Podbit · The Rest Is History
Brazil's 1922 World Expo — celebrating a century of independence with 3 million visitors in Rio — was the catalyst that finally forced the government to lock in official anthem lyrics. They bought them off the long-suffering Osório Duque Estrada for half the price of a new car.
Where this was said
At 55:55 · chapter starts 54:40
The post-imperial decades are catastrophically unstable. Quoting Brazilian writer Pedro Vázquez's grim tally — 12 states of emergency, 19 military revolutions, 7 constitutions, 4 dictatorships in one century — [1] — Dominic Sandbrook "Brazil: 12 states of emergency, 19 military revolutions in one century: In the century after Dom Pedro II's fall, Brazil endured 12 states …" 52:28 Dominic explains why lyrics remain impossible: every new regime wants its own words, and no regime lasts long enough to impose them. A 1909 contest is won by Osório Duque Estrada, a generic liberal intellectual with a curled moustache, but his victory brings misery: for the next decade his lyrics are endlessly debated, revised nine times, torn apart by Congress and the press. By 1922, with Rio hosting a World Expo celebrating a century of independence, the government finally decides enough is enough. They buy the lyrics off Estrada for 5 million reais — about half the price of a new car — and the anthem is performed with its official words for the first time. [2] — Dominic Sandbrook "Brazil World Expo 1922 attracted 3 million visitors: Rio's 1922 World Expo celebrating 100 years of Brazilian independence attracted 3 mill…" 56:10 The very first radio broadcast in Brazilian history carries this anthem on the morning of 7 September 1922, transmitted from Corcovado mountain — where the foundations of the statue of Christ the Redeemer have just been laid.
The man who wrote the lyrics now used in Brazil's national anthem, Osório Duque Estrada, was forced to rewrite them nine times over a decade of congressional and press debate.
Rio's 1922 World Expo celebrating 100 years of Brazilian independence attracted 3 million visitors, prompting the government to finally officialise the anthem lyrics.
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