Social Democrats who are part of the ruling coalition at City Hill have
taken issue with plans next year for a new hymn or anthem celebrating the
700th anniversary of the birth of Charles IV, the Czech News Agency
reported. Party members slammed the idea it might be written by Czech
performer Daniel Landa, once a member of the skinhead band Orlík. City
councillor Jan Wolf, representing the Christian Democrats/Three Party
coalition, tried to clarify, saying that Mr Landa had only suggested the
idea of an anthem, not that he had to write it. According to the city
councilor, a jury will select a successful candidate from a broader list
for the commission. Daniel Landa has sold 1.2 million records in the Czech
Republic and has written several musicals, some of them drawing heavily on
medieval settings and themes.