MusicatlasMusic
- Uruguay National Anthem
- Paraguay National Anthem (possibly)
Life
The Hungarian-born composer Francisco José Debali (original name Debály Ferenc József) went abroad in 1829 to pursue his musical career in the Kingdom of Sardinia. In that country, in Alessandria, he married Magdalena Bagnasco, who was from Genoa, Italy. They had several children, some of which were born in Uruguay.
For a short while he stayed at São Paulo, Brazil, but he fled that place because of a yellow fever epidemic. Debali then arrived in Uruguay in 1838. In this country he was the director of the orchestra at the Sala de Comedias in Montevideo from 1841 to 1848.
He composed the National Anthem of Uruguay in 1845 (it became the national anthem in 1848). It is also thought that he composed the tune to the Paraguayan anthem, which was set to words of the same person as the Uruguayan anthem: Francisco Acuña de Figueroa.
