Hymn of the Nations
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| Hymn of the Nations | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover of Toscanini: The Maestro containing Hymn of the Nations |
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| Directed by | Alexander Hammid |
| Produced by | Irving Lerner |
| Narrated by | Burgess Meredith |
| Starring | Arturo Toscanini |
| Music by | Giuseppe Verdi |
| Cinematography | Boris Kaufman |
| Distributed by | US Office of War Information |
| Release date(s) | February 1944 |
| Running time | 31 min. |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English Italian |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Originally titled Arturo Toscanini, Hymn of the Nations (1944), a film directed by Alexander Hammid, features a curious, patriotic work for tenor soloist, chorus, and orchestra, composed by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi in the early-1860s. For this musical work, Verdi utilized the national anthems of several European nations.
In December 1943, Arturo Toscanini filmed a performance of this music for inclusion in a Office of War Information documentary about the role of Italian-Americans in aiding the Allies during World 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 tenor Jan Peerce, the Westminster Choir, and the NBC Symphony Orchestra.
The film also included the overture to Verdi's opera La Forza del Destino. The narration was written by May Sarton, film editing by Boris Kaufman, original narration read by Knox Manning and alternative narration read by actor Burgess Meredith. The original version was released on VHS by Blackhawk Films, which retitled it "Arturo Toscanini Conducts Giuseppe Verdi". A newly restored version by the Library of Congress, with the Meredith narration, has been issued on DVD.
