Taking an hour to sing Greece has the world’s longest National Anthem at 158 verses long.
National Anthems represent a country’s history, traditions, and identity – and it seems that Greece in particular has a lot to sing about.
Written by poet Dionysios Solomos in 1823 “Hymn to Liberty” or “Hymn to Freedom” depicts the hardships of the Greek people which they suffered from getting liberty from the Ottoman Empire.
Originally a poem, it was set to music by Nikolaos Mantzaros in 1828, officially becoming the National Anthem of Greece in 1864 and Cyprus in 1966.
This National Anthem has been played at every Olympics closing ceremony in order to honour Greece’s role as the birthplace of the Olympic Games.
Paying tribute to the birthplace of the Olympic Games it takes exactly 54:58 minutes to sing the entirety.
However, the Greek government decided to use only the first two stanzas as the official National Anthem in 1865 due to the length of the poem.
Although Greece’s National Anthem is the longest by verse the Greek Government decided to adopt a shorter version, however, The Uruguay government has not taken any such decision.
Therefore, their National Anthem is the longest one to sing, the anthem lasts about six minutes.
Written in 1830 by the Uruguayan poet, Francisco Acuña de Figueroa, the lyrics were commissioned by the government after the country was declared an independent nation in 1828.
The anthem was officially adopted in 1848 and was accompanied by music inspired by the Italian opera composer, Gioachino Rossini.
Spanning 11 verses and with 150 bars of music only the first verse and the chorus is commonly sung which is often performed at sporting and ceremonial events.
Typical for a Latin American epic anthem it is operatic in nature with the extended grandeur of the music making it run very long
The Uruguay National Anthem also aligns with the Country’s motto, “liberty or death.”
