116. Dios y Patria

This work, the only one by Puccini set to a non-Italian text, was composed during his visit to Buenos Aires from June to August 1905, at the invitation of the newspaper La Prensa, which hosted him at its headquarters.
The author of the text, the Italian Matias Calandrelli (Salerno, 1845 – Buenos Aires, 1919), was a prominent figure in contemporary Argentina, known for his advocacy of educational reform. His fervor resonates in the vibrant patriotic rhetoric of the hymn that he proposed to Puccini.
The autograph is dated 3 August 1905. La Prensa published excerpts from it (116.D.1), and the complete edition appeared on the 15th of the same month. By then, Puccini had already left Buenos Aires for Montevideo.