Paraguay's national anthem, República o Muerte, played by the country's best orchestra

Paraguay's National Congress Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the wonderful Diego Sánchez Haase, play their national anthem! This was filmed at one of the orchestra's rehearsals at the town hall in Asunción. I was in the city doing research for a book, the "endlessly engrossing and very funny" Republic or Death! Travels in Search of National Anthems, which you should all buy now! See http://www.republicordeath.com or http://www.amazon.co.uk/Republic-Deat... to do so. Yes, it is named after this anthem. The music was originally written in the 1830s by Francisco José Debali, a Hungarian opera composer. He also wrote Uruguay's anthem and both feature rollicking openings and endings. The middle bits could perhaps be cut! If you'd like to know more about the anthem, read my book. It's story is fascinating, tied in with dictatorships. It's also surprisingly emotional. Thanks for watching