July 21 — Belgian National Holiday — La Brabançonne

Happy Belgium Day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvDR8_JRY6w
(some fascinating pictures)
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUUydHFtv1k&NR=1
(good singer)

and see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brabançonne

I'll have to get a bottle of Chimay or Affligem beer to accompany my lunch.

God Save the [Reigning Sovereign]

When I said I wasn't planning to do any national anthems soon, I was forgetting that today (April 23, which it is where and when I'm writing) is St. George's Day. So here goes.

Here's what the English sing before international sports contests.

But since Betty Windsor's sovereignty extends beyond the boundaries of England, I've decided to add a couple of pieces which seem to refer to England itself. On the second one, you can fast forward to 4:30 to get to the familiar tune.

The words don't come through too clearly in the versions of "Land of Hope and Glory" and "Jerusalem" above, so here are others.

Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau

As I noted (possibly on the other blog), I missed St. David's Day, March 1. But I want to extend belated greetings to all of Welsh extraction and invite all to enjoy some versions of the Welsh national anthem.

Here's a version with lyrics and nice pics, sung by the Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel. See the wiki article for other translations and info about its composition.

And here it is at a rugby match. I especially like the face painting and the fan with the sheep! (At least I think that's what it is.)

Enjoy!

I'm not planning any other anthems anytime soon.

Amhrán na bhFiann: Edited

Now for something completely different.

A couple of years ago I got fascinated with the national anthems of the Celtic peoples. I missed St. David's Day for the Welsh, and I'll try to get to it soon. But here, in honor of St. Patrick's Day is the Irish National Anthem, in several versions.

First 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pHO7GW0MKE

despite what it says about never singing it in English, the words were first written in English and later translated into Irish.

Here it is in English

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OyX3DHYtkY&NR=1

A complete version, followed by instrumental renditions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OyX3DHYtkY&NR=1

The wiki article, including a complete translation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amhrán_na_bhFiann

You can also hear it being sung at sporting events on some of the related videos on YouTube

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Edited to give correct url for wiki article. Thanks to TRiG for pointing out error in original post.