page_title: Il Canto degli Italiani
section_title: The following decades
hierarchical_section_title: Il Canto degli Italiani / History / The following decades
caption_attribution_description: English: Poem of "Canto degli italiani" - words
context_page_description: "Il Canto degli Italiani" is a canto written by Goffredo Mameli and set to music by Michele Novaro in 1847, and is the current national anthem of Italy. It is best known among Italians as the Inno di Mameli, after the author of the lyrics, or Fratelli d'Italia, from its opening line. The piece, a 4/4 in B-flat major, consists of six strophes and a refrain that is sung at the end of each strophe. The sixth group of verses, which is almost never performed, recalls the text of the first strophe.
  The song was very popular during the unification of Italy and in the following decades, although after the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy the Marcia Reale, the official hymn of the House of Savoy composed in 1831 by order of King Charles Albert of Sardinia, was chosen as the anthem of the Kingdom of Italy. The Il Canto degli Italiani was in fact considered too little conservative with respect to the political situation of the time: Fratelli d'Italia, of clear republican and Jacobin connotation, it was difficult to reconcile with the outcome of the unification of Italy, which was a monarchy.
context_section_description: When the Il Canto degli Italiani debuted, there were only a few months left to the revolutions of 1848. Shortly before the promulgation of the Statuto Albertino, the constitution that Charles Albert of Sardinia conceded to the Kingdom of Sardinia in Italy on 4 March 1848, a coercive law had been abrogated that prohibited gatherings of more than ten people. From this moment on, the Il Canto degli Italiani experienced a growing success thanks to its catchiness, which facilitated its diffusion among the population. After 10 December the hymn spread all over the Italian peninsula, brought by the same patriots that participated in the Genoa demonstration. In the 1848, Mameli's hymn was very popular among the Italian people and it was commonly sung during demonstrations, protests and revolts as a symbol of the Italian Unification in most parts of Italy.
  When the Il Canto degli Italiani became popular, the Savoy authorities censored the fifth strophe, extremely harsh with the Austrians; however after the declaration of war to Austrian Empire and the beginning of the First Italian War of Independence (1848-1849), the soldiers and the Savoy military bands performed it so frequently that King Charles Albert was forced to withdraw all censorship. The anthem was in fact widespread, especially among the ranks of the Republican volunteers.
  In the Five Days of Milan, the rebels sang the Il Canto degli Italiani during clashes against the Austrian Empire and was sung frequently during the celebrations for the promulgation, by Charles Albert of Sardinia, of the Statuto Albertino (also in 1848). Even the brief experience of the Roman Republic (1849) had, among the hymns most sung by the volunteers, the Il Canto degli Italiani, with Giuseppe Garibaldi who used to hum and whistle it during the defense of Rome and the flight to Venice. In the 1860, the corps of volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi used to sing the hymn in the battles against the Bourbons in Sicily and Southern Italy during the Expedition of the Thousand. Giuseppe Verdi, in his Inno delle nazioni ("Hymn of the nations"), composed for the London International Exhibition of 1862, chose Il Canto degli Italiani to represent Italy, putting it beside God Save the Queen and La Marseillaise.
caption: Edition of 1860 printed by Tito I Ricordi
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