The old & new national antherm of Mauritania arranged for Brass Quintet. The old was replaced by a new one in 2017.

One of the more unique anthems of the world, Mauritania’s old anthem is based on a late eighteenth-century poem by Baba Ould Cheikh, who was inspired to write due to the problem of the myriad of Arabian sects that were developing at the time.

The first president of the country, shortly before independence from France, asked the director of the orchestra of the French broadcasting service, Tolia Nikiprovetzki, to select a melody to be used for the future anthem. This melody, known for many centuries and was the melody that originally belonged to the verses, was selected from the many selections of folk music that were considered.

The peculiar rhythym of the anthem (known as “fatchou”) makes it very difficult to sing, thus the anthem is often (but erroneously) listed as wordless.

On November 28, 2017, Mauritania had replaced its national anthem based on a referendum from August on the national symbols. The new anthem was composed by an Egyptian namely Rajih Sami Daoud.

Need an anthem fast? They are ALL in my store! All my anthem arrangements are also available for Orchestra, Recorders, Saxophones, Wind, Brass and Flexible band. If you need an anthem urgently for an instrumentation not in my store, let me know via e-mail, and I will arrange it for you FOC if possible! keithterrett@gmail.com