davidk wrote on 12.05.2009 at 09:04:06:
Dieter wrote on 12.05.2009 at 01:55:29:
Symbols of the European Union:
This "info sheet" (and almost every other message on this topic on the forum) still perpetuates the notion that Schiller's lyrics are those of the European anthem! While it is true that Schiller's verse does make up the lyrics of "Ode to Joy", I have not found any evidence conclusively that Schiller's lyrics are part of the European anthem (although it seems to unofficially be used as such.)
To quote
EUROPA.eu:
Quote:The melody comes from the Ninth Symphony by Beethoven. When used as the European anthem, it has no words
I really think that this needs to be mentioned somewhere on here (well, I guess I'm doing that now!) and perhaps have the lyrics and translations removed, to prevent confusion.
(While Dieter is an anthematologist I highly respect, rarely question, and, to boot, lives in an EU country and thus would normally defer to his expertise, I have to disagree with him on this. I'd love for Dieter to prove me wrong but, as he knows, I do do my homework (as I know he does)
)
Nobody has asserted in this thread that Schiller's or any other words have official status. On the contrary, we did explicitly mention several times that the Anthem of the European Union has
no official lyrics, see for example the following quotes from Jan and myself:
Dieter wrote on 04.05.2004 at 06:08:42:
Unofficial Polish lyrics (an adaptation of Schiller's "Ode an die Freude") sung in the recording on the occasion of Poland's entry into the European Union: […]
Jan wrote on 18.10.2004 at 04:16:08:
Remark: The European Union has officially adopted the music without the text.
Jan wrote on 18.10.2004 at 04:24:16:
Due to the different languages used in the EU, the music was officially adopted without the text. However, the choice of the music should express the values of the EU like friendship and universal brotherhood. There have been various attempts to write new texts for the European anthem, but none of these drafts has yet officially been recognised.
To prevent confusion, I have now also added a remark on the incriminated info sheet. Nevertheless, Schiller's Ode to Joy is very popular:
Quote:Despite this, the German lyrics are often sung by choirs or ordinary people when the anthem is played: for example, at the 2004 enlargement on the German-Polish border, the crowd watching the ceremony playing the music sung along with the German lyrics.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_AnthemSo I do not see a compelling reason to remove the lyrics from this thread. They should be retained.
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