One of the longest national anthems in existence (that is, in the style that it’s usually performed, with the musical introduction, the chorus, the first verse, and the chorus again), the Salvadoran anthem is a typical example of a “Latin American epic anthem”. It was commonly adopted as the National Song on September 15, 1879 but did not have official recognition until December 11, 1953.

The anthem was composed by an Italian composer that arrived in the country at the end of the 18th Century as the Director of an opera company and written by General Juan José Cañas, a poet and distinguished military officer, around the year 1856. It was composed at the recommendation of the president Dr. Rafael Zaldívar and was sung for the first time on September 15, 1879 at the National Palace by children and young students from government and private schools of the capital city, and the anthem was very well recieved after the initial performance.

Special thanks to: José Quintanilla for some of this information.