El 24 de octubre de 1971, la Orquesta del Festival Casals, con el propio Maestro como director, presentó el himno en su estreno mundial en la Sede de las Naciones Unidas.
Un Himno a las Naciones Unidas
Música: Pablo Casals
Letra: W. H. Auden
Eagerly, musician. Sweep your string,
So we may sing. Elated, optative,
Our several voices Interblending,
Playfully contending, Not interfering
But co-inhering, For all within
The cincture of the sound,
Is holy ground Where all are brothers,
None faceless Others, et mortals
beware Of words, for With words we lie,
Can say peace When we mean war,
Foul thought speak-fair And promise falsely, But song is true:
Let music for peace Be the paradigm,
For peace means to change At the right time,
as the World-Clock Goes Tick-and Tock.
So may the story Of our human city Presently move
Like music, when Begotten notes New notes beget
Making the flowing Of time a growing Till what it could be,
At last it is, Where even sadness Is a form of gladness,
Where fate is freedom,
Grace and Surprise.
