Giovinezza

Giovinezza

English: Youth
Score of Giovinezza
National anthem of  Italian Social Republic
Lyrics	Nino Oxilia (1909) Marcello Manni (1919) Salvator Gotta (1924)
Music	Giuseppe Blanc, 1909
Adopted	1943
Relinquished	1945

"Giovinezza" (Italian for youth) is the official hymn of the Italian National Fascist Party, regime, and army, and was the unofficial national anthem of Italy between 1924 and 1943.^[1] Although often sung with the official national anthem Marcia Reale, some sources consider Giovinezza to have supplanted the Royal March as the de facto national anthem (Inno della Patria^[2]) of Italy,^[3] to the dismay of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy^[4]—a powerful symbol of the diarchy between the King and Mussolini.^[5] It was subsequently the official anthem of the Italian Social Republic.

Ubiquitous in fascist Italy, the hymn emphasized youth as a theme of the fascist movement and was one example of the centrality of the Arditi (Italian World War I veterans) to the fascist narrative.^[6]

History

"Giovinezza" was composed by lawyer and composer Giuseppe Blanc in 1909 as "Commiato" (Italian for "farewell"). Blanc also wrote other Fascist songs, including The Eagles of Rome, the Imperial Hymn.^[7] Previously a Turin university graduation song,^[8] and popular among Italian soldiers during World War I, the song was called "Inno degli Arditi" (Hymn of the Arditi, a corps of the Italian Royal Army during World War I, whose members joined the fascist movement in large numbers).^[9] The hymn was further popularized by the mass rallies of Gabriele d'Annunzio in Fiume.^[10]

The version sung during the March on Rome was composed by G. Castaldo in 1921, using the original score by Giuseppe Blanc and words by Marcello Manni (beginning "Su compagni in forte schiere").^[11] After the March on Rome, where it was sung, Mussolini commissioned Salvator Gotta to write the new lyrics, which were completed in 1924.^[12]

Gotta's version plays on fascist themes like youth and nationalism. Its reference to "Alighieri's vision" is an allusion to Dante Alighieri marking Italy's borders on the Quarnaro River, thus including the province of Istria, a territory granted to Italy after World War I.^[13]

After the capitulation of Italy in 1944, the Allies suppressed the hymn in Italy. At the time, Italy had no national anthem,^[11] until Il Canto degli Italiani was provisionally chosen when Italy became a Republic on 12 October 1946, only to be officially legislated on 17 November 2005. "Giovinezza" is currently banned in Italy,^[2][14] people have been arrested in the post-war period, just for singing it.^[15]

Lyrics

Italian lyrics[16] Salve o popolo d'eroi Salve o patria immortale Son rinati i figli tuoi Con la fede e l'ideale Il valor dei tuoi guerrieri, La virtù dei pionieri La vision dell'Alighieri Oggi brilla in tutti i cuor Giovinezza, Giovinezza, Primavera di bellezza Per la vita, nell'asprezza Il tuo canto squilla e va! E per Benito Mussolini, Eja eja alalà E per la nostra Patria bella, Eja eja alalà Dell'Italia nei confini Son rifatti gli italiani; Li ha rifatti Mussolini Per la guerra di domani Per la gloria del lavoro Per la pace e per l'alloro, Per la gogna di coloro Che la patria rinnegan I Poeti e gli artigiani I signori e i contadini Con orgoglio d'italiani Giuran fede a Mussolini. Non v'è povero quartiere Che non mandi le sue schiere Che non spieghi le bandiere Del fascismo redentor.

English translation[16] Hail, people of heroes, Hail, immortal Fatherland, Your sons were born again With the faith and the Ideal. Your warriors' valour, Your pioneers' virtue, Alighieri's vision, Today shines in every heart Youth, Youth, Spring of beauty, In the hardship of life Your song rings and goes! And for Benito Mussolini, Hip hip hooray And for our beautiful Fatherland, Hip hip hooray In the Italian borders, Italians have been remade Mussolini has remade them For tomorrow's war, For labour's glory, For peace and for the laurel, For the shame of those Who repudiated our Fatherland The poets and the artisans, The lords and the countrymen, With an Italian's pride Swear fealty to Mussolini No poor neighbourhood exists That doesn't send its hordes That doesn't unfurl the flags Of redeeming Fascism

The lines "E per Benito Mussolini / Eja eja alalà / E per la nostra Patria bella / Eja eja alalà" do not appear in some recorded and published versions of the song.

Performances

"Giovinezza" was played "with the slightest pretext" at sporting events, films, and other public gatherings, and often carried adverse (even violent) consequences for those who did not join in.^[17] Even foreigners were roughed up by blackshirts if they failed to remove their hats and show respect when "Giovinezza" was played.^[18]

In the 1930s, "Giovinezza" was made the official anthem of the Italian army.^[19] The school day was required to be opened either with "Giovinezza" or "Balilla", the song of the Opera Nazionale Balilla.^[20] A faint, recorded version of the hymn played in the background of the Chapel of the Fascist Martyrs in the Exhibition of the Fascist Revolution.^[21]

There was a German song with German lyrics, set to the same tune as Giovinezza; "Hitlerleute" (Hitler's people) replacing "Giovinezza." [1]

Italian tenor Beniamino Gigli recorded "Giovinezza" in 1937, although the anthem is noticeably excluded from his "Edizione Integrale," released by EMI.^[22] "Giovinezza" followed the inauguration of the Fascist parliament in 1924 (following the Acerbo law)^[23] and preceded the Nazi radio broadcast announcing the creation of the Italian Social Republic.^[24] "Giovinezza" was even played at the coronation of Pope Pius XII on 12 March 1939 by the Palatine Guard.^[25]

Toscanini

Arturo Toscanini (who had previously run as a Fascist parliamentary candidate in 1919 and whom Mussolini had called "the greatest conductor in the world") notably refused to conduct "Giovinezza" on multiple occasions. Toscanini had refused to play "Giovinezza" in Milan in 1922 and later in Bayreuth, which earned him accolades from anti-fascists throughout Europe.^[26] Mussolini did not attend the premier of Puccini's Turandot on 15 April 1926 – having been invited by the management of La Scala – because Toscanini would not play Giovinezza before the performance.^[27] Finally, Toscanini refused to conduct "Giovinezza" at a May 1931 concert at La Scala, was subsequently roughed up by a group of blackshirts, and thereafter left Italy until after World War II.^[1][28]

Relationship to Marcia Reale

The Royal March had often preceded "Giovinezza" on official occasions,^[29] as required by official regulations following an abortive attempt to conflate the two songs.^[5] Many considered the Royal March "long winded and gaudy," and these faults were thrown into sharp relief by back-to-back ceremonial presentations.^[30] "Giovinezza" was used as a sign-off by Italian radio under Mussolini; after the ousting of Mussolini in 1943, the Italian radio signed off for the first time in 21 years playing only the Royal March, "Marcia Reale."^[31]

See also

• Il Canto degli Italiani - the current Italian national anthem
• Faccetta Nera
• Horst-Wessel-Lied
• Cara al Sol

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Farrell, Nicholas. 2005. Mussolini: a New Life. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 1842121235. p. 238.
2. ^ ^{a b} Bertini, Tullio Bruno. 1998. Trapped in Tuscany Liberated by the Buffalo Soldiers. Branden Books. ISBN 0937832359. p. 79.
3. ^ Silone, Ignazio. 1977. Fontamara. Manchester University Press. ISBN 0719006627. p. 252.
4. ^ Smith, Denis Mack. 1959. Italy: A Modern History. University of Michigan Press. p. 391.
5. ^ ^{a b} Mack-Smith, Denis M. 1989. Italy and Its Monarchy. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300051328. p. 273.
6. ^ Olick, Jeffrey K. 2003. States of Memory-CL: continuities, conflicts, and transformations in national retrospection. Duke University Press. ISBN 0822330636. p. 69.
7. ^ Arnold, Denis. 1983. The New Oxford Companion to Music. Oxford University Press. p. 763.
8. ^ Langsam, Walter Consuelo. 1954. The World Since 1919. Macmillan. p. 154.
9. ^ Scott, Jonathan French, and Baltzly, Alexander. 1930. Readings in European History Since 1814. F. S. Crofts & co. p. 607.
10. ^ Payne, George Stanley. 1995. A History of Fascism, 1914-1945. Routledge. ISBN 1857285956. p. 92.
11. ^ ^{a b} Blom, Eric ed., 1955, Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, St. Martin's Press, p. 22
12. ^ ""Giovinezza" (The Youth)."
13. ^ Bosworth, Richard J. B. 1996. Italy and the Wider World 1860-1960. Routledge. ISBN 0415134773. p. 154.
14. ^ Porter, Andrew. 1992, June 8. "Mario and the Magician - Opera." Financial Times. p. 13.
15. ^ "The Old Giovinezza". Time.com. 24 April 1950. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,812228,00.html. 
16. ^ ^{a b} Radio Marconi. 1997. "Giovinezza".
17. ^ Gallagher, Tag. 1998. The Adventures of Roberto Rossellini. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306808730. p. 62.
18. ^ Mellow, MR James R. 1994. Hemingway: A Life Without Consequences. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0201626209. p. 184.
19. ^ Germino, Dante L. 1959. The Italian Fascist Party in Power: A Study in Totalitarian Rule. University of Minnesota Press. p. 114.
20. ^ Ebenstein, William. 1972. Fascist at Work. Ams Pr Inc. p. 134.
21. ^ Etlin, Richard A. 1994. Symbolic Space: French Enlightenment Architecture and Its Legacy. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226220842. p. 196.
22. ^ High fidelity. 1957. Records in Review. Wyeth Press. p. 360.
23. ^ The New York Times. 25 May 1924. "Italy's Parliament Opened with Pomp." p. 3.
24. ^ New York Times. 9 September 1943. "New Fascist Regime Setup, Nazis Report." p. 1.
25. ^ Matthews, Herbert L. 19 May 1939. "Pope Takes Over St. John Lateran In Pageant Last Held 93 Years Ago." New York Times. p. 9.
26. ^ Ignatieff, Michael. 1999. Isaiah Berlin: A Life. Owl Books. ISBN 0805063005. p. 54.
27. ^ Osborne, Charles. 1993. The Complete Operas of Puccini: A Critical Guide. Da Capo Press. ISBN 0306802007. p. 250-251.
28. ^ Taubman, Hyman Howard. 1951. The Maestro, the Life of Arturo Toscanini. Simon and Schuster. p. 157.
29. ^ Procacci, Giuliano. 1970. History of the Italian People. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. p. 356.
30. ^ Katz, Robert. 1971. The Fall of the House of Savoy. Macmillan. p. 259.
31. ^ Brigham, Daniel T. 26 July 1943. "Mussolini ousted with fascist cabinet." New York Times.

External links

• Giovinezza (CHORUS) Full Version.
• Giovinezza (mp3) Midi
• Two rare tenor recordings of Giovinezza

Lyrics

• Giovinezza in Italian and English
• Giovinezza in Italian and German
• Giovinezza in Italian and Spanish