National Anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The National Anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina

National anthem of  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Also known as	"Intermeco" (English: "Intermezzo")
Music	Dušan Šestić, 1998
Adopted	25 June 1999 (1999-06-25) (de facto) 2001 (2001) (de jure)[1]
Preceded by	"Jedna si jedina"
Audio sample
"Državna himna Bosne i Hercegovine" (four bars) file help

"The National Anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina" (Serbo-Croatian: Državna himna Bosne i Hercegovine / Државна химна Босне и Херцеговине) is the name of the national anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is one of four national anthems in the world (along with those of Spain, San Marino, and Kosovo) to have no official lyrics.[2][3][1][4]

Following the Dayton Agreement that ended the Bosnian War in the mid-1990s, Bosnian state symbols were mandated to be inclusive of the country's main ethnic groups and not make any overt references to a specific one. The Bosnian national anthem that was in use at the time was considered to be insufficiently inclusive towards all of the country's ethnic groups and thus the United Nations, which oversaw the country as part of the Dayton Agreement, decided to replace it with an instrumental one, which was considered by it to be more inclusive. In the two decades since its inception, various attempts have been made to adopt lyrics for it, most recently in 2018, but due to political disagreements, none have been successful as yet.

History

Background

The national anthem was adopted provisionally by the UN's High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina on 25 June 1999 by the promulgation of the Law on the National Anthem of Bosnia and Herzegovina,[5] replacing the previous national anthem, "Jedna si jedina",[6] which was not particularly well-liked the country's Serb and Croat communities.[7] The Bosnian government itself formally adopted it in 2001,[1] and it has reportedly been in use along with the flag and coat of arms since 10 February 1998.

Inception

Bosnian Serb composer Dušan Šestić from Banja Luka composed the melody,[8] to which initially there were no lyrics under the working title "Intermeco" ("Intermezzo"), which is commonly referred to as its title although it was never officially adopted as such. Šestić was denounced by some Serbs who disliked that he had written the national anthem of a state whose existence they were opposed to, whereas some Croats and Bosniaks disliked that a Serb had composed the national anthem as opposed to a member of their ethnicity.[9]

Due to its length, an abridged version omitting several bars near the middle of the piece is often played at occasions requiring brevity.[10]

Lyrics

Since 2007, various unsuccessful attempts have been made to have lyrics adopted for the Bosnian national anthem.[1] Lyrics written by Šestić, the original composer, and Benjamin Isović were proposed in June 2008 and accepted by a parliamentary commission in February 2009.[11][12] The 2008 lyrics emphasize national unity and a focus on the future, rather than emphasizing the past or ethnic differences.[1] Though he was reportedly supposed to be paid 17,000 Euros by the state split with Isović for his role in writing new lyrics, Šestić had not yet received compensation as of 2015.[9] The decision still requires approval of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[13] The proposed lyrics do not mention the two administrative entities or the constitutional nations that make up the state, leading to some opposition,[4] and end with the line "We are going into the future, together!". As part of the consideration process, a recording of the lyrics was sung for a government committee by Dragica Panić Kašanski, a musicologist.[12]

A lyrical adoption was again proposed in 2016, but those were not approved either.[14] In February 2018, a renewed effort for an adoption of lyrics was initiated,[14] though due to the ethnically-fragmented nature of Bosnian politics,[1] it is unlikely to succeed in light of several other similar attempts being made before having failed.[15][16][4][17] Some have suggested using the words from the Serbo-Croatian poem "Emina" as the lyrics for the national anthem, due to its connection to Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs alike.[4]

Reception

According to a 2011 survey conducted of the Bosnian population, Bosnians' attitudes towards their country's national anthem were shown to be sharply split along ethnic lines, with Bosniaks generally liking the national anthem, Croats being ambivalent towards it, and Serbs overwhelmingly disliking it,[1] even booing it at some performances, refusing to stand for it, and displaying three-fingered salutes.[18][19][20][21] In some cases, the Bosnian national anthem is not played in Republika Srpska even at events where others are played.[22]

Controversy

In the late 2000s, commentators noted an aesthetic similarity of the Bosnian national anthem to Elmer Bernstein's instrumental piece "Faber College Theme" that serves as the introductory music to the 1978 film National Lampoon's Animal House,[23][24][9] leading to accusations of plagiarism and calls for the composition to be replaced as a result. The composer Dušan Šestić defended himself against accusations of plagiarism, saying that he could not have plagiarized Bernstein's work as he was unaware of the latter's composition.[9]

Proposed lyrics

Cyrillic script	Latin script
Ти си свјетлост душе Вјечне ватре плам Мајко наша земљо Босно Теби припадам Дивно плаво небо Херцеговине У срцу су твоје ријеке Твоје планине поносна и славна Крајина предака Живјећеш у срцу нашем Дов'јека Покољења твоја Казују једно 𝄆 Ми идемо у будућност Заједно! 𝄇	Ti si svjetlost duše Vječne vatre plam Majko naša zemljo Bosno Tebi pripadam Divno plavo nebo Hercegovine U srcu su tvoje rijeke Tvoje planine Ponosna i slavna Krajina predaka Živjećeš u srcu našem Dov'jeka Pokoljenja tvoja Kazuju jedno 𝄆 Mi idemo u budućnost Zajedno! 𝄇

English translation

You're the light of the soul

Eternal fire's flame

Mother of ours, o land of Bosnia

I belong to you

The beautiful blue sky

Of Herzegovina

In the heart are your rivers

Your mountains

Proud and famous

Land of ancestors

You shall live in our hearts

Ever more

Generations of yours

Show up as one

𝄆 We go into the future

Together! 𝄇[25]

References

1. Džankić, Jelena. Citizenship in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro: Effects of Statehood and Identity Challenges. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 105. Retrieved 28 September 2015 – via Google Books.
2. "Spain - Marcha Real". NationalAnthems.me. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
3. "Himna BiH: Struka rekla DA, politika NE". N1 BA.
4. "Bosnia's National Anthem Remains Lost for Words". Balkan Insight. 7 February 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
5. Office of the High Representative (25 June 1999). "Decision imposing the Law on the National Anthem of BiH". Retrieved 10 May 2010.
6. Pavkovic, Aleksandar; Kelen, Christopher. Anthems and the Making of Nation States: Identity and Nationalism in the Balkans. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 185. Retrieved 28 October 2015 – via Google Books.
7. "Dušan Šestić: Tekst himne ćemo dobiti onda kada to budemo istinski željeli". Klix (in Bosnian).
8. "Zašto je Dušan Šestić najveći svetski baksuz među kompozitorima". Blic (in Bosnian).
9. "How many national anthems are plagiarised?". United Kingdom: British Broadcasting Corporation. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV58C6Zr2l4
11. Ministry of Justice of Bosnia and Herzegovina (4 June 2010). "Proposal of the Text for the National Hymn of BiH Adopted by the Council of Ministers of BiH". Archived from the original on 22 June 2009. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
12. "BiH: Predstavljen prijedlog teksta državne himne". Radio Slobodna Evropa (in Serbo-Croatian). Voice of America. 20 February 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
13. Balkan Insight (23 February 2010). "Bosnia Anthem Gets Lyrics After 10 Years". Retrieved 10 May 2010.
14. "EUROPE: BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA". CIA World Factbook. 14 November 2018. Retrieved 20 November 2018. note: music adopted 1999; lyrics proposed in 2009 and others in 2016 were not approved; a parliamentary committee launched a new initiative for lyrics in February 2018
15. "HIMNA OSTAJE BEZ TEKSTA Bosanski "Intermeco" i dalje će se ZVIŽDUKATI". web.archive.org (in Bosnian). February 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
16. "BiH bi mogla dobiti himnu s melodijom i tekstom". Jabuka (in Serbo-Croatian). Retrieved 18 January 2019.
17. "Bosnia renews efforts to find lyrics for its national anthem". euronews. 7 February 2018.
18. Nedim Dervisbegovic (2 June 2005). "Bosnia's first unified army platoon deployed to Iraq". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on 15 October 2007. Retrieved 26 September 2007.
19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdaGPwrM4r8
20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d047iZ2kwyw
21. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs_XiA9mfcY
22. https://www.rferl.org/a/bosnian-serbs-celebrate-contentious-republika-srpska-day-/30368355.html
23. Pavkovic, Aleksandar; Kelen, Christopher (28 October 2015). Anthems and the Making of Nation States: Identity and Nationalism in the Balkans. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 181 – via Google Books.
24. Marshall, Alex. Republic Or Death!: Travels in Search of National Anthems. Penguin Random House. Retrieved 5 May 2016 – via Google Books.
25. Pavkovic, Aleksandar; Kelen, Christopher. Anthems and the Making of Nation States: Identity and Nationalism in the Balkans. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 183. Retrieved 28 October 2015 – via Google Books.

External links

• The Bosnia and Herzegovina, Council of Ministers have a page about the national symbols, including an instrumental file.
• Himna BiH napokon dobila tekst - The website "Sarajevo-x" features a page on the anthem's lyrics, including a vocal version.
• MP3 version