The

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

of the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...

(), also known by its

incipit The incipit ( ) of a text is the first few words of the text, employed as an identifying label. In a musical composition, an incipit is an initial sequence of Musical note, notes, having the same purpose. The word ''incipit'' comes from Latin an ...

Valiant Quisqueyans (), was composed by

José Rufino Reyes y Siancas José Rufino Reyes y Siancas, also known as Jose Reyes (November 15, 1836 – January 31, 1905) was a Dominican composer, best known for composing the current Dominican national anthem. Among his other works are compositions of waltzes and ma ...

(1835–1905), and its lyrics were authored by

Emilio Prud'Homme Emilio Prud'Homme y Maduro (August 20, 1856 - July 21, 1932) was a Dominican lawyer, writer, and educator. Prud'Homme is known for having authored the lyrics of the Dominican national anthem. He is also attributed with helping establish a natio ...

(1856–1932).

History

José Reyes was inspired to create a national anthem for the Dominican Republic after having seen the

Argentine National Anthem The Argentine National Anthem () was adopted as the sole official song of Argentina on 11 May 1813—three years after the May Revolution. Its lyrics were written by the Buenos Aires-born politician Vicente López y Planes and the music was com ...

in the Parisian newspaper ''El Americano''. In 1883, he invited his friend Emilio Prud'Homme to write lyrics for the anthem. The first version of Prud'Homme's lyrics was published in the weekly newspaper ''El Eco de la Opinion'' on 16 August 1883, and the first public performance of the anthem took place the next day on 17 August in Respectable Hope Lodge No. 9 in

Santo Domingo Santo Domingo, formerly known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic and the List of metropolitan areas in the Caribbean, largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. the Distrito Na ...

. Though the music was an instant success, several objections were made to the lyrics for having various historical inaccuracies. In 1897, Prud’Homme submitted revised lyrics, which stand to this day. On 7 June 1897, the

Congress of the Dominican Republic The Congress of the Dominican Republic () is the bicameral legislature of the government of the Dominican Republic, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Both senators and deputies are chosen through direct election. T ...

passed an act adopting "Himno Nacional" with the original music and revised lyrics as the country's official national anthem; however, then-

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Ulises Heureaux Ulises Hilarión Heureaux Leibert (; October 21, 1845 – July 26, 1899) nicknamed Lilís, was Presidents of the Dominican Republic, president of the Dominican Republic from September 1, 1882 to September 1, 1884, from January 6, 1887 to Februar ...

(1846–1898) vetoed the act, because the lyric's author, Prud’Homme, was an opponent of the president and his administration. In 1899, Heureaux was assassinated, and the political disorder that ensued prevented the national anthem's legal adoption until 30 May 1934, when "Himno Nacional" was officially adopted and signed into law.

Lyric

The

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

name of the Dominican Republic, "", is never used in the anthem's official Spanish lyrics, nor is the demonym for Dominicans, "". Rather, the indigenous word for the island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...

, "", is used twice, and its derivative demonym, "", is used once. However, research later showed that these words do not seem to derive from the original

Arawak The Arawak are a group of Indigenous peoples of northern South America and of the Caribbean. The term "Arawak" has been applied at various times to different Indigenous groups, from the Lokono of South America to the Taíno (Island Arawaks), w ...

Taíno language Taíno is an Arawakan language formerly spoken widely by the Taíno people of the Caribbean. In its revived form, there exist several modern-day Taíno language variants including Hiwatahia-Taino and Tainonaiki. At the time of Spanish contact ...

. In public, the national anthem is usually performed through the end of the lyric's fourth paragraph.

Others

External links

Ceremonial performance of the Dominican Republic's national anthem

Vocal
{{Nationalanthemsofnorthamerica Music of the Dominican Republic National symbols of the Dominican Republic

Songs in Spanish National anthems