Ubiquitous in mid-twentieth century Italy, the hymn emphasized
youth as a theme of the fascist movement and was one example of the centrality of the
Arditi to the fascist narrative.[7]
History
"Giovinezza" was composed by lawyer and composer
Giuseppe Blanc in 1909 as "
Il Commiato" (Italian for "farewell"). Blanc later also wrote other fascist songs, including The Eagles of Rome, an Ode to the
Italian Empire.[8] Previously a
Turin university graduation song,[9] and popular among Italian soldiers during
World War I, the song was called "Inno degli Arditi" (Hymn of the
Arditi, a corps of the
Italian Royal Army during
World War I, whose members joined the fascist movement in large numbers).[10] The hymn was further popularized by the
mass rallies of
Gabriele d'Annunzio in
Fiume.[11]
The version sung during the
March on Rome was composed by G. Castaldo in 1921, using the original score by Giuseppe Blanc and words by
Marcello Manni (beginning "Su compagni in forte schiere").[12] After the
March on Rome, where it was sung, Mussolini commissioned
Salvator Gotta to write the new lyrics, which were completed in 1924.[13]
Gotta's version plays on fascist themes like youth and nationalism. Its reference to "Alighieri's vision" is an allusion to
Dante Alighieri marking Italy's borders on the
Quarnaro (Kvarner) Gulf, thus including the province of
Istria, a territory granted to Italy after
World War I.[14]
After the
capitulation of Italy in 1943, the
Allies suppressed the hymn in Italy. At the time, Italy had no national anthem,[12] until "
Il Canto degli Italiani" was provisionally chosen when Italy became a Republic on 12 October 1946, only to be officially legislated on 4 December 2017.
The lines "E per Benito Mussolini / Eja eja alalà / E per la nostra Patria bella / Eja eja alalà" do not appear in some recorded and published versions of the song.
Performances
"Giovinezza" was played "with the slightest pretext" at
sporting events,
films, and other public gatherings, and often carried adverse (even violent) consequences for those who did not join in.[17] Even foreigners were roughed up by
blackshirts if they failed to remove their hats and show respect when "Giovinezza" was played.[18]
In the 1930s, "Giovinezza" was made the official anthem of the Italian army.[19] The school day was required to be opened either with "Giovinezza" or "Balilla", the song of the
Opera Nazionale Balilla.[20] A faint, recorded version of the hymn played in the background of the Chapel of the
Fascist Martyrs in the
Exhibition of the Fascist Revolution.[21]
There was a German song with
German lyrics, set to the same tune as Giovinezza; "Hitlerleute" (Hitler's people) replacing "Giovinezza".
[2] A
Japanese translation of Giovinezza, "黒シャツ党の歌" (lit. The song of blackshirts party) and "ファシストの歌" (lit. Fascist Song), was created in commemoration of the
Tripartite Pact and used in
Japanese overseas broadcasting.[22]
Italian
tenorBeniamino Gigli recorded "Giovinezza" in 1937, although the anthem is noticeably excluded from his "Edizione Integrale", released by
EMI.[23] "Giovinezza" followed the inauguration of the Fascist parliament in 1924 (following the
Acerbo law)[24] and preceded the
Naziradio broadcast announcing the creation of the
Italian Social Republic.[25]
"Giovinezza" was sung on 12 March 1939, the day of
Pope Pius XII's coronation, by the
Pope's
Palatine Guard. After the last ceremony of his
papal coronation was over Pius XII went to rest in the
Lateran Palace. The singing occurred during a moment of public bonhomie between the Palatine Guards and the Italian Guards, "Palatine and Italian Guards exchanged courtesies, the former playing the fascist anthem, "Giovinezza" and the latter the papal hymn." This incident, which was not part of the coronation ceremony and took place without the knowledge or approval of Pope Pius XII is sometimes used to portray Pius XII as a
crypto-fascist.[26]
Toscanini
Arturo Toscanini (who had previously run as a Fascist parliamentary candidate in 1919 and whom Mussolini had called "the greatest conductor in the world") notably refused to conduct "Giovinezza" on multiple occasions. Toscanini had refused to play "Giovinezza" in
Milan in 1922 and later in
Bayreuth, which earned him accolades from anti-fascists throughout Europe.[27] Mussolini did not attend the premier of
Puccini'sTurandot on 15 April 1926 – having been invited by the management of
La Scala – because Toscanini would not play Giovinezza before the performance.[28] Finally, Toscanini refused to conduct "Giovinezza" at a May 1931 concert in
Bologna, was subsequently roughed up by a group of blackshirts, and thereafter left Italy until after
World War II.[1][29]
Relationship to Marcia Reale
The Royal March had often preceded "Giovinezza" on official occasions,[30] as required by official regulations following an abortive attempt to conflate the two songs.[5] Many considered the Royal March "long-winded and gaudy", and these faults were thrown into sharp relief by back-to-back ceremonial presentations.[31] "Giovinezza" was used as a sign-off by Italian radio under Mussolini; after the ousting of Mussolini in 1943, the Italian radio signed off for the first time in 21 years playing only the Royal March, "
Marcia Reale".[32]
^Bertini, Tullio Bruno. 1998. Trapped in Tuscany Liberated by the Buffalo Soldiers. Branden Books.
ISBN0-937832-35-9. p. 79.
^Smith, Denis Mack. 1959. Italy: A Modern History. University of Michigan Press. p. 391.
^
abMack-Smith, Denis M. 1989. Italy and Its Monarchy. Yale University Press.
ISBN0-300-05132-8. p. 273.
^Giacomo De Marzi, I canti di Salò, Fratelli Frilli, 2005.
^Olick, Jeffrey K. 2003. States of Memory-CL: continuities, conflicts, and transformations in national retrospection. Duke University Press.
ISBN0-8223-3063-6. p. 69.
^Arnold, Denis. 1983. The New Oxford Companion to Music. Oxford University Press. p. 763.
^Langsam, Walter Consuelo. 1954. The World Since 1919. Macmillan. p. 154.
^Scott, Jonathan French, and Baltzly, Alexander. 1930. Readings in European History Since 1814. F. S. Crofts & co. p. 607.
^Payne, George Stanley. 1995. A History of Fascism, 1914-1945. Routledge.
ISBN1-85728-595-6. p. 92.
^
abBlom, Eric ed., 1955, Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, St. Martin's Press, p. 22