''Još Hrvatska ni propala'' () is a famous Croatian patriotic

reveille "Reveille" ( , ), called in French "Le Réveil" is a bugle call, trumpet call, drum, fife-and-drum or pipes call most often associated with the military; it is chiefly used to wake military personnel at sunrise. The name comes from (or ), the ...

which was penned by

Ljudevit Gaj Ljudevit Gaj (; born Ludwig Gay; ; 8 August 1809 – 20 April 1872) was a Croatian linguist, politician, journalist and writer. He was one of the central figures of the pan-Slavist Illyrian movement. Biography Origin He was born in Krapina ( ...

and set to music by the composer

Ferdo Livadić Ferdo Livadić (Ferdinand Wiesner) (30 May 1799 – 8 January 1879) was a Croatian composer. Livadić was born in Celje, in present-day Slovenia. A leader of the 19th-century Croatian national revival, he wrote the tune for '' Još Hrvatska ni p ...

in 1833. The song is considered the anthem of the

Illyrian Movement The Illyrian movement (; ) was a pan-South-Slavic cultural and political campaign with roots in the early modern period, and revived by a group of young Croatian intellectuals during the first half of the 19th century, around the years of 1835 t ...

, which constituted a great part of the Croatian

national revival National revival or national awakening is a period of ethnic self-consciousness that often precedes a political movement for national liberation but that can take place at a time when independence is politically unrealistic. In the history of Euro ...

. The song is strikingly similar to Polish

Mazurek Dąbrowskiego "Poland Is Not Yet Lost", also known in Polish as "Mazurek Dąbrowskiego" (; ) and formerly the "Song of the Polish Legions in Italy", is the national anthem of Poland. The original lyrics were written by Józef Wybicki in Reggio Emilia, in No ...

. Gaj's story of how the song came about was related in

Franjo Kuhač Franjo Ksaver Kuhač (November 20, 1834 – June 18, 1911) was a Croatian piano teacher, choral conductor, composer, and comparative musicologist who studied Croatian folk music. Kuhač did a great deal of field work in this area, collecting and ...

's work ''Illyrian Songwriters'' (''Ilirski glazbenici''). Travelling to

Samobor Samobor () is a town in Zagreb County, Croatia. It is part of the Zagreb metropolitan area. Administratively it is a part of Zagreb County. Geography Samobor is located west of Zagreb, between the eastern slopes of the Samobor hills (), the eas ...

to visit Livadić, Gaj thought to himself, "Croatia has not yet fallen so long as we evivalistsare alive". At the same time he heard the sound of villagers singing in church. When he arrived at Livadić's house, he already had the words and melody ready. That night they penned several other verses, of which three became the best known and were treated as the unofficial anthem of the Illyrian Movement. The song was first performed publicly on February 4, 1835 in a Zagreb theatre.

Lyrics

External links

Full lyrics of ''Još Hrvatska ni propala''
1830s songs Croatian patriotic songs Songs about Croatia {{song-stub