Europe (anthem)

Europe is the national anthem of the Republic of Kosovo. It was composed by Mendi Mengjiqi. As with the national anthems of Spain, Bosnia-Herzegovina and San Marino, the anthem has no official lyrics, but unofficial lyrics have been written for it. It was adopted on 11 June 2008. It was chosen because it contained no references to any specific ethnic group. It was selected by the Assembly of Kosovo, with 72 MPs voting in favour, while 15 voted against and five abstained.

Competition for the anthem

On 12 March 2008 the Assembly of Kosovo announced an open contest to choose the anthem in Prishtina newspapers and on the official website of the Assembly. The rules include:

Europa (mythology)

In Greek mythology Europa (/jʊˈroʊpə, jə-/; Greek: Εὐρώπη Eurṓpē) was the mother of King Minos of Crete, a woman with Phoenician origin of high lineage, and for whom the continent Europe was named. The story of her abduction by Zeus in the form of a white bull was a Cretan story; as Kerényi points out "most of the love-stories concerning Zeus originated from more ancient tales describing his marriages with goddesses. This can especially be said of the story of Europa".

Europa's earliest literary reference is in the Iliad, which is commonly dated to the 8th century B.C. Another early reference to her is in a fragment of the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women, discovered at Oxyrhynchus. The earliest vase-painting securely identifiable as Europa, dates from mid-7th century B.C.

Etymology

The etymology of her Greek name (εὐρύς eurys "wide" or "broad" and ὤψ ops "eye(s)" or "face") suggests that Europa as a divine spirit represented the wide-faced cow Hathor, at least on some symbolic level. Metaphorically, at a later date her name could be construed as the intelligent or open-minded, analogous to glaukopis (γλαυκῶπις) attributed to Athena. However, Ernest Klein and Giovanni Semerano suggest a possible Semitic origin in Akkadian erebu "to go down, set" (in reference to the sun) which would parallel occident.

Team Europe

The term Team Europe is used in a number of sports to designate a unified team of European countries in several sports competitions. Whilst neither the European Union nor the Council of Europe are countries themselves, European teams have been formed to compete in several international competitions. The most famous of these is the Ryder Cup in golf which sees a European team play against a team from the USA in even-numbered years. In football, a selection of European footballers play occasionally for charity games and anniversary games in the Europe XI team.

Examples of competitions featuring a European team

"Team Europe" is the official designation of the team representing Europe in several international competitions

Europe vs. USA

Europe 2020

Europe 2020 is a 10-year strategy proposed by the European Commission on 3 March 2010 for advancement of the economy of the European Union. It aims at "smart, sustainable, inclusive growth" with greater coordination of national and European policy. It follows the Lisbon Strategy for the period 2000–2010.

Main targets

The strategy identifies five headline targets the European Union should take to boost growth and employment. These are:

Anthem

An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short sacred choral work and still more particularly to a specific form of Anglican church music.

Etymology

Anthem is derived from the Greek ἀντίφωνα (antíphōna) via Old English antefn. Both words originally referred to antiphons, a call-and-response style of singing. The adjectival form is "anthemic".

History

Anthems were originally a form of liturgical music. In the Church of England, the rubric appoints them to follow the third collect at morning and evening prayer. Several anthems are included in the British coronation service. The words are selected from Holy Scripture or in some cases from the Liturgy and the music is generally more elaborate and varied than that of psalm or hymn tunes. Being written for a trained choir rather than the congregation, the Anglican anthem is analogous to the motet of the Roman Catholic and Lutheran Churches but represents an essentially English musical form. Anthems may be described as "verse", "full", or "full with verse", depending on whether they are intended for soloists, the full choir, or both.

Anthem (Chess song)

"Anthem" is a song from the concept album and subsequent musical Chess by Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. The song describes the feelings of Soviet Russian challenger, Anatoly Sergievsky, when he defects. The song was originally sung by Tommy Körberg on the original concept album]] and as Anatoly in the original West End cast. It was later covered by various artists including Josh Groban on his album Stages and Kerry Ellis.

Plot

Distracted by the loss of Florence's love, Freddie flounders in the chess tournament, leaving himself just one more loss away from losing his title. Florence leaves Freddie, who sends The Arbiter a letter of resignation, resulting in Anatoly's becoming the new world champion. Anatoly immediately defects from the Soviet Union and seeks asylum at the British embassy. Florence, accompanies Anatoly, reflecting on their newfound romance. Walter tips off the press about this scandal. When the mob of reporters ambush Anatoly to ask why he is deserting his country, he tells them in this song that he will never truly leave his country because his land's only borders lie around his heart.

Anthem (Iced Earth song)

"Anthem" is a song by American heavy metal band Iced Earth from their album Dystopia. Since its release it has become one of the most popular tracks of the album. The song "Anthem" was described by vocalist Stu Block as a celebration of "people, the human spirit and life". A shorter version the song was also featured on the extended play 5 Songs which was released on September 19, 2011.

Music video

Produced and directed by Kosch Fabian Film, the music video for "Anthem", was released on January 24, 2012. The video was filmed at the Essigfabrik in Cologne, Germany on December 7, 2011, during the band's Dystopia World Tour. It switches between live scenes and the band on the road which are in filmed in black and white.

Jon Schaffer commented on the video on Century Media Records:

Critical reception

Caj Källmalmm, from Swedish website Hallowed named "Anthem" as one the album's best songs and Chad Bowar from About described it as "appropriately enough, anthemic." Keith Chachkes of Metal Army America also called "Anthem" "a rousing call to arms against hypocrisy and sycophants who seem to be overrunning the world these days."