“Sound the trumpet, the yellow and black banners wave…” These are the first lines (not to be confused with “sound the trumpet and be fearless” from Bellini's Puritani) of the Popular Anthem set to music by Verdi with lyrics by Goffredo Mameli.

In 1848 Mazzini turned to the Genoese poet for the text of a hymn that could become the “Italian Marseillaise”; once he had obtained it, he sent the material to Verdi who, from Paris, set it to music, making slight changes to the original text and tryin...