Wilhelmus - WikiHQ

"Wilhelmus van Nassouwe", known simply as "Wilhelmus", is the national anthem of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It dates back to at least 1572, making it the oldest national anthem in use today, based on the continuous coexistence of its original melody and lyrics. Although the "Wilhelmus" was not recognized as the official national anthem until 1932, it maintained a fluctuating but significant presence throughout Dutch history from its inception, alternating between periods of factional partisan use and moments of broad, national popularity before gaining its present status. It was also the anthem of the Netherlands Antilles from 1954 to 1964, Suriname until 1959 and the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) until 1942.

It originated at the start of the Eighty Years' War, the war of Netherlands independence from the Spanish Empire, also known as the Dutch Revolt. Uniquely for an anthem, the “Wilhelmus” is a first-person monologue of a specific figure: the leader in the revolt and father of the nation "Willem van Nassau", or 'William the Silent', better known in the Netherlands as "Willem van Oranje" ('William of Orange'), portraying his dual struggle to remain loyal to the Spanish king without betraying his conscience to God and the Dutch people. Both "Wilhelmus" and the Dutch Revolt should be seen in the light of the 16th century Reformation in Europe and the resulting persecution of Protestants by the Spanish Inquisition in the Low Countries. By combining a psalmic character with political relevance, the “Wilhelmus” stands as the pre-eminent example of a genre of militant music that served both to challenge Catholic clerics and repressive monarchs, and to foster class-transcending social cohesion.

Inception

Origins of melody

The melody of "Wilhelmus" is a contrafactum of the Catholic French song Autre chanson de la ville de Chartres assiégée par le prince de Condé (or Chartres in short). This original song ridiculed the failed Siege of Chartres in 1568 by the Protestant (Huguenot) prince Louis I. In an act of musical warfare, the “Wilhelmus” replaced the mockery of one Protestant prince with a triumphant tribute to another—William of Orange—effectively reversing an anti-Protestant satire into a pro-Protestant anthem. The current, slower tempo was established by Adriaen Valerius in his “Nederlandtsche Gedenck-clanck” (1626), who adapted the tune into a solemn hymn suitable for devotional use.

thumb|upright=1.3|[[Philips of Marnix, Lord of Saint-Aldegonde|Philips of Marnix presents "Wilhelmus" to William the Silent, by Jacob Spoel (c. 1850).]]

Origins of lyrics

The origins of the lyrics are uncertain. "Wilhelmus" was first written some time between the start of the Eighty Years' War in April 1568 and the capture of Brielle on 1 April 1572, since the lyrics do not mention the latter event, even though it was a pivotal turning point in the struggle. The song is first attested in 1573: in a contemporary account of its performance during the siege of Haarlem and in the oldest surviving textual version, a German translation from the same year. The oldest surviving complete Dutch text dates from a Geuzenliedboek printed in 1577–1578.

Recent stylometric research has mentioned Pieter Datheen as a possible author of the text of the Dutch national anthem. By chance, Dutch and Flemish researchers (Meertens Institute, Utrecht University and University of Antwerp) discovered a striking number of similarities between his style and the style of the national anthem.

Analysis

Structure

Like many of the songs of the Renaissance humanism period, the "Wilhelmus" has a complex structure. This structural choice creates a contrast between public imagery and a private signature of "Willem van Nassau" ('William of Nassau'), the leader of the Dutch Revolt, also known as "Willem van Oranje" ('William of Orange'), "Prinse van Oranje" ('Prince of Orange'), "Willem de Zwijger" ('William the Silent') and Stadholder "Willem I" ('William I'). By opening the very first line with the grand, Latinized name "Wilhelmus", the author adopts the solemn, elevated tone. This formal presentation gives William monumental status, further emphasized by the fifth line's royal predicate "Prinse van Oranje", lifting him from a rebellious nobleman to a sovereign on equal footing with the King of Spain.

In stark contrast to this majestic public exterior is the spelling of his actual everyday spoken name, "Willem", hidden in the anthem's acrostic: the first letters of each of the 15 stanzas form the name "Willem van Nassov". 'Nassov' was a contemporary orthographic variant of 'Nassau'. Moreover, in the current Dutch spelling the first words of the 12th and 13th stanzas begin with Z instead of S.

Point of view

In a form unique for a national anthem, William of Nassau speaks in the first person about how his disagreement with his king troubles him; he tries to be faithful to his king, Phillips II of Spain In 1581 the Netherlands nevertheless rejected the legitimacy of the king of Spain's rule over it in the Act of Abjuration.

thumb|upright|[[William the Silent|William I, leader of the Dutch Revolt, by Adriaen Thomasz. Key]]

Terminology

The word Duytschen in the first stanza, generally translated into English as "Dutch", "native" or "Germanic". Its modern Dutch cognate is the exonym "Duits" ('German'), here it most probably means 'Germanic'. In this context it refers to William's ancestral House of Nassau within the lands of the Holy Roman Empire, while simultaneously seeking to position William as a leader with an connection to the Low Countries. This stood in sharp contrast to the king of Spain, Philip II, who was commonly portrayed as a foreign ruler. By extension William implicitly compared himself to the well-liked Charles V (Philip's father) who, unlike his son, was born in the Low Countries, was initially surrounded by a Flemish court, and possessed at least a working knowledge of Dutch. Explicitly highlighting his Germanic roots, along with emphasizing his ancestral House of Nassau, was furthermore a calculated effort to rally German princes to fund his mercenary armies. In 1570, William was financially ruined and exiled; he desperately needed to appeal to the Protestant German principalities for military and financial backing.

The first stanza furthermore speaks of William as the 'Prince of Orange'; at eleven years old, he inherited the sovereign Principality of Orange, located in what is now Southern France, thereby founding the House of Orange-Nassau. This title highlights the complex debate surrounding his true identity, especially given his francophone upbringing at the court in Brussels. When the Capture of Brielle by the Watergeuzen in 1572 sparked widespread support for the revolt, it led to William being appointed Stadtholder of Holland and Zeeland, in the absence of the king. From this moment on, his dynasty went on to lead the Netherlands almost continuously—first as chosen Stadtholders and later as monarchs—which endured despite interruptions during the Stadtholderless periods (1650–1672 and 1702–1747), the French Period (1794 tot 1814), and the German occupation (1940-1945). Although the direct male line ended in 1702, the lineage continued through the direct female line of William's granddaughter, Albertine Agnes. Today, the current Dutch monarch, King Willem-Alexander, stands as the latest descendant of this line, representing the historical continuity of both William's dynasty and the anthem's wording in his name.

Performance

The "Wilhelmus" appears throughout Dutch history in numerous accounts and written sources since its inception, reflecting its evolution from a 16th-century song of revolt to its current status as national anthem. and played mockingly by Spanish musicians during the siege of Alkmaar in 1573. It has been claimed that during the torture of Balthasar Gérard (the assassin of William of Orange) in 1584, the song was sung by the guards who sought to overpower Gérard's screams when boiling pigs' fat was poured over him. It was played at William of Orange's triumphal entry into Brussels in 1577, for Maurice of Nassau at Breda in 1590, and on the carillon after the liberation of Groningen in 1594. It was also being played by the English during the joined Dutch-English Battle off Hormuz in 1625 against the Portuguese, and at a banquet for Michiel de Ruyter in Sardinia in 1675. This tactic was reversed on 30 December 1672 during the liberation of Coevorden, where invading Dutch cavalry blared the "Wilhelmus" upon breaching the gates to induce panic among the occupying Münster troops.

The use of the "Wilhelmus" was not limited to warfare or formal occasions, but could also mark moments of good fortune. Dutch explorer Johan Nieuhof described in his journal in 1656 how, during Jan van Riebeeck's command at the Dutch Cape Colony, a trumpeter played the tune "Wilhelmus van Nassouwen"” when Van Riebeeck visited a stranded whale in Table Bay, a find that was initially seen as economically valuable.

During this period, a notable distinction emerged between the song's functional and domestic uses. While soldiers and sailors utilized the melody as a brisk, functional signal, the poet Adriaen Valerius recorded a much slower, more solemn version in his 1626 work "Nederlantsche Gedenck-clanck". Intended for singing with lute accompaniment in a domestic or devotional setting, Valerius's arrangement transformed the spirited martial tune into a stately hymn.

18th century

In the 18th century the "Wilhelmus" evolved into a popular melody associated with Orangist celebrations, such as the entry of William IV in Leeuwarden in 1734 and (after the Second Stadtholderless Period) in 1747. During this era, the tempo was significantly accelerated, earning the song the nickname Prinsenmars ("Princes' March") and causing the tune to be performed predominantly as an instrumental piece. when his father, Leopold Mozart, noted in his diary "that the Wilhelmus was sung, blown, and piped by everyone in Holland". Despite this, the "Wilhelmus" was played in Leeuwarden in 1813 to celebrate the return of the prince. and although it gained a short-lived popularity during the Belgian Revolution in 1830, it never fully displaced the "Wilhelmus" and later became increasingly controversial, because of the second line, "Free from foreign stain". Meanwhile, the "Wilhelmus" regained popularity in a new musical form; the republication of the Valerius melody in 1871 and Eduard Kremser's romantic arrangement of 1877 helped reintroduce a more solemn version of the song, which was taught in schools and reduced the problem of multiple competing versions. Partly at Wilhelmina’s suggestion, the "Wilhelmus" replaced "Wien Neêrlands Bloed" as the official Dutch anthem on 10 May 1932. It was then taken up by all factions of the Dutch resistance, even socialists who had previously taken an anti-monarchist stance. The pro-German National Socialist Movement (NSB), who had sung the "Wilhelmus" at their meetings before the occupation, replaced it with ("All Men of Dutch Origin"). The sixth stanza also gained particular resonance during the war because of the line de tirannie verdrijven ("to drive away tyranny"), which could now be read as referring to the Nazi occupation.

The anthem also acquired symbolic force in the Dutch East Indies: after the Japanese conquest in March 1942, NIROM broadcasts reportedly continued to end with the "Wilhelmus" for several days, after which three employees of the station were executed by the Japanese authorities.

Current usage

thumb|upright=1.3|First stanza of the "Wilhelmus"

The "Wilhelmus" is played at official ceremonies, including the reception of foreign heads of state and other formal occasions, such as Remembrance of the Dead, and during international sporting events in the Netherlands or involving athletes representing the Netherlands, such as the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA European Championship, the Olympic Games, and the Dutch Grand Prix. In nearly every case the 1st stanza is played (or the 1st and 6th stanzas), rather than the entire song, which would result in about 15 minutes of music. (Each of the 15 stanzas lasts 56 seconds, and the last stanza has a ritenuto.)

The "Wilhelmus" is also used in Flemish nationalist gatherings as a symbol of cultural unity with the Netherlands. Yearly rallies like the close with singing the 6th stanza, after which the Flemish national anthem is sung.

Lyrics

The "Wilhelmus", as it was printed in the ( "Beggars' songbook") in 1581, used the following text as an introduction to the song:

!Original Dutch (1568)<br>

!Contemporary Dutch<br>

!IPA transcription

!English translation

In the 18th century, the melody was significantly accelerated and assimilated into the "Prinsenmars", a livelier march tune which no longer aligned the lyrics with the rhythm, leading the "Wilhelmus" to be performed predominantly as an instrumental piece. It was this lively, dance-like version that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart used as the basis for his seven piano variations (KV 25) in 1766. It was not until the late 19th century that the solemn character of the anthem was restored; Eduard Kremser’s Romantic arrangement, based on the earlier Valerius version, helped establish the slower, dignified form that became the official national anthem of the Netherlands..thumb|Het Wilhelmus sung during [[Koningsdag at the Pasar Gambir in Batavia (1922).]]

In the Dutch East Indies, the "Wilhelmus" has been found in an Mentawaian contrafactum (one of the local languages spoken in what is now Indonesia), created in the early 20th century:—to challenge the Dutch themselves as a foreign authority, transforming the anthem into a weapon of resistance against the very power it was designed to celebrate.