 and as Chairman of the CD ...
stated he was moved when the anthem was played for him on his visit to Israel and ought to be used in Europe more often.
The German public radio station
Deutschlandfunk
Deutschlandfunk (DLF, ''Broadcast Germany'') is a public-broadcasting radio station in Germany, concentrating on news and current affairs. It is one of the four national radio channels produced by Deutschlandradio.
History
Broadcasting in the ...
has broadcast the anthem together with the
Deutschlandlied
The "" (; "Song of Germany"), officially titled "" (; "The Song of the Germans"), has been the national anthem of Germany either wholly or in part since 1922, except for a seven-year gap following World War II in West Germany. In East German ...
shortly before midnight since New Year's Eve 2006. The two anthems were specially recorded by the
Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra in versions characterized by "modesty and intensity".
At the 2007
signing ceremony
A signing ceremony is a ceremony in which a document of importance is signed (approved). Typically the document is a bill passed by a legislature, thus becoming a law by an executive's signature. However, the document may also be, for example, a ...
for the
Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member sta ...
, the
plenipotentiaries
A ''plenipotentiary'' (from the Latin ''plenus'' "full" and ''potens'' "powerful") is a diplomat who has full powers—authorization to sign a treaty or convention on behalf of his or her sovereign. When used as a noun more generally, the word ' ...
of the European Union's twenty-seven member states stood in attendance while the "Ode to Joy" was played and a choir of 26 Portuguese children sang the original German lyrics.
In 2008 it was used by
Kosovo
Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...
as
its national anthem until it adopted its own, and it was played at
its declaration of independence, as a nod to the EU's role in its independence from Serbia.
"Ode to Joy", automatically orchestrated in seven different styles, was used on 18 June 2015 during the ceremony celebrating the 5000th ERC grantee as anthem of the
European Research Council
The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...
to represent achievements of European research.
"Ode to Joy" is used as the theme song to the
2016 UEFA Euro qualifying and the
European qualifying of the 2018 FIFA World Cup football competition at the introduction of every match.
In 2017, members of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
from the
Scottish National Party
The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...
first whistled and then sang "Ode to Joy" during a vote at the
House of Commons to protest against
Brexit
Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...
.
In 2018, the anthem of Japan and the anthem of the EU were performed in Tokyo during the official signing of the
EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement. The European anthem is often played at the signing of official economic or political agreements with foreign governments.
Unofficial lyrics
While the anthem has no official lyrics, unofficial
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
lyrics have been written and translated into all of the EU's official languages.
[https://www.hymnus-europae.at/hymnus-europae/]
Notes
External links
''Beethoven's Ninth: A Political History'' Esteban Buch (Trans. Richard Miller), (University of Chicago Press)
(mp3 available there)
– CVCE website
– European Commission website
* , Latin lyrics by P. Roland
* , P. Roland's Latin lyrics in the English translation by Basil Billow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthem of Europe
Symbols of the European Union
Council of Europe
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
Anthems of organizations