- Hymn of the Nations
Infobox Film
name = Hymn of the Nations
image_size = 200px
caption = DVD cover of "Toscanini: The Maestro" containing "Hymn of the Nations"
director =Alexander Hammid
producer =Irving Lerner
writer =
narrator =Burgess Meredith
starring =Arturo Toscanini
music =Giuseppe Verdi
cinematography =Boris Kaufman
editing =
distributor = US Office of War Information
released = February 1944
runtime = 31 min.
country = USA
language = English
Italian
budget =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id = 1:23970
imdb_id = 0036023"Hymn of the Nations", originally titled "Arturo Toscanini: Hymn of the Nations" (1944), is a film directed by
Alexander Hammid , which features a patriotic work for tenor soloist, chorus, and orchestra, composed by Italianopera composerGiuseppe Verdi in the early-1860s. For this musical work, Verdi utilized thenational anthem s of several European nations.In December 1943,
Arturo Toscanini filmed a performance of this music for inclusion in aOffice of War Information documentary about the role of Italian-Americans in aiding the Allies duringWorld War II . Toscanini added a bridge passage to include arrangements of the anthems of the United States and the Soviet Union. Joining Toscanini in the filmed performance in NBC Studio 8-H, were tenorJan Peerce , theWestminster Choir , and theNBC Symphony Orchestra .The film also included the overture to Verdi's opera "
La Forza del Destino ". The narration was written byMay Sarton , film editing byBoris Kaufman , original narration read by Knox Manning and alternative narration read by actorBurgess Meredith . The original version was released on VHS byBlackhawk Films , which retitled it "Arturo Toscanini Conducts Giuseppe Verdi". A newly restored version by theLibrary of Congress , with the Meredith narration, has been issued on DVD.External links
*imdb title|0036023|Hymn of the Nations
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