The second anthem used by the communist government of Romania, “Te slăvim, Românie” was in use until the rule of Ceausescu. One of the authors, Dan Dan Deşliu, was a poet whose works generally praised the communist government during the early years of communism, but later became disillusioned with the regime. The composer, Matei Socor, was once president of the Composers’ Union (which was, at the time, used to extol the Communist government in musical form) and also composed the previous anthem.

Starting in the late 1960s, the second verse, referencing the Soviet Union and Leninism, was no longer performed. Then, shortly after, the anthem became officially wordless (two verses were played instrumentally.) In 1975, Ceausescu wanted to have the anthem replaced with the patriotic song “Pe-al nostru steag e scris Unire” (“Unity is written on our flag”), with lyrics slightly rewritten to extol Communism, however, possibly because the melody of the anthem was exactly the same as that of Albania, “Te slăvim, Românie” was kept until 1977 when it was replaced with “Trei culori” (which had the same composer as “Pe-al nostru steag e scris Unire”).

Special thanks to: Jaroslaw Wojcik for informing me of this anthem and providing me with the music file and sheet music, and Adrian Vexler for some of this information.