The "" (), also known by its

incipit The incipit () of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin and means "it beg ...

, "" (), is the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. Its music was composed by , who dedicated the score to French adventurer , and adopted in 1852. The music was created to receive delegates from the United Kingdom and the United States that year for the Webster-Crampton Treaty. It was the first Central American national anthem. The anthem has had several lyrics; the current lyrics were written for a contest held in 1903 by the government of Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra to give the anthem lyrics that reflected the idea of being Costa Rican. The contest was won by

José María Zeledón Brenes José María Zeledón Brenes (April 26, 1877 – December 6, 1949) was a Costa Rican politician, poet, journalist and writer under the pen name Billo Zeledón. He is known as the author of the Costa Rica's national anthem. He was an orphan fr ...

. The anthem's lyrics were made official in 1949 by the

Founding Junta of the Second Republic The Founding Junta of the Second Republic was a de facto government which existed in the Republic of Costa Rica from May 8, 1948 to November 8, 1949, with the overthrow of the constitutional president Teodoro Picado Michalski, by a group of rev ...

, led by

José Figueres Ferrer José María Hipólito Figueres Ferrer (25 September 1906 – 8 June 1990) served as President of Costa Rica on three occasions: 1948–1949, 1953–1958 and 1970–1974. During his first term in office he abolished the country's army, nationa ...

. The music was made official in 1979, under President

Rodrigo Carazo Odio Rodrigo José Ramón Francisco de Jesús Carazo Odio (27 December 1926 – 9 December 2009) served as President of Costa Rica from 8 May 1978 to 8 May 1982. Early life Carazo was born in Cartago. Before serving as president, he was the Di ...

History

From the period of independence within the

First Mexican Empire The Mexican Empire ( es, Imperio Mexicano, ) was a constitutional monarchy, the first independent government of Mexico and the only former colony of the Spanish Empire to establish a monarchy after independence. It is one of the few modern-era, ...

from 1821 to the beginning of the First Costa Rican Republic in 1848, Costa Rica did not have a national anthem. After the establishment of the republic, Costa Rica began to gain more recognition from other nations. In 1852, then president, Juan Rafael Mora Porras, learnt of the arrival of diplomatic representatives from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and United States in order to establish embassies. Manuel María Gutiérrez Flores (1829-1887)

Musician and Director of the Costa Rican Military Band, , then 22 years old, was asked to compose an anthem. Professing a lack of experience and little time, Gutiérrez asked for help from French adventurer , who instructed and encouraged him. After consulting Lafond, Gutiérrez composed the anthem in three or four days in his home in central

San José San José or San Jose (Spanish for Saint Joseph) most often refers to: *San Jose, California, United States *San José, Costa Rica, the nation's capital San José or San Jose may also refer to: Places Argentina * San José, Buenos Aires ** San ...

. An apocryphal story circulates that Gutiérrez had to compose the music for the anthem while locked in a prison cell for refusing the order the president gave him to compose the anthem, and that he composed the anthem in 24 hours. The anthem was played in public for the first time by the (San José Band) at the welcome receptions for the delegations from the United Kingdom and United States on 11 June 1852 at the (Government House). The event was held in the Main Barracks, where the Raventós Theatre was later situated, today the

Melico Salazar Theatre The Melico Salazar Theatre is located in San José, Costa Rica. It maintains a full schedule of concerts, recitals, and plays. While large and built in the European Baroque style, it is far simpler than the Parisian influenced Teatro Nacional on ...

. The anthem was largely forgotten after this, so much so that lyrics for it were not made official until 1949, after the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and the founding of the Second Republic, and the music was not made official until 1 September 1979, with decree 10471-E, during the presidency of

. The decree was intended to coincide with Gutiérrez's birthday (which is now known to be 3 September).

Lyrics

There was no intention to add lyrics at the time of the anthem's creation, as it was urgently needed for the welcome ceremonies for the foreign delegations. Some lyrics had been written in 1856 during the

Filibuster War The Filibuster War or Walker affair was a military conflict between filibustering multinational troops stationed in Nicaragua and a coalition of Central American armies. An American mercenary William Walker invaded Nicaragua in 1855 with a sma ...

, to encourage troops on the battlefield, but they were quickly forgotten.

1873 lyrics

The first lyrics of the national anthem were written by a Colombian poet living in Costa Rica, José Manuel Lleras, and premiered in 1873. In the context of looming threats by other states to overthrow then president

Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez General Tomás Miguel Guardia Gutiérrez (December 16, 1831 – July 6, 1882) was President of Costa Rica on two occasions: from 1870 to 1876, and from 1877 to 1882. On 27 April 1870 Tomás Guardia was one of a group of army officers who depose ...

, as well as a threat of the instrumental anthem becoming forgotten by non–military band members, Lleras wrote long lyrics that included high praise of President Guardia, intended encourage Costa Ricans in the event of war: Lleras's lyrics were forgotten after the events regarding President Guardia.

1879 lyrics

In 1879, the anthem began to be sung with shorter lyrics written by seminarian Juan Garita y Guillén, which premiered on 24 June that year at the (Seminary College). Garita's lyrics were very simplistic: Like Lleras's lyrics, Garita's lyrics also stopped being sung. The Lleras and Garita lyrics were never officially adopted.

1888 lyrics

In 1888, Spanish pedagogue Juan Fernández Ferraz wrote a poetic third set of lyrics for the national anthem, which were longer than the previous lyrics. After being distributed in schools and colleges, they were sung for longer and were made official:

Current lyrics

Although Fernández Ferraz's composition had literary merit, its language was somewhat too elevated to take root in the people, in addition to not adapting well to the music of the anthem, and adjustments had to be made to the original score by maestro Gutiérrez. All of this led to a decision to replace Fernández Ferraz's lyrics with new lyrics, for which a public contest was held in 1903. The contest was won by a composition by

, presented under the pseudonym . Zeledón Brenes was declared the winner on 24 August, and his lyrics were first sung publicly on 15 September. Zeledón Brenes's lyrics, with minor changes, are the current lyrics of the national anthem of Costa Rica. They were officially adopted on 10 June 1949 by the

with decree number 551: Música del Himno Nacional de Costa Rica 1

In Zeledón's original wording, the first stanza read: And the last:

Notes

References

External links

Boletín de Cientec sobre los símbolos patrios

Himno a la Bandera de Costa Rica - MP3 File

Más que un canto
Documentary the history of the Lyric and music of the himno.
La Paz - Debajo del Canto
analysis of texts and events that inspired the national anthem. {{Americas topic, National anthem of Spanish-language songs

Costa Rican songs National symbols of Costa Rica National anthems National anthem compositions in E-flat major