News server Romea.cz. Everything about Roma in one place

News server Romea.cz. Everything about Roma in one place

Is this the official version of the international Romani anthem?

27 March 2015
1 minute read

The authors of the Rromaanthem.org website are claiming that for the first time in history, the international Romani anthem, "Gelem, gelem", now exists in an official, standardized form. The anthem has been recorded in three versions:  A choral one, an instrumental one, and a solo vocal one.  

Romani musician and politician Jarko Jovanović of Belgrade set the lyrics to the anthem to a traditional Romani folk tune. It is also interesting to note that Czech and Slovak Romani people have their own anthem, "Čhajori romani", which was composed by Romani prisoners in the Auschwitz concentration camp.  

The international Romani anthem was not adopted until the 1990s. The website authors say that until now, various memorial occasions have run into the problem that an official version of the anthem did not exist.  

"Various musicians or singers have performed it according to their own style, each of them had their own version, so there were probably hundreds of various forms of the anthem in existence. Other nations have standardized versions of their anthems. The fact that no official version of the anthem existed was influencing the perception of Romani people as a nation," the authors of the Rromaanthem.org website say.  

"The anthem is important because it is a symbol of the nation, and it is important that an official, standardized version of it exists. We hope that all Romani people will use this anthem at various levels and during international or national events worldwide," the website authors state.

The official version of the Romani anthem was performed and sung by the Moldovan Choral Music Association. The recordings were made with the financial support of the Open Society Foundation.

VIDEO

PHOTO GALLERY

Help us share the news about Romas
Trending now icon