Uruguay
"Orientales, la Patria o la tumba!" (Uruguayans, the Fatherland or Death!)

Words by: Francisco Esteban Acuña de Figueroa
Music by: Francisco José Debali
Adopted: 1845

Adopted in 1845, "Orientales, la Patria o la tumba!" is a typical example of a "Latin American epic anthem", the original poem has eleven verses. These type of anthems are very operatic in nature, not only does the opening of this anthem resemble Verdi's style, the chorus and the solo part resembles a Donizetti or Bellini opera.

The version of the anthem usually performed starts with the chorus, then the first verse, then the chorus again, however, most lines are repeated several times within the song, making the song quite long (another feature of "Latin American epic anthems"), Uruguay's anthem is often performed at well over 3 minutes, four or five minute performances of the commonly sung version are not uncommon.

Both the lyricist and composer (who composed the music several decades after the words were composed) also wrote the anthem for Paraguay. "Orientales", mentioned in the lyrics and the title, is a common name for Uruguayans, and it can be literally translated as "people of the East"

Special thanks to: Sandra for providing some of this information.