Il Canto degli Italiani

"",Template:Efn is a patriotic song written by Goffredo Mameli and set to music by Michele Novaro in 1847, currently used as the national anthem of Italy. It is known among Italians as the ""Template:Efn—after the author of the lyrics, or ""Template:Efn—from the song's opening line. The piece, in [[Bar (music)|Template:Time signature]] time signature and B-flat major key, has six strophes, and a refrain sung after each. The sixth group of verses, almost never performed, recalls the text of the first strophe.

The song was popular during the unification of Italy and the following decades. However, after the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, the republican and Jacobin connotations of "" were difficult to reconcile with the new state's monarchic constitution. The kingdom instead chose "Marcia Reale"—the House of Savoy's official anthem—composed by order of King Charles Albert of Sardinia in 1831.

After World War II, Italy became a republic. On 12 October 1946, it chose "" as a provisional national anthem. The song would retain this role as de facto anthem of the Italian Republic, and after many unsuccessful attempts, gained de jure status on 4 December 2017.

History

Origins

File:Prima strofa autografa G Mameli.JPG

Holographic draft of 1847 by Goffredo Mameli of the first strophe and the refrain of "Il Canto degli Italiani"

The text of "" was written by Goffredo Mameli, a young Genoese patriot inspired by the mass mobilizations that would lead to the revolutions of 1848 and the First Italian War of Independence. Sources differ on the precise date of the text's drafting: according to some scholars, Mameli wrote the text on 10 September 1847,Template:Sfn while others date the composition's birth to two days prior—8 September. After discarding all extant music,Template:Sfn on 10 November 1847Template:Sfn Mameli sent the text to Turin and the Genoese composer Michele Novaro, who lived at the time with the activist Lorenzo Valerio.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn

The poem captured Novaro and he decided to set it to music on 24 November 1847.Template:Sfn Thirty years later, the patriot and poet Anton Giulio Barrili recalled Novaro's description of the event thus:

File:Fratelli d'Italia elmo di scipio 1915.pdf

Cover of a 1915 album of patriotic music: the personification of Italy, wearing Scipio's helmet and waving the Italian flag, leads the Bersaglieri

Mameli held Republican and Jacobin sympathiesTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn and supported the French Revolution credo .Template:Sfn The text of "" drew inspiration from the French national anthem, "".Template:Sfn For example, "" recalls the "" verse ('Form your battalions').Template:Sfn

In the original version of the text, the first line of the first verse read "Hurray Italy", but Mameli changed it to "", likely at Novaro's suggestion.Template:Sfn Novaro, after receiving the manuscript, added a rebellious "" ('Yes!') at the end of the final refrain.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Another verse in the first draft was dedicated to Italian women, but was eliminated by Mameli before the official debut. It read:Template:Sfn "".Template:Efn

Debut

File:Inno museo di genova.jpg

The first printed copy of the hymn, by the Delle Piane printers of Genoa, on looseleaf, was distributed on 10 December 1847 to demonstrators in Oregina. Mameli then added in pen the fifth strophe of the hymn, censored by the Savoy government as too anti-Austrian.

File:Genova Oregina Santuario.jpg

The Santuario della Nostra Signora di Loreto, before which the "Il Canto degli Italiani" made its public debut

On 10 December 1847, a demonstration before the in Template:Ill, Genoa, was officially dedicated to the 101st anniversary of the Portoria quarter's popular rebellion during the War of the Austrian Succession, which had expulsed the Austrians from the city. In fact, it was an excuse to protest against foreign occupations in Italy and induce Charles Albert of Sardinia to embrace the Italian cause of liberty and of unity.

On this occasion, the flag of Italy was shown and Filarmonica Sestrese, the municipal band of Sestri Ponente, played Mameli's anthem for 30,000 patriots who had come to Genoa from other parts of Italy for the event.Template:Sfn This event is believed to be the song's first public performance, but there may have been a previous public rendition in Genoa on 9 November 1847, of which the original documentation was lost.Template:Sfn

That performance would have been by the Filarmonica VoltreseTemplate:Sfn founded by Goffredo's brother Template:Ill, and used a first draft of "" that differs from the final version.Template:Sfn As its author was infamously Mazzinian, the piece was forbidden by the Piedmontese police until March 1848. Its execution was also forbidden by the Austrian police, which also pursued its singing interpretation — considered a political crime — until their empire's dissolution.Template:Sfn On 18 December 1847, the Pisan newspaper wrote how the song evoked public spirits:Template:Sfn

... For many evenings numerous youths have come together in the to sing a hymn of Mameli, set to music by the maestro Novaro. Poetry … is full of fire, music fully corresponds to it …

— Template:Comma separated entries

Two of Mameli's autographed manuscripts have survived to the 21st century: the first draft, with Mameli's hand annotations, at the Template:Ill;Template:Sfn and the letter, from Mameli on 10 November 1847, to Novaro, at the Museo del Risorgimento in Turin.Template:Sfn

Novaro's autographed manuscript to the publisher Template:Ill is located in the Ricordi Historical Archive. The later Istituto Mazziniano sheet lacks the final strophe ("") for fear of censorship. These leaflets were to be distributed at the 10 December demonstration in Genoa. The hymn was also printed on leaflets in Genoa, by the printer Casamara.

The following decades

File:Sei strofe.JPG

Edition of 1860, printed by Tito I Ricordi

"" debuted with a few months left to the revolutions of 1848. Shortly before the promulgation of the , the constitution that Charles Albert of Sardinia conceded to the Kingdom of Sardinia on 4 March 1848, political gatherings of more than ten people had become legal,Template:Sfn and songs like "" could spread by word of mouth.Template:Sfn Patriots from the 10 December demonstration spread the hymn all over the Italian peninsula.Template:Sfn It became popular among the Italian people and the ranks of the Republican volunteers.Template:Sfn The hymn was commonly sung in most parts of Italy during demonstrations, protests and revolts as a symbol of the unification.Template:Sfn

The Savoyard authorities censored the fifth strophe to preserve diplomatic relations with the Austrians; however, after the declaration of war against the Austrian Empire and the beginning of the First Italian War of Independence in 1848,Template:Sfn the soldiers and the Savoy military bands performed it so frequently that King Charles Albert was forced to withdraw all censorship. The rebels sang "" during the Five Days of Milan and at Charles Albert of Piedmont-Sardinia's promulgation of the . Volunteers for the short-lived Roman Republic sang it,Template:Sfn and Giuseppe Garibaldi hummed and whistled it during the defense of Rome and the flight to Venice.Template:Sfn

Between the unification and World War I

File:Inno mameli prima guerra mondiale.jpg

Propaganda poster from the 1910s with the "" score

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 ('Hymn of the Nations'), composed for the London International Exhibition of 1862, chose "" to represent Italy, putting it beside "God Save the Queen" and "".

After the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, the "Royal March",Template:Sfn composed in 1831, was chosen as the national anthem of unified Italy. "" had politically radical content, with its strong republican and Jacobin connotations,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn and did not combine well with the monarchical conclusion to the unification of Italy.Template:Sfn Mameli's creed, was, however, more historical than political,Template:Sfn and socialist and anarchist circles also regarded "" as too conservative.Template:Sfn

File:Camera-deputati 21Maggio 1915 inno mameli.jpg

Front page of the of 21 May 1915: parliamentary deputies acclaimed the government's assumption of war powers with the Mameli-Novaro anthem.

The song was one of the most common songs during the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866.Template:Sfn At the Capture of Rome on 20 September 1870, the last step in Italian unification, choirs sang it together with "La bella Gigogin" and the "Royal March";Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn and "" received bersaglieri fanfare.

After the end of the Italian unification, "" was taught in schools, and remained popular among Italians.Template:Sfn However, other musical pieces connected to the political and social situation of the time, such as the "Template:Ill" ('Hymn of the Workers') or "Goodbye to Lugano",Template:Sfn addressed daily problems. These partly obscured the popularity of reunification hymns.

"", thanks to references to patriotism and armed struggle, returned to success during the Italo-Turkish War, whereby it joined "";Template:Sfn and in the trenches of World War I. Italian irredentism of that time found a symbol in ""; although, in the years following, in the patriotic ambit, musical pieces of greater military style such as "", the "Template:Ill" or "Template:Ill"Template:Sfn would have been preferred over it. Shortly after Italy entered World War I, on 25 July 1915, Arturo Toscanini performed "" at an interventionist demonstration.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

During fascism

File:Fratelli d italia 1944 RSI.jpg

"" remembered together with the unification of Italy on a propaganda poster of Benito Mussolini's Italian Social Republic

Fascist chants, such as "", became important symbols, after the 1922 March on Rome.Template:Sfn Although not official, they were widely disseminated, publicized, and taught in schools.Template:Sfn Non-fascist melodies including "" were discouraged.

In 1932, National Fascist Party secretary Achille Starace decided to prohibit musical pieces that did not sing to Benito Mussolini and—more generally—did not link to fascism.Template:Sfn "Subversive" songs (i.e., those of the anarchist or socialist type), such as the anthem of the workers or "The Internationale", and non-sympathetic foreign nations' official anthems, such as "", were banned.Template:Sfn Sympathetic regimes' anthems, such as the Nazi hymn "" and the Francoist song "", were contrariwise encouraged.Template:Sfn After the 1929 Lateran Treaty with the Holy See, anti-clerical passages were also banned.Template:Sfn

In the spirit of this directive, some songs were resized, such as "", which was sung almost exclusively during the National Unity and Armed Forces Day every 4 November.Template:Sfn The chants used during the Italian unification were tolerated, however:Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn "", which was forbidden in official ceremonies, received a certain condescension on particular occasions.Template:Sfn

During the World War II, regime musicians released fascist pieces via radio, but few songs spontaneously arose among the population.Template:Sfn Songs like "", "", "" and "" were common. The most famous spontaneous song was "Template:Ill".Template:Sfn

After the armistice of 8 September 1943, the Italian government provisionally adopted as a national anthem "", replacing the "".Template:Sfn Cooperation with the fascist dictatorship was now egg on the monarchy's face;Template:Sfn a song that recalled the Italian victory in World War I could infuse courage and hope to the Royal Italian Army troops who now fought against Mussolini's Social Republic and Nazi Germany.Template:Sfn

"" resounded in Southern Italy (freed by the Allies) and in partisan-controlled areas to the north.Template:Sfn "", in particular, had success in anti-fascist circles,Template:Sfn where it joined partisan songs "" and "".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Some scholars believe that the success of the piece in anti-fascist circles then was decisive for its choice as provisional anthem of the Italian Republic.Template:Sfn

Often, "" is wrongly referred to as the national anthem of the Italian Social Republic. However, Mussolini's Republic had no official anthem, playing "" and "" equally often at the ceremonies. "" retained value to the fascists only for propaganda.

Thus, Mameli's hymn was sung by both partisans and fascists.

From provisional to official anthem

File:Cipriano Facchinetti.jpg

Cipriano Facchinetti

In 1945, at the end of the war, Arturo Toscanini directed a performance of Giuseppe Verdi's 1862 "" in London, including "".Template:Sfn However, even after the birth of the Italian Republic, "" remained the temporary national anthem.Template:Sfn

For the new anthem, a debate arose. Possible options included "" from Verdi's ; a completely new piece; ""; the ""; and confirmation of "".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The government then approved Republican War Minister Cipriano Facchinetti's proposal to adopt "" as provisional anthem.Template:Sfn

"" thus served as national anthem until the Council of Ministers meeting on 12 October 1946, when Facchinetti officially announced the provisional anthem for the 4 November National Unity and Armed Forces Day celebrations.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The press release stated:

… On the proposal of the Minister of War it was established that the oath of the Armed Forces to the Republic and to its Chief would be carried out on November 4th p.v. and that, temporarily, the anthem of Mameli is adopted as the national anthem …

— Template:Comma separated entries

Facchinetti also declared that a draft decree would be proposed to confirm "" as the provisional national anthem of the newly formed Republic, but did not follow up on this promise.Template:Sfn Instead, he proposed to formalize "" in the Constitution of Italy, then being drafted.Template:Sfn

The Constitution, finished in 1948, determined the national flag, but did not establish a national anthem or emblem; the latter was adopted by legislative decree on 5 May. A draft constitutional law prepared immediately afterwards sought to insert, after discussion of the national flag, the sentence "The Anthem of the Republic is the ''". This law stalled as well.Template:Sfn

"" nonetheless garnered success among the Italian diaspora:Template:Sfn "" scores are sold in Little Italies across the Anglosphere, and "" is often played on more or less official occasions in North and South America.Template:Sfn In particular, it was the "soundtrack" of post-WWII fundraisers in the Americas for the Italian population left devastated by the conflict.Template:Sfn

Between 1999 and 2006, President of the Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, began to revive "" as a national symbol of Italy.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Ciampi declared that:Template:Sfn

… It is a hymn that, when you listen to it, makes you vibrate inside; it is a song of freedom of a people that, united, rises again after centuries of divisions, of humiliations …

— Template:Comma separated entries

In August 2016, a bill was submitted to the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies to make "" Italy's national anthem, and passed out of committee in July 2017. On 15 December 2017, on law nº 181 of 4 December 2017, was published after passing both houses of Parliament, and the law came into force on 30 December 2017.

Modern changes

On 23 December 2025, President Sergio Mattarella signed a decree clarifying that the final "" ('Yes!') at the end of the chorus is no longer to be sung during the Italian national anthem, as it does not appear in the original official text written by Goffredo Mameli.

Lyrics

File:Inno de Memeli (1943 recording).ogg

Version sung in 1943 and subsequently adopted by the Italian Social Republic

File:Canto degli Italiani (1961 recording).ogg

Version sung by Mario Del Monaco in 1961

File:Canto degli Italiani (esecuzione integrale).ogg

Full sung version

File:National anthem of Italy - U.S. Navy Band (long version).ogg

U.S. Navy Band instrumental version (one verse and chorus)

This is the complete Italian anthem text.

The first strophe presents a personification of Italy who is ready to war to become free, and shall be victorious as Rome was in ancient times, "wearing" the helmet of Scipio Africanus who defeated Hannibal at the final battle of the Second Punic War. It also alludes to the ancient Roman custom that slaves cut their hair short as a sign of servitude: hence the Goddess of Victory must cut her hair and enslave herself to Rome (to make Italy victorious).

In the second strophe the author complains that Italy has been a divided nation for a long time, and calls for unity. In this strophe Mameli uses three poetic and archaic words: (modern Italian: ), (modern ), (modern ).

The third strophe is an invocation to God to protect the loving union of the Italians struggling to unify their nation once and for all. The fourth strophe recalls popular heroic figures and moments of the Italian fight for independence: the battle of Legnano, the defence of Florence led by Ferruccio during the Italian Wars, the riot started in Genoa by Balilla, and the Sicilian Vespers. The fifth strophe unequivocally marks Habsburg Austria as the Italian cause's primary enemy. It also links the Polish quest for independence to the Italian one.

The sixth and final verse, almost never performed, is missing in Mameli's original draft but appears in his second manuscript. However, it was omitted in the first printed editions of the text on the leaflet. The verse joyfully announces the unity of Italy and goes on to close the song with the same six lines that conclude the initial verse, thus giving the poem a circular structure.

Italian lyrics	IPA transcription as sungTemplate:Efn	English translation
Fratelli d'Italia, l'Italia s'è desta, dell'elmo di Scipio s'è cinta la testa. Dov'è la Vittoria? Le porga la chioma, ché schiava di Roma Iddio la creò. (ripetere la prima strofa) Coro: 𝄆 Stringiamci a coorte, siam pronti alla morte. Siam pronti alla morte, l'Italia chiamò. 𝄇 Noi fummo da secoliTemplate:Refn calpesti, derisi, perché non siam popolo, perché siam divisi. Raccolgaci un'unica bandiera, una speme: di fonderci insieme già l'ora suonò. (ripetere la prima strofa) Coro Uniamoci, amiamoci,Template:Refn l'unione e l'amore rivelano ai popoli le vie del Signore. Giuriamo far libero il suolo natio: uniti, per Dio, chi vincer ci può? (ripetere la prima strofa) Coro Dall'Alpi a Sicilia dovunque è Legnano, ogn'uom di Ferruccio ha il core, ha la mano,Template:Refn i bimbi d'Italia si chiaman Balilla, il suon d'ogni squilla i Vespri suonò. (ripetere la prima strofa) Coro Son giunchi che piegano le spade vendute: già l'Aquila d'Austria le penne ha perdute. Il sangue d'Italia, il sangue Polacco, bevé, col cosacco, ma il cor le bruciò.Template:Refn (ripetere la prima strofa) Coro Evviva l'Italia, dal sonno s'è desta, dell'elmo di Scipio s'è cinta la testa. Dov'è la vittoria?! Le porga la chioma, ché schiava di Roma Iddio la creò. (ripetere la prima strofa) Coro		Brothers of Italy,Template:Refn Italy has risen,Template:Refn bound Scipio's helmetTemplate:Refn Upon her head.Template:Refn Where is Victory?Template:Refn Let her bow down,Template:Refn Because as a slave of RomeTemplate:Refn God did create her.Template:Refn (repeat first stanza) Chorus: 𝄆 Let us join in a cohort,Template:Refn we are ready for death. We are ready for death, Italy has called! 𝄇Template:Refn We were for centuries downtrodden, derided, because we are not one people, because we are divided.Template:Refn Let one flag, one hope gather us all.Template:Refn The hour has struck for us to unite. (repeat first stanza) Chorus Let us unite, let us love one another, Union and love Reveal to the peoples The ways of the Lord. Let us swear to set free The land of our birth: United, by God, Who can overcome us?Template:Refn (repeat first stanza) Chorus From the Alps to Sicily, Legnano is everywhere;Template:Refn Every man hath the heart and hand of FerruccioTemplate:Refn The children of Italy Are all called Balilla;Template:Refn Every trumpet blast soundeth the Vespers.Template:Refn (repeat first stanza) Chorus The mercenary swords Are feeble reeds.Template:Refn Already the Eagle of Austria Hath lost its plumes.Template:Refn The blood of Italy, The blood of Poland It with Cossacks did drink,Template:Refn But will burn its heart.Template:Refn (repeat first stanza) Chorus Long live Italy, She has awoken from slumber, bound Scipio's helmetTemplate:Refn Upon her head.Template:Refn Where is Victory?Template:Refn Let her bow down,Template:Refn Because as a slave of RomeTemplate:Refn God did create her.Template:Refn (repeat first stanza) Chorus

Music

File:Flickr - tpower1978 - 'Espoirs' of Toulon (3).jpg

The Italy national football team during the playing of "Il Canto degli Italiani" before a match

Novaro's musical composition is written in a typical marching time ([[Metre (music)|Template:Time signature]])Template:Sfn and the key of B-flat major.Template:Sfn It has a catchy character and an easy melodic line that simplifies memory and execution.Template:Sfn On the harmonic and rhythmic level, the composition presents greater complexity.

From a musical point of view, the piece is divided into three parts: the introduction, the strophes and the refrain.

The twelve-bar introduction is an instrumental at allegro martial pace,Template:Sfn with a dactyl rhythm that alternates one-eighth-note two-sixteenth-notes. The introduction divides into three four-bar segments, each alternating between a tonic chord and its dominant. The first four bars are in B♭ major; the second in G minor; and the last four bars return to B♭ to introduce the verses.

The strophes, therefore, attack in B♭. They repeat the same melodic unit, in various degrees and at different pitches. Each melodic unit corresponds to a fragment of the Mamelian hexasyllable, in accordance with the classical bipartite scheme ("Fratelli / d'Italia / ' Italia / s'è desta").Template:Sfn However, the usual leap of a diatonic interval does not match the anacrusic rhythm: on the contrary, the verses «Fratelli / d'Italia» and «dell'elmo / di Scipio» each begin with identical notes (respectively F or D). This weakens the syllable accentuation, and produces an audibly syncopated effect, contrasting the natural short-long succession of the paroxytone verse.Template:Sfn

As written, the basic melodic unit combines a dotted eighth note and a sixteenth note: <score sound="1">\relative f' {

   \clef treble 
   \time 4/4 
   \key bes \major 
   
   r2 r4 f | (f8. g16) f4 r d' | (d8. ees16) d4 r d | (f8. ees16) d4 r c | (d8. c16) bes4 r2 |

} \addlyrics { Fra -- tell -- li

 d'I -- ta -- lia,
 l'I -- ta -- lia
 s'è des -- ta. }</score>

Some performances soften this rhythmic scan by equalizing the note durations (as an eighth note), for ease of singing and listening:Template:Sfn <score sound="1">\relative f' {

   \clef treble 
   \time 4/4 
   \key bes \major 
   
   r2 r4 f | (f8 g8) f4 r d' | (d8 ees8) d4 r d | (f8 ees8) d4 r c | (d8 c8) bes4 r2 |

} \addlyrics { Fra -- tell -- li

 d'I -- ta -- lia,
 l'I -- ta -- lia
 s'è des -- ta. }</score>

At bar 31, the song undergoes an unusual shift for the refrain recognizable in the most accredited recordings of the autograph score. It accelerates to an allegro mosso,Template:Sfn and permanently modulates to E♭ major,Template:Sfn yielding only to the relative minor (C minor) during the tercet "Stringiamci a coorte / siam pronti alla morte / L'Italia chiamò". Also, the refrain is characterized by a repeated melodic unit; in the last five bars, it grows in intensity, passing from pianissimo to forte to fortissimo with the indication crescendo e accelerando sino alla fine ("growing and accelerating to the end").Template:Sfn

<score sound="1">\relative f' {

   \clef treble 
   \time 4/4 
   \key ees \major 
   

r4 r8. g16\pp g4 g8. f16 | aes4 g8 r16 bes bes4 bes8. a16 | c4 bes8 r16 bes bes4 c8. d16 | ees4 g,8. aes16 c4 bes8. g16 | aes4 f8 r16 f f4 f8. e16 | g4 f8 r16 aes aes4 aes8. g16 | bes4 aes8 r16 \<f' f4 f8. ees16 | d4 d8. c16 bes4 bes8. aes16 | g4\! r8. g16\pp g4 g8. fis16 | aes4 g8 r16 g g4 f8. ees16 | f4 d8 r16 g g4 g8. fis16 | aes4 g8 r16 g g4 f8. ees16 | d4 r8. g16\< g4 g8. f16 | aes4 g8 r16 bes bes4 a8. bes16 | d4 c8 r16 c\f c8. d16 ees8. f16 | g4\ff g8. g16 f4 f8. f16 | ees8 r4 \! r2 | \bar "|." } \addlyrics { Fra -- tel -- li d'I -- ta -- lia, l'I -- ta -- lia s'e de -- sta. Dell' -- el -- mo di Sci -- pio s'è cin -- ta la tes -- ta. Dov' -- è la Vit -- to -- ria? Le por -- ga la chio -- ma. Ché schia -- va di Ro -- ma Id -- dio la cre -- ò.

Strin -- giam -- ci_a co -- or -- te, Siam pron -- ti_al -- la mor -- te, Siam pron -- ti_al -- la mor -- te, l'I -- ta -- lia chia -- mò.

Strin -- giam -- ci_a co -- or -- te, Siam pron -- ti_al -- la mor -- te, Siam pron -- ti al -- la mor -- te, l'I -- ta -- lia chia -- mò.}</score>

Recordings

The two authors have been dead for more than 70 years, and the copyrights have lapsed; the work is public domain. Novaro disclaimed compensation for printing music, ascribing his work to the patriotic cause. Giuseppe Magrini, who made the first print of "Il Canto degli Italiani", asked only for a certain number of printed copies for personal use. At Tito Ricordi's 1859 request to reprint the text of the song with his publishing house, Novaro ordered that the money be directly paid in favour of a subscription for Giuseppe Garibaldi.Template:Sfn

Nevertheless, the publisher Sonzogno has attempted to collect royalties for use of the "Il Canto degli Italiani" score. It also has the possibility of making the official prints of the piece.Template:Sfn

The oldest known sound recording of "Il Canto degli Italiani" (disc at 78 rpm for gramophone, 17 cm in diameter) is a 1901 recording of the Municipal Band of Milan under the direction of Template:Ill.

One of the first recordings of "Fratelli d'Italia" was that of 9 June 1915, which was performed by the Neapolitan opera and music singer Template:Ill. The song was recorded for the Template:Ill label of Naples.

Another ancient recording received is that of the Gramophone Band, recorded in London for His Master's Voice on 23 January 1918.

During events

Over the years a public ritual has been established for the anthem's performance, still in force.Template:Sfn According to the custom, whenever the anthem is played, if in an outdoor military ceremony personnel in formation present arms while personnel not in formation stand at attention (unless when saluting during the raising and lowering of the national flag, as well as the trooping of the national flag for service or unit decorations). If indoors (including military band concerts), all personnel stand at attention.Template:Sfn Civilians, if they wish, can also put themselves to attention. On the occasion of official events, only the first two stanzas should be performed without the introduction.Template:Sfn If the event is institutional, and a foreign hymn must also be performed, this is played first as an act of courtesy.Template:Sfn

In 1970, the obligation, however, to perform the "Ode to Joy" of Ludwig van Beethoven, that is the official anthem of Europe, whenever "Il Canto degli Italiani" is played, remained almost always unfulfilled.Template:Sfn

External links

• Page on the official site of the Quirinale, residence of the Head of State
  (in Italian with several recorded performances – click on ascolta l'Inno and choose a file to listen)
• Template:Cantorion
• Streaming audio, lyrics and information about the Italian national anthem
• Listen to the Italian national anthem
• Fratelli d'Italia: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project (Version for chorus and piano by Claudio Dall'Albero on a musical proposal of Luciano Berio)