What’s the history of National Anthem of Russia ?

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1. myllur says

   The Hymn of the Russian Federation (Государственный гимн Российской Федерации, Gosudarstvenny Gimn Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the national anthem of Russia. The music of the anthem, composed by Alexander Alexandrov, was used for the Soviet anthem, but the revised lyrics were written by Sergey Mikhalkov in 2000. It was adopted in late 2000 by President Vladimir Putin and replaced the former anthem, The Patriotic Song.

   Before and after the adoption of the anthem, liberal groups raised concerns that the re-adoption of the Soviet anthem was returning Russia to the Soviet era. The revised lyrics removed mention of Lenin’s ideas and the “unbreakable union” of the Soviet state, instead focusing on a country that is vast in distance and in resources that will be entrusted to future generations.

   Before Molitva russkikh (The Prayer of the Russians) was chosen to be the national anthem of Imperial Russia, various church hymns and military marches were used to honor the country and the Tsar. Molitva russkikh was adopted around 1815, and used lyrics by Vasily Zhukovsky set to the music of the British anthem, God Save the King.[1]

   In 1833, Zhukovsky was asked again to write lyrics to a musical composition by Alexis Lvov called The Russian People’s Prayer. It was well received by Nicholas I who chose the song, known more commonly as God Save the Tsar, to be the next anthem. The reasons for its selection was that the song sounded very close to a religious hymn and its musical style is closely similar to the other anthems used by European monarchs. God Save the Tsar was used until the 1917 October Revolution, when the Russian monarchy was overthrown.[2] The tune is in several American hymnals with the words “God the Omnipotent! King who ordainest!/Thunder thy clarion, lightning thy throne! (etc.)”

   Upon the removal of the Tsar and his family, two songs were used by the Bolsheviks as unofficial hymns from 1917 until 1918. The first song, Worker’s Marseillaise, was a modification of the French anthem La Marseillaise by Pyotr Lavrov. Created in 1875, its use as anthem was shortlived. Eugène Pottier, another French national, wrote the lyrics to the second anthem, L’Internationale ; the music for which was furnished by Pierre Degeyter, a Belgian composer. Translated into Russian by Arkadiy Yakovlevich Kots in 1902, the song was used as the anthem of the newly created Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from 1918 until 1944.

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2. BrooklynNellie says

   Oddly enough, it is today’s featured article on Wikipedia.

   D’oh. . . . Beaten to the punch.

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