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Kde domov můj

English: Where My Home Is
"Kde domov můj" score written by Škroup, Prague, 1 August 1860
National anthem of the Czech Republic Former co-national anthem of Czechoslovakia (1918–1938, 1945–1989) and of Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (1939–1945)
Lyrics	Josef Kajetán Tyl, 1834
Music	František Škroup, 1834
Adopted	1918 (CSR, co-national)
Readopted	1990 (CR, part of CSFR, national), 1993 (CR, national)
Audio sample
2008 official orchestral and vocal recording by the Choir and Orchestra of the Opera of the Prague National Theatre more recordings below: The instrumentation↓ file help

"Kde domov můj" (pronounced [ɡdɛ ˈdomof muːj] ^ⓘ), translated into English as "Where My Home Is", is the national anthem of the Czech Republic, composed by František Škroup and written by Josef Kajetán Tyl.^[1][2] It was also the first, Czech part, of the national anthem of the former Czechoslovakia.

The piece was one of twenty-one written for the comedy Fidlovačka aneb Žádný hněv a žádná rvačka (Fiddlers' Feast, or No Anger and No Brawl). It was first performed by Karel Strakatý at the Estates Theatre in Prague on 21 December 1834.

The original song consists of two stanzas (verses). Even if J. K. Tyl is said to have considered leaving the song out of the play, hesitating about its quality, it soon became the most popular of the songs (he hesitated about as well:) from the Fiddlers' Feast which gained popularity among Czechs, seeking to revive their identity within the Habsburg monarchy, and became quickly their unofficial patriotic anthem.

Johann Strauss the Younger included the motif of Kde domov můj into his Slaven-Potpourri (Slavic Potpourri) of melodies of folk songs and dances (Op. 39, 1847).^[3]

In 1882, Antonín Dvořák used Kde domov můj in his symphonic poem, overture to František Ferdinand Šamberk's play Josef Kajetán Tyl, which is often performed separately as Domov můj (My Home), a concert work of some ten minutes.^[4]

Rainer Maria Rilke paid tribute to Kde domov můj, in Czech, in two poems, in German, published in Larenopfer (1895):^[5][6]

In 1988, on December 10, Human Rights Day, Marta Kubišová performed the anthem Kde domov můj as a protest song, singing after years publicly for the first time and closing a public rally of independent movements on Škroupovo náměstí (Škroup's square) in Prague Žižkov, permitted by the communist authorities thanks to a visit by French President François Mitterrand. Independent movements were allowed to hold a public rally for the first time since the onset of "normalization", marking the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The official paper of the ruling communist party, Rudé právo, commented: "the speakers demagogically claimed that citizens did not trust the state and demanded the release of alleged political prisoners". The authorities did not allow any similar event after that.^[7]

A year later, on November 21, 1989, on the outbreak of the Velvet Revolution, she sang her song Modlitba pro Martu (Prayer for Martha), which became an unofficial anthem of resistance and hope, along with the Czechoslovak anthem from the balcony of the Melantrich building on the Prague Wenceslas Square, where Alexander Dubček and Václav Havel spoke to the people, with some more selected by Havel ausgewählten weiteren, like Věra Čáslavská. Dubček, Havel and Kubišová, together and with others, also performed at further demonstrations there and on the Letná Plain in the following days.

When Czecho-Slovakia, ČSR was founded in 1918 (renamed Czechoslovakia in 1920), the first stanza of the song became the Czech part of the national anthem, followed by the first stanza of the Slovak song Nad Tatrou sa blýska with official translations into German and Hungarian.^[8]

Both songs reflected the mood of the smaller nations' concerns raising in the 19th century, here those of the Czechs and Slovaks,^{[9][page needed]} confronted with the national-ethnic activism of the, here, Germans and the Hungarians, the large, predominant ethnic groups of those in power in Austria-Hungary.

After the Munich Dictate of 1938, Czechoslovakia lost German, Silesian and Hungarian territories to Germany, Austria, Poland and Hungary, the anthem remained for the "Second Republic".^[8]

During the Nazi-occupied Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (1939–45), the Czech national anthem continued to be played, but only together with the German Deutschland über alles or the Nazi Horst Wessel Song, without any official act being issued or required.^[8]

Similarly in the 1950s' ČSR, ČSSR from the 1960s on, when the Czechoslovak anthem was followed by the Soviet one, or the Song of Labour or The Internationale.

With the split of Czechoslovakia, CSFR (1990–1992), into two countries in 1993, the Czech Republic kept Kde domov můj and Slovakia kept Nad Tatrou sa blýska as their anthems. While the Czech Republic's national anthem was adopted unextended, in its single-stanza version,^[1][8] Slovakia revived its anthem by adding a second stanza.

Czech		IPA transcription[a]
Kde domov můj, kde domov můj, voda hučí po lučinách, bory šumí po skalinách, v sadě skví se jara květ, zemský ráj to na pohled! A to je ta krásná země, 𝄆 země česká domov můj! 𝄇 Kde domov můj, kde domov můj, v kraji znáš-li bohumilém duše útlé v těle čilém, mysl jasnou, vznik a zdar a tu sílu vzdoru zmar, to je Čechů slavné plémě 𝄆 mezi Čechy domov můj! 𝄇		[ɡdɛ ˈdo.mof muːj | ɡdɛ ˈdo.mof muːj |] [ˈvo.da ˈɦu.t͡ʃiː po ˈlu.t͡ʃɪ.naːx |] [ˈbo.rɪ ˈʃu.miː po ˈska.lɪ.naːx |] [ˈf‿sa.ɟɛ skviː sɛ ˈja.ra kvjɛt |] [ˈzɛm.skiː raːj to na ˈpoɦ.lɛt ǁ] [a to jɛ ta ˈkraːs.naː ˈzɛm.ɲɛ |] 𝄆 [ˈzɛm.ɲɛ ˈt͡ʃɛs.kaː ˈdo.mof muːj ǁ] 𝄇 [ɡdɛ ˈdo.mof muːj | ɡdɛ ˈdo.mof muːj |] [ˈf‿kra.jɪ ˈznaːʃ.lɪ ˈbo.ɦu.mɪ.lɛːm] [ˈdu.ʃɛ ˈuːt.lɛː ˈf‿cɛ.lɛ ˈt͡ʃɪ.lɛːm |] [ˈmɪs.l̩ ˈjas.nou̯ vznɪk a zdar] [a tu ˈsiː.lu vzdo.ru zmar |] [to jɛ ˈt͡ʃɛ.xuː ˈslav.nɛː ˈplɛːm.ɲɛ] 𝄆 [ˈmɛ.zɪ ˈt͡ʃɛ.xɪ ˈdo.mof muːj ǁ] 𝄇

English translation

Where is my home, where is my home, Streams are rushing through the meadows, Midst the rocks sigh fragrant pine groves, Orchards decked in spring's array, Scenes of Paradise portray. And this land of wondrous beauty, 𝄆 Is the Czech land, home of mine! 𝄇 Where is my home, where is my home, If in heavenly land thou hast met Slender souls in spry bodies, Of clear mind, vigorous and prosperous, And with strength ruining all defiance, This glorious nation of Czechs 𝄆 Is of the Czechs, home of mine! 𝄇

Czech and Slovak		IPA transcription[a]
Kde domov můj, kde domov můj, voda hučí po lučinách, bory šumí po skalinách, v sadě skví se jara květ, zemský ráj to na pohled! A to je ta krásná země, 𝄆 země česká domov můj! 𝄇 𝄆 Nad Tatrou sa blýska, hromy divo bijú. 𝄇 𝄆 Zastavme sa, bratia, veď sa ony stratia, Slováci ožijú. 𝄇		[ɡdɛ ˈdo.mof muːj | ɡdɛ ˈdo.mof muːj |] [ˈvo.da ˈɦu.t͡ʃiː po ˈlu.t͡ʃɪ.naːx |] [ˈbo.rɪ ˈʃu.miː po ˈska.lɪ.naːx |] [ˈf‿sa.ɟɛ skviː sɛ ˈja.ra kvjɛt |] [ˈzɛm.skiː raːj to na ˈpoɦ.lɛt ǁ] [a to jɛ ta ˈkraːs.naː ˈzɛm.ɲɛ |] 𝄆 [ˈzɛm.ɲɛ ˈt͡ʃɛs.kaː ˈdo.mof muːj ǁ] 𝄇 𝄆 [ˈnat ta.trɔʊ̯ sa ˈbliːs.ka |] [ˈɦrɔ.mi ˈdi.ʋɔ ˈbi.juː ‖] 𝄇 𝄆 [ˈzas.taʊ̯ mɛ sa | ˈbra.cɪ̯a |] [ˈʋɛc sa ˈɔ.ni ˈstra.cɪ̯a |] [ˈslɔ.ʋaː.t͡si ˈɔ.ʒi.juː ǁ] 𝄇

German version (first stanza 1918–1938, 1939–1945)		Hungarian version (first stanza 1920–1938)
Wo ist mein Heim, mein Vaterland, Wo durch Wiesen Bäche brausen, Wo auf Felsen Wälder sausen, Wo ein Eden uns entzückt, Wenn der Lenz die Fluren schmückt: Dieses Land, so schön vor allen, 𝄆 Böhmen ist mein Heimatland. 𝄇		Hol van honom, hol a hazám, Hol patak zúg a hegyháton, Csörgedez a rónaságon. Szántóján ezer virág, Gyönyörű ott a világ. Földreszállott éden vagy te, 𝄆 Csehországom, szép bazám. 𝄇

English translation (second stanza)
𝄆 Far above the Tatras Lightning bolts are pounding. 𝄇 𝄆 These bolts shall we banish, brothers, they will vanish; Slovaks are rebounding. 𝄇

The lyrics of the Czech stanza stayed on as Czech Republic's national anthem, according to Appendix 6 of Czech Act No. 3/1993 Coll., as adapted by Act No. 154/1998 Coll.^[1]

The orchestration of the hymn by Otakar Jeremiáš (1892–1962), in three versions – for large orchestra (1930), for small orchestra (1932), and in the so-called pastoral/Christmas version for organ and orchestra (1932) – is still performed today.

The current, and since 2008 newly official, recording of the Czech national anthem, released 2008 by the Czech government,^[10] orchestrated by Otakar Jeremiáš and Jaroslav Krček (*1939), was performed by the National Theatre Opera Chorus and Orchestra under the direction of Jiří Bělohlávek in four interpretations:

• instrumental version, National Theatre Orchestra
  
• choral version, National Theatre Opera Chorus
  
• female solo, sung by Kateřina Kněžíková, soprano *
  
• male solo, sung by Adam Plachetka, bass-baritone *
  

* *1982 and *1985, soloists of the National Theatre Opera, married since 2012, two daughters)^[11]

The celebratory performance of the new recordings took place on the Czech Statehood Day, Sunday, 28 September 2008, in the Pantheon of the Prague National Museum.^[10]

• (cs) (en) Státní hymna České republiky v proměnách doby / The Czech republic's national anthem down the ages – Kde domov můj / Where is My Home, Úřad vlády České republiky, Národní muzeum, Národní divadlo, Český rozhlas (Office of the Government of the Czech Republic, National Museum, National Theatre, Czech Radio), 2008, on vlada.gov.cz, web of the Czech government
• (de) Viktor Velek: Die tschechische Nationalhymne Kde domov můj? im tschechischen Wien (The Czech national anthem Kde domov můj? in Czech Vienna), Musicologica Austriaca 28 (2009), on musau.org (also in: Die tschechische Nationalhymne Kde domov můj? im tschechischen Wien. (The Czech national anthem Kde domov můj? in Czech Vienna.) In: Music und Identität – Beiträge zur Musikgeschichte Zentraleuropas. (Music and Identity – Contributions to the Music History of Central Europe.) Wien (Vienna): Österreichische Gesellschaft für Musikwissenschaft (Austrian Society for Musicology), 2010. p. 119–143. ISBN 978-3-7069-0617-3)

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dead links, perhaps replaced by more recent, kindly review:

• Czech Republic: Kde domov můj? – Audio of the national anthem of the Czech Republic, with information and lyrics (archive link)
• State Symbols – Ministry of Foreign Affairs – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a page about state symbols that includes a copy of the music of the anthem.

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