Marangal na Dalit ng Katagalugan


The Marangál na Dalit ng̃ Katagalugan was the historic national anthem of the Tagalog Republic and is considered the first national anthem of the Philippines. It was later titled Salve Patria. Julio Nakpil composed the anthem in November 1896 during the Philippine Revolution.

History

The piece was composed by Nakpil upon request of Andres Bonifacio to celebrate the founding of the Katipunan. It first played in the vicinity of Balara in November 1896. While the hymn was originally intended only for the Katipunan, it eventually became the anthem for the Tagalog Republic. In 1903, Nakpil reworked his “Marangal na Dalit” as tribute to Jose Rizal under the title “Salve, Patria,” but the only surviving copies of the original score were destroyed in 1945, during the Battle of Manila. The current version was reconstructed by Nakpil from memory when he was in his eighties.

Lyrics

Abandonment

The anthem was not adapted by the first official Philippine Republic, thus it only remain as the anthem of katipunan. Instead, when President Aguinaldo was in Hong Kong, an anthem was composed to be the official anthem of the First Philippine Republic. However, president Aguinaldo was not satisfied, thus, he requested Julián Felipe to compose an anthem for the Philippine Republic. In June 11, 1898, a day before the Proclamation of Independence, Marcha Nacional Filipina was adopted as the official Philippine national anthem. It is still the music of the official national anthem of the Philippines,the Filipino translation of José Palma's Spanish Poem "Filipinas" which was legally defined as such in 1998.