Post-1944_Soviet_anthem National_anthem_of_Russia

music

1983 soviet stamp honoring 100th anniversary of birth of alexander alexandrov

the music of national anthem, created alexander alexandrov, had been incorporated in several hymns , compositions. music first used in hymn of bolshevik party, created in 1939. when comintern dissolved in 1943, government argued internationale , historically associated comintern, should replaced national anthem of soviet union. alexandrov s music chosen new anthem soviet leader joseph stalin after contest in 1943. stalin praised song fulfilling national anthem should be, though criticized song s orchestration.

in response, alexandrov blamed problems on viktor knushevitsky, responsible orchestrating entries final contest rounds. when writing bolshevik party anthem, alexandrov incorporated pieces song Žit stalo lučshe ( life has become better ), musical comedy composed. comedy based on slogan stalin first used in 1935. on 200 entries submitted anthem contest, including famous soviet composers dmitri shostakovich, aram khachaturian , iona tuskiya. later, rejected joint entry khachaturian , shostakovich became song of red army, , khachaturian went on compose anthem of armenian ssr. there entry boris alexandrov, son of alexander. rejected entry, long live our state (Да здравствует наша держава), became popular patriotic song , adopted anthem of transnistria.

during 2000 debate on anthem, boris gryzlov, leader of unity faction in duma, noted music alexandrov wrote soviet anthem similar vasily kalinnikov s 1892 overture, bylina . supporters of soviet anthem mentioned in various debates held in duma on change of anthem, there no evidence alexandrov consciously used parts of bylina in composition.

another musical work has been discovered, identical or near-identical music, long predates alexandrov s 1943 involvement anthem of ussr. ukrainian scouting (plast) anthem c. 1912, music composed yuriy piasećkiy (Юрій Пясецький) known plastovy obit (Пластовий oбіт - plast oath), lyrics plast founder oleksander tysovsky (oлександр Тисовський) has been noted plast members bear extremely close or identical resemblance later russian/soviet anthem. music , words found in various plast handbooks , songbooks, , performance of song in 2012 can viewed on youtube. first line reads: v pozhezhakh vsesvitnykh, u lunakh kryvavykh - В пожежах всесвітних, у лунах кривавих . piasetsky-tysovsky anthem glorifies ukrainian independence movement, had support of plast organization.

lyrics

lyrics composer sergey mikhalkov in 2002 meeting president putin



russian national anthem lyrics — once world s smallest book

after selecting music alexandrov anthem, stalin needed new lyrics. thought anthem short and, because of great patriotic war, needed statement impending defeat of nazi germany red army. poets sergey mikhalkov , gabriel el-registan called moscow 1 of stalin s staffers, , told fix lyrics alexandrov s music. instructed keep verses same, find way change refrains described country of soviets . because of difficulty of expressing concepts of great patriotic war in song, idea dropped version el-registan , mikhalkov completed overnight. after few minor changes emphasize russian motherland, stalin approved anthem , had published on 7 november 1943, including line stalin inspir[ing] keep faith people . revised anthem announced of ussr on january 1, 1944 , became official on march 15, 1944.

after stalin s death in 1953, soviet government examined legacy. government began de-stalinization process, included downplaying role of stalin , moving corpse lenin s mausoleum kremlin wall necropolis. in addition, anthem lyrics composed mikhalkov , el-registan officially scrapped soviet government in 1956. anthem still used soviet government, without official lyrics. in private, anthem became known song without words . mikhalkov wrote new set of lyrics in 1970, not submitted presidium of supreme soviet until may 27, 1977. new lyrics, eliminated mention of stalin, approved on 1 september, , made official printing of new soviet constitution in october 1977. in credits 1977 lyrics, mikhalkov mentioned, references el-registan, died in 1945, dropped unknown reasons.