Oj, svijetla majska zoro
"Oj, svijetla majska zoro" (Montenegrin Cyrillic: „Ој, свијетла мајска зоро”, lit. "Oh, bright dawn of May") is the national anthem of Montenegro adopted in 2004. Before its adoption, it was a popular folk song with many variations of its text. The oldest one is dated to the 2nd half of the 19th century, known as "Oh, Bright Dawn of Heroism, oh!", a popular Montenegrin folk song.
| English: Oh, Bright Dawn of May | |
|---|---|
| Ој, свијетла мајска зоро | |
National anthem of  | |
| Lyrics | Unknown (edited by Sekula Drljević), 19th century |
| Music | Unknown (arranged by Žarko Mirković), 19th century |
| Adopted | 2004 (official) |
| Audio sample | |
"Oj, svijetla majska zoro" (instrumental)
| |
Lyrics
Although those are the official lyrics, a lot of verses are repeated in order to follow the rhythmic composition. To sing it properly, one must follow the text like this:
| Cyrillic script | Latin script | English translation |
|---|---|---|
𝄆 Ој свијетла мајска зоро. 𝄇 |
𝄆 Oj svijetla majska zoro. 𝄇 |
𝄆 Oh, bright dawn of May. 𝄇 |
𝄆 Ој свијетла мајска зоро. 𝄇 |
𝄆 Oj svijetla majska zoro. 𝄇 |
𝄆 Oh, bright dawn of May. 𝄇 |
History
Original version
The following is the oldest known version of the anthem, known as: "Oh, Bright Dawn of Heroism, oh!" ("Oj, Junaštva Svjetla Zoro, oj!"). It was played in public for the first time in 1863 in the national theater in Belgrade. It was a component song of the "Battle of Grahovo or blood feud in Montenegro" (Бој на Грахову или крвна освета у Црној Гори) heroic play in three parts.[1] The play and the Montenegrin folk song was also played/sung in the National Theater again in 1870 and 1876.[2] Its first record in Montenegro itself dates to 1887, when it was included into the regular school program of Montenegrin national songs for pupils in the 3rd grade.[3] It was reconfirmed in the teacher's plan for Montenegrin schools of 1888, which speculates that it must have been an established folk song for decades by then.
| Serbian language (Cyrillic) | Serbian language (Latin) | English |
|---|---|---|
Ој, јунаштва свјетла зоро, |
Oj, junaštva svjetla zoro, |
O, bright dawn of heroism, |
World War II
Sekule Drljević, party strongman of a minor political party which was active in the Yugoslavian Kingdom in Montenegro known as the Montenegrin Federalist Party, rewrote the text and published it in 1937 in the book of Savić Marković "Štedimlija" (a Croatian writer of Montenegrin origin) known as Crvena Hrvatska (Red Croatia), which confounded the thesis not of a Serb ethnic origin of the Montenegrins, which was the dominant one back then, but rather from the Croats. Its name was Eternal Ours... (Vječna naša). When Nikola Hercigonja wrote Oh, Bright Dawn of May shortly after World War II ended after 1945, he erroneously concluded that Drljević was the original wholesale author of this song, which led to its decline in popularity as a Montenegrin folk song for decades.
| Serbian (Latin) | English |
|---|---|
Vječna naša Crna Goro, |
Eternal Our Montenegro, |
Popular song
The song survived until today under various names as a popular Montenegrin folk song under the name "Oh, Bright Dawn of May" (Oj svijetla majska zoro). This version of the song has been one of the several versions proposed in 1993 during the first discussion on the official state anthem, however, on which there was no consensus because of the disputed melodic value.[4]
| Montenegrin (Cyrillic) | Montenegrin (Latin) | English |
|---|---|---|
Ој свијетла мајска зоро, |
Oj svijetla majska zoro, |
Oh bright dawn of May, |
References
- Repertoire of the National Theatre in Belgrade 1868-1965, Sava V. Cvetkovic, Belgrade, 1966
- Istorija srpskog pozorišta od srednjeg veka do modernog doba, Borivoje Stojković, 1979.
- "Zadovoljni zbog neusvajanja himne :: Dnevni list Pobjeda". web.archive.org. 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2019-10-06.
- "Prve crnogorske elektronske novine". PCNEN. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
External links
- A midi version of the anthem exists at the official websites of
- Himnuszok - A vocal version of the Anthem, featured in "Himnuszok" website.
- Oj, svijetla majska zoro - Audio of the Montenegro national anthem, with information and lyrics, from NationalAnthems.me
- The Songs section of the Italian language website "NewMontenegro.eu" features two alternative versions of the anthem.
- nationalanthems.info - The sheet music and lyrics are featured in the "nationalanthems.info" site.