Music sampled from files friends sent me. In order, Merel van Dijk recording the piano tuner in Santa Cecilia, Rome, Joe Wozny (who else) on lute, Sarah Moessner on her new piano.

music people send me

I don't own this: I just thought it was worth making.

Fear Of A Female Planet

Written by Lou Reed
Performed by Houston's A.S.S.
Recorded by Jeremy Dudman and his students at the Art Institute of Houston

Perfect Day

Gran Colombia
Gran Columbia became a country on December 17, 1821, and dissolved in 1831. "Marcha Libertadora" was written by Zuliano Silverio Añez; there were no lyrics. This is, so far, the best no-longer-anthem tune I've come across. It got stuck in my head for weeks. You should be so lucky to have such a great anthem. But you don't. I’m sorry for you. I’m sorry for all of us. Charango and cello by Merel Van Dijk.

Marcha Libertadora

Yugoslavia
"Hey, Slavs" was written by a Lutheran pastor, who set it to the tune of the Polish national anthem. Actually, "Hey, Slavs" was only the unofficial anthem of Yugoslavia from 1945 all the way through 1988: people kept intending to choose a better song, but after 43 years they gave up and made it official. The country only lasted four more years. The anthem remained in place for the successor state of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, although it was only supposed to be a transitional anthem. They could never agree on a new one either, and “Hey, Slavs” stayed in place until Serbia and Montenegro dissolved their union in 2006. The anthem did not survive. Lyrics by Samo Tomášik, music originated from a Polish folk tune, ukulele and vocals by Zoe Barilla-Deuschle.

Hej, Sloveni

The first national anthem of Manchukuo, written by its prime minister, is more cheerful. Both in its melody and its lyrics. It includes the line “Let us make our country upright and free of sadness.” The mood is maybe a little forced. In 1942 the new prime minister declared the song “unsuitable for the current situation.” The second anthem honors the creator of the universe and the Emperor. The Emperor abdicated three years later. This anthem is said to have been written by a committee. 

A couple years back, my mother contributed a recording to another project I was working on. In that recording she is playing a B flat on the piano: that recording is incorporated here.

Second National Anthem of the Manchukuo Empire

Call To The Citizens
Lưu Hữu Phước wrote the song that became the national anthem of South Vietnam, and then later, after becoming a communist, he opposed its use and wrote the anthem of the provisional government that took power following the fall of Saigon. Call To The Citizens continued to be sung as a rallying cry by Vietnamese expats living abroad. A few anthems disappear without contention, but more of them become freighted with meaning: it’s a political statement to sing them. And it’s getting harder for me to find disappeared anthems that do not still carry a political meaning. Is it… well, is it gross to cover an anthem for one of the “Bantustans” created by the apartheid South African Government to disenfranchise its own citizens, even if that anthem was beautiful? What about a secessionist anthem used by a largely unrecognized Balkan state who engages in a bloody civil war? Or the Confederacy: if it had an official anthem, would I record it here? It's one thing to sing a patriotic song in Rick's Cafe in Casablanca. But the opening strains of Dixie have inspired the same emotion.

Call To The Citizens

The United Kingdom of Netherlands was established after the Napoleonic Wars, and its citizens decided that they needed a new anthem: something that would be acceptable to both the Calvinist north and the Catholic South. It didn't work. Belgium's secession was accepted by all parties in 1839. Wien Neêrlands Bloed is on my list because, technically, the country that existed between 1815 and 1839 no longer exists, even if its anthem was retained by The Netherlands for another 100 years before being replaced. That's my dad on the accordion. When I was a kid my family briefly lived in The Netherlands, and some of my best friends are from there. I can't say this is my favorite anthem I've come across, but making music with your father is pretty great, and there's a warm spot in my heart for The Netherlands, even if it is only half of what it used to be.

Wien Neerlands Bloed

Beginning in 1808, a new imperial anthem was composed for each sultan of the Ottoman Empire. These marches were recognized as national anthems a few decades later, and this one was written for Abdülaziz, who reigned for 15 years beginning in 1861, and who was himself a composer. (This was back in the days when you could be a sultan and write classical music on the side.) His march was written by Italian composer Callisto Guatelli, who moved to Istanbul in his 20s, received the honorific title “Pasha” in 1875, and continued to work for a succession of sultans after Abdülaziz's suicide, remaining in Istanbul for the rest of his life.

Aziziye Marsı

The lyrics of “Risen from Ruins” express a longing for reunification, but the lyrics were discarded after the Berlin Wall was built, and no new words were ever adopted. The wordless anthem continued to be used for official functions in the GDR until reunification finally came.

Auferstanden Aus Ruinen

Zahira Hiliman of Sint Maarten wrote her “Anthem Without A Title” in 1999, entered it in the Netherlands Antilles national anthem contest, and won. Her song remained the anthem until that union of Caribbean islands dissolved in 2010. And that is everything I know about Ms. Hiliman and her uniquely named anthem. Because almost nothing else exists about her on the internet. There is a similarly named person on social media, and she lives on the same island, and I'm sometimes tempted to write her. If I do that, I'll let you know what I found out here. 

In 2017, newspaper editors on Sint Maarten were still bemoaning the fact that no new anthem had been selected. They made do with a national song, but were officially a Country Without An Anthem, and the Anthem Without A Title was no more.

Anthem Without A Title

The words to North Yemen's second anthem were written by Ahem Al Amari, with music by Ali Al Ansi. In 1990, North and South Yemen were unified, and A Nation's Will was discarded. Cello by Merel Van Dijk.

A Nation's Will

Dubbed track from the upcoming “Record Of Deported Persons”, a collection of songs adapted from interviews with people who have been deported from the United States. These songs will be released and performed in November of 2019. The entire project – including the interview process, writing, recording and performance – is supported by the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance. https://thetruesongs.wordpress.com/a-record-of-deported-persons/

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