Story Behind the Anthem
The history of Brazil’s national anthem is complex.
Before 1831, an anthem celebrating Brazil’s independence had already been created by the first Brazilian emperor, Pedro I. On April 7,1831, Pedro I renounced the throne and left his son, Pedro II, as the five-year-old new emperor. After Pedro I renounced, his anthem was no longer popular. A few days later, on April 13, 1831, Francisco Manuel da Silva introduced the anthem he had composed. There is controversy on whether he had composed the anthem in 1822, which was the year of Brazil’s independence, or if he wrote it in 1831. Regardless of the actual date it was composed, the date of April 13 is officially the Day of the Brazilian National Anthem.
The lyrics of da Silva’s anthem were originally written by Ovídio Saraiva de Carvalho e Silva as a hymn describing the abdication of Pedro I and Pedro II’s accession to the throne. These lyrics fell out of use by 1837 and the anthem was played alone, without lyrics.
In 1841, a new set of lyrics was proposed, describing Pedro II’s coming of age and coronation, but Pedro II himself declared that the anthem should be played without lyrics.
In 1889, after the Proclamation of the Republic, a contest took place to choose a new anthem. Leopoldo Miguez won, but there were protests against the adoption of the new anthem. At this point, the Head of the Provisional Government, Deodoro da Fonseca declared Francisco Manuel da Silva’s composition as the National Anthem. The official decree making da Silva’s composition the National Anthem came a year later, on January 20, 1890.
The anthem continued without official lyrics until September 6, 1922. The official lyrics are an adapted version of the lyrics written by Joaquim Osório Duque Estrada. He had first written and proposed these lyrics in 1909.
About Cindy Tovar
