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"La Espero"

by orthohawk, January 3, 2009

Messages: 16

Language: English

orthohawk (User's profile) January 3, 2009, 7:50:22 PM

OK, call me a fiesperantisto but I. Cannot. Stand. the music that is currently used for this poem (not only does it sound idiotic and undignified to me, but the range hurts my voice). I hate it worse than I hate okra (and, lemme tell ya, that's a LOTTA hate!) I'm sorely tempted to refuse to sing the anthem with that music when I go to my first Landa Kongreso this year.

I seem to remember seeing somewhere, a different melody for it. Am I in some kind of dreamland? Or is there actually a more....dignified sounding melody for this wonderful poem, kitchy as it can be?

Miland (User's profile) January 3, 2009, 9:15:16 PM

The best rendering of La Espero that I have heard is the last track in the 4-CD set Tiel Sonis. It was sung by a choir at the 1977 Universala Kongreso in Rekjavik. Try that one.

Karedio (User's profile) January 3, 2009, 11:23:32 PM

There are two other melodies that have been used. You can find them here:

http://www.geocities.com/lilandr/kantoj/eismaj/EnL...

http://www.geocities.com/lilandr/kantoj/eismaj/EnL...

Miland (User's profile) January 4, 2009, 12:41:32 AM

Karedio:http://www.geocities.com/lilandr/kantoj/eismaj/EnL...
This second one (by Motteau) is quite nice, although it does have the disadvantage of repeating the first two lines of La Espero a number of times.

I don't see it replacing the traditional tune of the himno by Menil, but it may be worth trying out as a recreational activity during Esperanto events.

qwertz (User's profile) January 25, 2009, 9:30:08 PM

I heard that young people dislike the "la espero" hymn. Is that correct? At the La Pafklik album the track number 16 (La Espero) is stopped after 21 seconds with a New Year's Eve cracker. The track 17 is the G-Funka versio of a song called "fek al esperanto". By the beginning of this song you can hear like some ice is dropping into a cocktail glas.

For me that looks like there excists an conflict between the matured 68 hippie and the I-Pod teens generation?

cheers,

Miland (User's profile) January 25, 2009, 9:50:58 PM

The DVD course Pasporto al la Tuta Mondo contains a large part of a very good rendering of La Espero which may well be the one from the UK in Rejkjavik. Here's a clip on Youtube (5:23-6:35) with that version.

orthohawk (User's profile) January 25, 2009, 11:05:32 PM

Miland:The DVD course Pasporto al la Tuta Mondo contains a large part of a very good rendering of La Espero which may well be the one from the UK in Rejkjavik. Here's a clip on Youtube (5:23-6:35) with that version.
Nope. This is the one I can't stand.

Miland (User's profile) January 25, 2009, 11:37:16 PM

orthohawk:Nope. This is the one I can't stand.
Then I suggest that you repent, for I am quite sure that it will never be changed.

Bonan nokton.

tommjames (User's profile) January 26, 2009, 2:33:43 PM

I wouldn't say I hate the tune, but yea it definitely sounds dated and perhaps somewhat ridiculous in the way it repeats the melody over and over with each verse. And I suspect the higher notes are out the singing range of most people, I know I certainly can't hit them without croaking.

This is of course part of the dorky and old-fasioned image of Esperanto that regrettably persists through to this day. I guess back in the late 1800's or whenever it was written it was a funky peice of music but nowadays it just sounds lame. Perhaps it's time for a new tune to be composed and voted upon by the community.

As Miland says though, probably no chance of that happening.

erinja (User's profile) January 26, 2009, 3:52:28 PM

Almost every national anthem sounds old-fashioned. Almost every national anthem sounds like an old European hymn, even if the country is not European at all. I almost think that they purposely choose national anthems to be boring.

And the US national anthem is certainly unsingable. Probably you have to be either a professional singer, or a drunk, to sing it properly, since it is a variation of an old bar tune.

So in this sense, our Esperanto anthem is pretty much the same as every country's anthem!

If we choose a more modern tune, no doubt it too will sound dated after a while. Might as well just live with what we have.

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