Costa Rican national anthem

The National Anthem of the Republic of Costa Rica has been the national anthem of Costa Rica since 1852. Its music was composed by Manuel María Gutiérrez Flores, who dedicated the score to the Frenchman Gabriel-Pierre Lafond. The music was created to receive delegates from England and the United States in that year for the Webster-Crampton Treaty. It has had several letters; the current one was written for a contest called in 1903 by the government of Ascensión Esquivel Ibarra, to give the anthem a letter that reflected the idea of being Costa Rican. The contest was won by José María Zeledón Brenes.

It was declared official in 1949, under the government of José Figueres Ferrer.

Music of the National Anthem

From the Independent period of 1821 to the Republican period, Costa Rica did not have a national anthem. The president at the time, Juan Rafael Mora Porras, learned of the arrival of diplomatic representatives from England and the United States.

The musician and Director of the Costa Rican Military Band, Manuel María Gutiérrez, was called to the Presidential Palace. When they told him that the Costa Rican national anthem had to be played, he replied that since the Independence from Spain, said anthem had not yet existed. Then, President Juan Rafael Mora Porras ordered Gutiérrez to immediately create him as a teacher of the military band.

Cap. Manuel María Gutiérrez F. (1829-1887)

The apocryphal story circulates that Gutiérrez had to compose the music for the anthem while locked in a cell, for refusing the order given by the president to compose the anthem in twenty-four hours. Bernal Martínez explains the origin of this myth:

Among his military superiors, was General José Joaquín Mora Porras, who [...] receives from his brother the task of preparing the reception to the visitors. General Mora, asks Gutierrez to compile the hymn, which was interpreted by some as an order and not as much as a request. This is reinforced if it is taken into account that the musician—and that is correct—rejected at the moment on the grounds of inability and very little time, thus justifying the version of the arrest. Despite the disclosure that has had such a history, the truth is that according to serious and detailed studies that include testimonies of the youngest son of Gutierrez, who died just over three decades ago, his father, after consulting the Frenchman Lafond, undertook for several days the uneasy task of creating the National Anthem. The workplace was its own house, located in the centre of the capital and not a prison. According to Víctor Gutiérrez Umaña — his son—, he must have taken at least four days in the composition of the music, because in addition to the main melody, he had to do the orchestration for the San José Band, commissioned to run the country notes for the first time.

The chords resounded for the first time on the occasion of the arrival of the diplomatic delegations from England and the United States. The act was held at the Main Headquarters, where the Raventós Theater was later located, which today is the Melico Salazar Theater.

Lyrics of the Costa Rican Anthem

The first lyrics of the National Anthem of Costa Rica were the work of the Colombian poet José Manuel Lleras and premiered in 1873. Lleras's lyrics were very long and full of praise for the then President of Costa Rica Tomás Guardia Gutiérrez, so it was soon forgotten. It began with the following stanza, which also served as a chorus throughout the performance:

Citizens the sun of the free
has risen radiant to the zenith:
its splendor inspires us
to win for the country or die.

In 1879 the Hymn began to be sung with a shorter one, the work of the seminarian Juan Garita y Guillén. His text was extremely simplistic:

I will sing of the beloved homeland
honour, freedom and splendor
With a soul filled with joy
I will sing the honor of the homeland.

In your face, without worry, your children will live
always united will enjoy the honor
Without sad disdain Cheerful Iran
to the cry of honor, to the voice of freedom.

The lyrics of Lleras y Garita were never officially adopted. By 1888, the third letter of the Hymn, written by the Spanish pedagogue Juan Fernández Ferraz, was taken as official, the first stanza said:

Love inspires us from the homeland
Let us raise a triumphant hymn to him
of Tyrteus on the warlike lyre
let us celebrate the immortal glory of him.

Although Fernández Ferraz's composition had great literary beauty, its language was somewhat elevated to take root in the town, in addition to the fact that it did not adapt well to the music of the Hymn and made it necessary to make adjustments to the original score by maestro Gutiérrez. All of this led to the decision to replace it with a new letter, for which a public contest was held in 1903. The contest was won by the composition by José María Zeledón Brenes, presented under the pseudonym Labrador, which with minor changes is the current lyrics of the Costa Rican National Anthem, and declared official on June 10, 1949 by the governing board of José María Figueres Ferrer:

National Anthem of Costa Rica

(Official version in force under Law 551 of 10/06/1949)

Noble homeland, your beautiful flag
expression of your life gives us;
under the blue lipid of your sky
pure and white peace rests.

In the struggle of tenacious, fruitful work,
that reddens the face of man;
conquered your children - simple coatings -
eternal prestige, esteem and honor,

Hail, O gentle land!
Hail, O mother of love!
When any man intends thy glory to stain,
You will see your people, brave and virile,
the coarse tool in trocar weapon.

Hail, O homeland, your prodigal ground
sweet coat and sustenance gives us;
under the blue lipid of your sky,

Always live work and peace!

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

Costa Rica your beautiful flag
eexpression of your life gives us;
Under the blue mantle of your sky
white and pure rest peace.

And the last one:

Hail, oh homeland!, your prodigal soil
sweet shelter and sustenance he gives us;
Under the limpid blue of your sky,
white and pure rest peace!'