Himno Nacional Mexicano ("Mexican National Anthem")

The Himno Nacional Mexicano is the national anthem of Mexico. Although it was completed and first performed in 1854, the song was not legally adopted as the country’s national anthem until 1943. In the years after Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, numerous composers wrote songs that they hoped would be adopted as new country’s national anthem. To settle the musical controversy once and for all, President Antonio López de Santa Anna launched a competition in 1853 to determine the official national anthem of Mexico. The song that eventually won this contest and became the Mexican National Anthem was written by lyricist Francisco González and composer Jaime Nunó. González’s patriotic lyrics celebrate Mexico’s battlefield victories and call on the Mexican people to defend their country with vigor. Although the original version of the song included a total of ten stanzas and a chorus, most performances feature a shortened version that includes the chorus and up to four of the stanzas.

Background

The development of the Mexican National Anthem was directly tied to Mexico’s long battle for independence. The region now known as Mexico first became part of Spain’s colonial empire when Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztecs in 1521 and founded Mexico City at Tenochtitlan, the former Aztec capital. For the next several centuries, Mexico—then known as the territory of New Spain—was governed by a series of Spanish viceroys. Plots to overthrow Spanish rule began to arise almost immediately. One early plot was led by Martín Cortés, the illegitimate son of the famous conquistador who won Mexico for Spain in the first place. Many of these plots were masterminded by criollos, or Mexican-born Spaniards who occupied a lower place in the regional caste system than did their native European counterparts. Despite their efforts, Spain’s control over Mexico ultimately remained unthreatened until the early nineteenth century.

The revolutionary spirit in Mexico reached a fever pitch after Napoleon invaded Spain in 1808. Two years later, with Spain occupied by French forces, the Mexican independence movement took a major step forward when Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla gave a pronouncement known as the “Grito de Dolores” (“Cry of Dolores”) that served as a rallying cry against the colonial government. In addition to calling for Mexican independence and the redistribution of land, Hidalgo demanded racial equality. By making the issue of race part of his call to arms, Hidalgo included indigenous peoples and mestizos—those of mixed indigenous and European heritage—in the revolutionary effort for the first time. This proved to be a critical turning point in the independence movement.

Hidalgo’s movement quickly grew into a bloody rebellion known as the Mexican War of Independence. Although Hidalgo himself was captured and executed in January 1811, his militia continued to wage war against Spanish royalists until 1821. By that time, a power shift in Spain had led to the installation of a new liberal government that promised to enact reforms in Mexico. In August 1821, Spain issued the Treaty of Córdoba, a document that made Mexico an independent constitutional monarchy under the newly crowned Mexican emperor Agustín de Iturbide. Less than a year later, however, an insurgency led by Antonio López de Santa Anna and Guadalupe Victoria unseated the emperor and paved the way for the creation of the first Mexican Republic.

Overview

After Mexico won its independence from Spain, numerous attempts were made to establish a national anthem. Many songs were written and ultimately forgotten as the young nation experienced early political growing pains. One of the few relatively consistent features of Mexican politics at the time was the presence of Santa Anna. Over a period of twenty-two years, Santa Anna served twelve non-consecutive terms as president. Upon taking office for the final time in 1853, he launched a national contest in search of lyrics for a new permanent national anthem. It was this contest that eventually led to the creation of the Mexican National Anthem.

Among those who submitted an entry in Santa Anna’s lyrics contest was noted poet Francisco González. Ironically, González himself did not even want to participate in the contest and had no intention of submitting an entry. The only reason he ultimately did was because his fiancée was convinced he could win and locked him in a room at her parents’ house, refusing to let him out until he produced a set of lyrics. After only four hours, González penned a ten-verse poem that featured stirring allusions to Mexico’s various battlefield victories, its peoples’ patriotic defense of their homeland, and the expulsion of invading armies. Once submitted, González’s lyrics proved enormously popular and easily won the competition.

Then González’s lyrics needed to be set to music. Initially, officials chose a score written by Italian composer Giovanni Bottesini as the musical accompaniment for the lyrics. Eventually, however, it was decided that Bottesini’s score did not adequately rise to the challenge of breathing life into González’s soaring words. As such, another contest was launched to find a new composer and score. The winning entry was a tune called “Dios y Libertad” (“God and Freedom”) that was written by Catalan composer Jaime Nunó. Nunó had only recently moved to Mexico after having been personally recruited by Santa Anna himself to serve as conductor of the National Band. The finished work was first performed by soprano Claudia Florenti and tenor Lorenzo Salvi during national Independence Day celebrations at the Santa Ana Theatre in Mexico City on September 16, 1854.

González and Nunó’s national anthem was not immediately popular with the Mexican people. This was mainly because of its association with Santa Anna, who attempted to declare himself dictator for life and was subsequently forced out of office and into exile. As a result, the song was quickly replaced by another written by composer Ignacion Ocadiz. In 1875, Ocadiz’s piece was itself replaced by a song penned by Antonio Barrelli and José Rivero Río. The González and Nunó song was all but forgotten for nearly a century before President Manuel Ávila Camacho formally designated it Mexico’s official national anthem in 1943. To address public concerns about the song’s history, Camacho also established laws that strictly governed how the song was to be performed. Specifically, these laws eliminated all but four of the original stanzas and the chorus as to avoid references to Santa Anna and Agustín de Iturbide. With that, the Mexican National Anthem as it is known today was born.

Bibliography

Albin-Najera, Susie. “About the National Anthem of Mexico: Himno Nacional Mexicano.” The Mexico Report, 5 Sep. 2011, themexicoreport.com/2011/09/05/national-anthem-of-mexico-himno-nacional-mexicano. Accessed 1 Apr. 2019.

Carey, Lydia. “Everything You Need to Know About the Mexican National Anthem.” Culture Trip, 31 Mar. 2018, theculturetrip.com/north-america/mexico/articles/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-mexican-national-anthem. Accessed 1 Apr. 2019.

Gurza, Agustin. “Himno Nacional Mexicano: The Long and Winding History of Mexico’s National Anthem.” The Strachwitz Frontera Collection, 22 Jan. 2018, frontera.library.ucla.edu/blog/2018/01/himno-nacional-mexicano-long-and-winding-history-mexico%E2%80%99s-national-anthem. Accessed 1 Apr. 2019.

“James Nuno: Composer of the National Anthem of Mexico.” Forest Lawn, 7 Sep. 2017, www.forest-lawn.com/blog/2017/09/07/james-nuno-composer-of-the-national-anthem-of-mexico. Accessed 1 Apr. 2019.

“The Mexican National Anthem.” ThoughtCo., 27 Jan. 2019, www.thoughtco.com/the-mexican-national-anthem-3079422. Accessed 1 Apr. 2019.

“Mexico.” NationalAnthems.info, www.nationalanthems.info/mx.htm. Accessed 1 Apr. 2019.

“Spain Accepts Mexican Independence.” History.com, 22 Feb. 2019, www.history.com/this-day-in-history/spain-accepts-mexican-independence. Accessed 1 Apr. 2019.

“Struggle for Mexican Independence.” History.com, 12 Sep. 2018, www.history.com/topics/mexico/struggle-for-mexican-independence. Accessed 1 Apr. 2019.