URUGUAY : Uruguay National Anthem
Uruguayan National Anthem
National Anthem of Uruguay
Orientales, la Patria o la tumba!

• Author: Francisco Esteban Acuña de Figueroa (1791-1862)
• Composer: Francisco José Debali (1791-1859)
• Adopted: 1845
• National Day: August 25 (1825) - Independence Day
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• Further details: The National Anthem of Uruguay was officially adopted by a Government decree of July 27 1848. The music was composed by FRANCISCO JOSÉ DEBALI (1791-1859), a native of Hungary who came to Uruguay in 1838. He had spent several years in Italy and the influence of Italian opera on his National Anthem is particularly striking, for the tune is very similar to the chorus of the gondoliers in Donizetti's opera, 'Lucrezia Borgia'. But quite apart from this direct link, the National Anthem of Uruguay is really an operatic aria with a bombastic instrumental introduction whose triplets in thirds with basso figures achieve a resounding effect which is further heightened by a baldachin of violin tremolos. Solo and chorus share the dramatic melody which has everything - from coloratura passages to chromatic alterations - that a lover of opera might ask for. In addition to the Uruguayan National Anthem he may have composed the music of the Paraguayan National Anthem.
  
  The text is by FRANCISCO ESTEBAN ACUÑA de FIGUEROA (1791-1862), a native of Montevideo, a poet and Chief of the National Library of Uruguay. He also lived for awhile in Brazil and Argentina. He also wrote the words of the Paraguayan National Anthem.