In the summer of 1841, Alberik Zwyssig (1808-1854), a priest and
composer from
Uri, was visiting his brother at St. Carl, a magnificent patrician’s
house at
the gates of Zug, when he received mail from Leonhard Widmer (1809-1867),
a music
publisher, journalist and lyricist from Zurich. The mail contained
a patriotic
poem that Widmer had written and wanted set to music. Zwyssig
chose to use a hymn
that he had composed to the psalm "Diligam te Domine"
(I will love Thee,
O Lord) for an ordination service in 1835 when he was music director
at the monastery
in Wettingen. He worked on his adaptation until late autumn. Finallly,
"on
the evening of St. Cecilia's day, Monday, November 22, 1841 in
the first-floor
study at St. Carl overlooking the lake and the city", Zwyssig
rehearsed his "Schweizerpsalm"
[Swiss Psalm] for the first time with four residents of Zug.
In 1843, the new patriotic song appeared in the celebration brochure
of the Zurich Zofinger marking the anniversary of Zurich’s
membership
into the Swiss Confederation in 1351. (The Zofinger association
is
the oldest Swiss student fraternity). It was also performed at
the
National Singing Festival in the same year, where it was received
with acclaim by the audience. The "Swiss Psalm" was
soon
performed by male choirs throughout Switzerland (thanks to translations)
and was frequently sung at patriotic celebrations. Numerous attempts
were made between 1894 and 1953 to have it declared the Swiss
national
anthem, but they were consistently turned down by the Swiss government
for the reason that a national anthem should not be selected by
government
decree but by popular opinion. In fact, there was another song
that
was used for official political and military occasions at that
time
which was equally popular. "Rufst Du mein Vaterland"[When
My Fatherland Calls] was sung to the same melody as "God
save
the King (Queen)", which occasionally led to embarrassing
situations
as international contacts increased during the course of the 20th
century.
It was for this reason that the Swiss government declared the
"Swiss Psalm",
a fully and unmistakably Swiss creation, the provisional Swiss
national anthem
in 1961. Following a three-year trial period twelve cantons (or
states) voted
in favor of the "Swiss Psalm", seven requested an extension
of the trial
period and no less than six rejected it as the official national
anthem. In spite
of these mixed reactions, the "Swiss Psalm" was confirmed
(provisionally)
as the Swiss national anthem in 1965. The provisional clause was
abandoned ten years later, but without official ratification as
the national anthem. A number
of other suggestions for a national anthem were made in the years
that followed,
none of which, however, earned nearly as many votes as the "Swiss
Psalm".
Finally, on April 1, 1981, the "Swiss Psalm" was officially
declared the Swiss
national anthem, "a purely Swiss song, dignified and ceremonial,
the kind
of national anthem that the majority of our citizens would like
to have."
The text of the "Swiss Psalm"
Leonhard Widmer's German text and its (at times rather free) translations
in the other three national languages speak of the many timeless
natural
beauties of Switzerland - the magnificent Alps, the calm lakes,
the
fertile pastures - of the peace that its inhabitants find here,
and
of the divine gift which it represents.