Lyrics Alexei Mateevici Adopted 1994 | Music Alexandru Cristea | |
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"Limba noastră" ([ˈlimba ˈno̯astrə], meaning "Our Language") is the national anthem of the Republic of Moldova since 1994. For a short period before that, the official anthem of the country was Deșteaptă-te, române!, which is also the national anthem of Romania. The lyrics were written by Alexei Mateevici (1888—1917) a month before his death. Mateevici contributed significantly to the national emancipation of Bessarabia. The music for the anthem was composed by Alexandru Cristea (1890—1942).
Contents
The focus of "Limba noastră", written in a romantic style, is the national language. It calls for the people to revive the usage of their native language. The poem does not make a named reference to the language; it is only called poetically "our language". "Limba noastră", like "Deșteaptă-te, române!", makes reference to the awakening from the sleep of death: "a people suddenly awaken from the sleep of death" and "awaken, Romanian, from the sleep of death", respectively.
National anthem of Moldova
The original poem contains four stanzas of twelve verses each. For the anthem, the verses were selected and reorganised in five stanzas of four verses each.
Original Lyrics
Limba noastră is based on a twelve-verse poem. Today, only verses 1, 2, 5, 9, and 12 are used in the national anthem.