Listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emNUP3EMu98&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qUFErfzIMc

Alexander Bulynko
HYMNS OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE
Historical note-essay

Words of the National Anthem Russian Empire"God Save the Tsar" was written in 1815 by the great Russian poet, founder of romanticism and translator Vasily Andreyevich Zhukovsky (1783 - 1852).
The text part of the hymn contained only six lines:

God Save the King!
Glorious long days
Give it to the earth!
Proud humbler,
Weak keeper,
Comforter of all -
All descended!
(1815)

These six lines of the first Russian anthem were part of the poetic work of V.A. Zhukovsky "Prayer of the Russians" (see below).
Initially, the music of the British anthem "God save the King" written by the Englishman Henry Carey in 1743 was chosen as the musical accompaniment to the text of the first Russian national anthem.
In this form, it was approved by the decree of Emperor Alexander I of 1816 on the performance of this melody at the meetings of the emperor at ceremonial receptions, and in this version the hymn lasted until 1833.
In 1833, Emperor Nicholas I paid a visit to Austria and Prussia, during which he was honored with the sounds of the English hymn-march. The tsar patiently listened to the melody of monarchical solidarity without enthusiasm and remarked to Prince Alexei Fedorovich Lvov, who accompanied him on this trip, about the inadmissibility of such a situation.
Upon his return to Russia, Nicholas I instructed Lvov to compose the music for the new national anthem.
Prince Alexei Fedorovich Lvov (1798-1870) was chosen as the author of music for a reason. Lvov was considered a major representative of the Russian violin art of the 1st half of XIX in. He received violin lessons at the age of 7 from F. Boehm, and studied composition with I.G. Miller.
He received an engineering and technical education, graduating in 1818 from the Higher Imperial School of Railways (now MIIT). Then he worked in the Arakcheev military settlements as a railway engineer, leaving no lessons on the violin. Since 1826 he has been an aide-de-camp at the court of the Imperial Majesty.
Unable to perform in public concerts due to his official position (which was forbidden by a special decree of the emperor), he, playing music in circles, salons, at charity events, became famous as a wonderful virtuoso violinist.
Only while traveling abroad did Lvov speak to a wide audience. Here he struck up friendly relations with F. Mendelssohn, J. Meyerbeer, G. Spontini, R. Schumann, who highly appreciated Lvov's performing skills as a soloist and member of a string ensemble.
Later, in 1837, Lvov was appointed director of the Court Singing Chapel, and served in this position until 1861. From 1837 to 1839. the bandmaster of the chapel was the great Russian composer M.I. Glinka.
In addition to the music of the Russian anthem, Prince Lvov is the author of the operas "Bianca and Gualtiero" (1844), "Ondine" (1847), a concerto for violin and orchestra, Orthodox church hymns, such as "Like Cherubim", "Your Secret Supper" and other musical works, as well as a number of articles on violin making.
And in that 1933, the 35-year-old Prince Alexei Lvov, having fulfilled the state order of Emperor Nicholas I, became the author of music for the second version of the state anthem of the Russian Empire. The words to it were also taken from a poem by V.A. Zhukovsky, but lines 2 and 3 were changed by A.S. Pushkin, who should also be considered a co-author of this work.
The new anthem was first performed on December 18, 1833 and lasted until February Revolution 1917.
It also has only six lines of lyrics and 16 bars of melody.
The text part of this work is the shortest national anthem in the history of mankind. These words easily sunk into the soul, were easily remembered by absolutely everyone and were designed for a couplet repetition - three times.
Between 1917 and 1967 this work has not been publicly performed anywhere and was only heard for a wide audience in the film "New Adventures of the Elusive" directed by Edmond Keosayan (Mosfilm, 1968). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv9lTakWskE&feature=related
From 1917 to 1918, the melody of the French song of the Rhine army "La Marseillaise" was the national anthem. Words that are not a translation of a French song were written by P.L. Lavrov, music by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
From 1918 to 1944 the official national anthem of the country was the "Internationale" (words by Eugène Pottier, music by Pierre Degeyter, Russian text by Arkady Kots).
By a resolution of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, dated December 14, 1943, a new anthem of the USSR was approved (words by S.V. Mikhalkov with the participation of G.A. El-Registan, music by A.V. Aleksandrov). For the first time this version of the anthem was performed on the night of January 1, 1944. It was officially used from March 15, 1944. Since 1955, this version was performed without words, since the name of I.V. Stalin was mentioned in its text. However, the old words of the anthem were not officially canceled, therefore, during the foreign performances of Soviet athletes, the anthem was sometimes performed with the old words.
By a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of May 27, 1977, a new text of the anthem was approved, the author of which was the same S.V. Mikhalkov.
On November 27, 1990, at the opening of the II Extraordinary Congress of People's Deputies of the RSFSR, the melody "Patriotic Song" by M.I. Glinka was performed and unanimously approved as the National Anthem of the Russian Federation. It remained the anthem of Russia until 2000. This anthem was sung without words, since there was no generally accepted text for the Patriotic Song.
Since 2000, the official anthem of Russia has been the national anthem with music by Alexander Alexandrov, written by him for the Anthem of the Bolshevik Party. Another version of the text belongs to the same Sergei Mikhalkov.
But that, as they say, is another song...

In conclusion, it should be noted that all the monarchist movements in Russia still consider "God Save the Tsar" as their anthem.

Based on materials from the Free Encyclopedia "Wikipedia" and other Internet sites.

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State anthem of the Russian Empire
GOD SAVE THE KING
(A.F. Lvov - V.A. Zhukovsky)

God Save the King
Strong, domineering,
Reign for our glory
Reign in fear of enemies
Orthodox king.
God Save the King!
(1833)

Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky
PRAYER RUSSIAN

God Save the King!
Strong, domineering,
Reign for glory, for our glory!
Reign in fear of enemies
Orthodox king!
God, the King, the King save!

God Save the King!
Glorious long days
Give it to the earth! Give it to the earth!
Proud humbler,
Glorious keeper,
All the comforter - all sent down!

the sovereign
Orthodox Russia,
God Bless! God Bless!
Her kingdom is slender,
In power calm!
All the unworthy away otzheni!

savage army,
Glory chosen,
God Bless! God Bless!
Warriors-avengers,
Honor the saviors
Peacekeepers long days!

peaceful warriors,
The truth of the guardians
God Bless! God Bless!
Their exemplary life
unhypocritical,
Remember the faithful valor!

Oh Providence!
Blessing
They sent us! They sent us!
For the good desire,
In happiness, humility
In sorrow, give patience to the earth!

Be our intercessor
Faithful companion
Accompany us! Accompany us!
light lovely,
heavenly life,
Known to the heart, shine to the heart!
(1815)

========================================

Edward Leitman
GOT, SAVE THE TSAR

English translation of the anthem
"God Save the King!"

God save the tsar of us
Sovereign, vibrant!
Reign for the glory of
Always defend beloved,
Orthodox rigorous.
God, save the tsar of us!

Edward Leitman
THE RUSSIAN PRAYER

English translation of the poem
V.A. Zhukovsky "Prayer of the Russians"

God save the tsar of us
Sovereign, vibrant!
Reign for the glory of
Always defend beloved,
Orthodox rigorous.
God, save the tsar of us!

Save, God, for us the tsar!
Let him be the star
On Russian earth.
Insolence we'll defeat.
Weak ones 'll get a treat.
Living for all 'll be sweet.
God, make us mirth!

Sovereign first of all
Of Orthodox as called
Save Russia, God!
Realms with powers
Where wealth flowers
From what's not ours
Help us to guard!

Oh worldly providence
Your highest prominence
Bring us the world!
being of good reputation
With happy life pursuit
On a demure route
Bless us on earth!

"God Save the King!"- the state anthem of the Russian Empire from 1833 to 1917, replacing the previous anthem "Prayer of the Russians", which existed from 1815 to 1833.

In 1833, Prince Alexei Fedorovich Lvov accompanied Nicholas I during his visit to Austria and Prussia, where the emperor was greeted everywhere with the sounds of an English march. The tsar listened to the melody of monarchical solidarity without enthusiasm and upon his return instructed Lvov, as the musician closest to him, to compose a new anthem. The new anthem (music by Prince A.F. Lvov, words also by V.A. Zhukovsky, but with the participation of A.S. Pushkin - lines 2 and 3) was first performed on December 18, 1833 (according to other sources - December 25) under titled "The Prayer of the Russian People". And on December 31, 1833, it became the official anthem of the Russian Empire under the new name "God Save the Tsar!" and lasted until the February Revolution of 1917.

Anthem test:

God Save the King!
Strong, domineering,
Reign for glory, for our glory!
Reign at the fear of enemies,
Orthodox king!
God Save the King!

God Save the King!
Glorious long days
Give it to the earth! Give it to the earth!
Proud to the humbler,
Weak keeper,
Comforter of all
All descended!

the sovereign
Orthodox Russia,
God Bless! God Bless!
Her kingdom is slender,
In strength calm!
All that is unworthy, otzheni away!

savage army,
Glory chosen,
God Bless! God Bless!
Warriors-avengers,
Honor to the saviors
Peacemakers long days!

peaceful warriors,
The truth of the guardians
God Bless! God Bless!
Their life is exemplary
unfeigned,

Oh Providence!
blessing
Send us down! Send us down!
To the good aspiration,
In happiness, humility,
In sorrow, give patience to the earth!

Be our intercessor
Faithful companion
Escort us! Escort us!
Light-beautiful,
heavenly life,
Known to the heart, shine to the heart!

In 1833, Prince Alexei Fedorovich Lvov accompanied Nicholas I during his visit to Austria and Prussia, where the emperor was greeted everywhere with the sounds of an English march. The tsar listened to the melody of monarchical solidarity without enthusiasm. Upon returning to his homeland, the emperor wished that his own Russian march was created. Then an unspoken competition began to write a new monarchist anthem, in which many Russian composers took part, including great Michael Glinka, however, the composer Alexey Lvov, close to the court, won the competition.

The new anthem was first performed on December 18, 1833 (according to other sources - December 25), it lasted until the February Revolution of 1917. After the October Revolution, this anthem was deleted from the history of the new Soviet state, and instead they began to perform the Internationale ...

The anthem of the Russian Empire was called “God save the Tsar!”, the words to the music of A.F. Lvov was written by the famous Russian poet V.A. Zhukovsky. There was not a single person in Russia who would never hear and sing the Russian anthem that glorified the Orthodox Tsar and the Orthodox Autocratic Fatherland, at the same time this anthem was not just a patriotic march, but also a prayer, which is why it turned out to be so close to the soul of the Russian people .

God Save the King!
Strong, domineering,
Reign for our glory
Reign in fear of enemies
Orthodox king!
God Save the King!
.
God Save the King!
Glorious long days
Give it to the earth!
Proud humbler,
Weak keeper,
Comforter of all -
All descended!
.
the sovereign
Orthodox Russia,
God Bless!
Her kingdom is slender,
In strength, calm
Still unworthy
Get out of the way!
.
O providence
Blessing
They sent us!
For the good desire,
In happiness, humility
Patience in grief
Give it to the earth!

On November 23, 1833, the anthem was presented to the tsar for the first time - for which the tsar's family and their retinue specially arrived at the Singing Chapel, where court choristers with two military orchestras performed the anthem in front of them. Thanks to the sublime, choral melody, the anthem sounded exceptionally powerful. The tsar liked the melody heard several times and he ordered to “show” the anthem to the general public.

Performance of the hymn "God save the Tsar"

On December 11, 1833, at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, the orchestra and the entire troupe of the theater participated in the performance of the "Russian Folk Song" ( this is how the hymn "God Save the Tsar" was called in the poster). The next day there were rave reviews in the papers. Here is what the director of the Moscow Imperial Theaters M.P. Zagoskin: “First, the words were sung by one of the actors Bantyshev, then repeated by the whole choir. I cannot describe to you the impression that this national song made on the audience; all the men and ladies listened to her standing; first "cheers" and then "foro" thundered in the theater when it was sung. Of course, it was repeated ... "

.
December 25, 1833, on the day of the anniversary of the expulsion of Napoleon's troops from Russia, the anthem was performed in the halls Winter Palace at the consecration of banners and in the presence of high military ranks. On December 31 of the outgoing year, the commander of the Separate Guards Corps Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich gave the order: “It was pleasing to the Sovereign Emperor to express his consent so that at parades, parades, divorces and other cases, instead of the currently used anthem, taken from the national English, to play newly composed music.”

.
On August 30, 1834, a monument, the Alexander Pillar, was unveiled on Palace Square in St. Petersburg in honor of the victory over Napoleon in the war of 1812. The grand opening of the monument was accompanied by a parade of troops, before which the Russian anthem “God Save the Tsar” was performed for the first time in an official setting. ".

Soon the music of the hymn "God Save the Tsar" became known in Europe.

On May 26, 1883, on the Day of the Ascension of the Lord, the consecration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow took place, which coincided with the Day of the Holy Coronation of the Emperor on the All-Russian Throne Alexander III. Then this anthem was performed especially solemnly. P.I. Tchaikovsky - back in 1880 he wrote an overture in which the theme of the hymn "God Save the Tsar" sounds in a beautiful harmonic arrangement, and it was performed on the occasion of the consecration of the Temple. In total, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky used the music of the anthem in six of his works.

However, not everyone liked the music of the anthem, for example, the famous critic V.V. Stasov did not like her and he expressed critical remarks about her. M.I. also expressed some disapproval of the anthem. Glinka, but despite this, the composer A.F. Lvov forever entered the galaxy of Russian composers, as evidenced, in particular, by the painting by I.E. Repin, hanging on the landing of the stairs in the Moscow Conservatory. The picture is called “Slavic Composers”, and on it, together with Glinka, Chopin, Rimsky-Korsakov and others, the author of the official Russian anthem A.F. Lvov.

Painting by I. Repin “Slavic composers”

After the overthrow of the tsarist regime, covered by the imaginary abdication of Tsar Nicholas II from the throne and the subsequent assassination royal family Bolsheviks, the glorification of the royal person by the "folk song" became impossible. The new provisional government almost immediately attempts to create its own Russian anthem. Then the Russian poet V.Ya. Bryusov in March 1917 wrote an article "On the new Russian anthem", in which he expressed the idea of ​​the need to arrange an all-Russian competition for writing the anthem New Russia and offered several options for the approach to writing the music and words of this work.

He wrote: “We need a short song that, by the power of sounds, the magic of art, would immediately unite those gathered in one impulse, immediately set everyone on the same high pitch” ... Bryusov emphasized that the “spirit of the people”, usually characteristic of the national anthems of countries with a “uniform » by the population, should be expressed differently in multinational Russia. According to Bryusov, the anthem cannot be "Great Russian". He also cannot draw inspiration from the Orthodox religion due to the diversity of confessions in the country. Finally, the anthem should not divide the population into classes, nationalities, etc. - it should sound for everyone who considers Russia their homeland. In the verses of the anthem, as V.Ya. Bryusov, should be reflected: military glory, the size of the country, the heroic past and the exploits of people. The pathos of the words of the anthem should correspond to the pathos of the melody and contain ideas: the brotherhood of the peoples inhabiting Russia, their meaningful work for the common good, the memory of the best people native history, those noble undertakings that will open the way for Russia to true greatness ... “In addition, - the poet wrote, - the hymn must be an artistic creation, genuine, inspired poetry; the other is unnecessary and useless. External form - the anthem should be a song ... "

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In the wake of Bryusov, many other proposals were made regarding the new anthem.

At first, the orchestras performed the classic French version of the Marseillaise, while the Russian "Working Marseillaise" was sung to the words of P. Lavrov. Meanwhile, the anthem of the socialists "Internationale" began to sound more and more often at rallies and meetings. In January 1918, the International was Approved by the Council of People's Commissars as the anthem of the country and began to be sung by the people, but it was no longer a song-prayer, rather, on the contrary, it was the song of rebels who had risen to their former order of life, ready to demolish and destroy everything, in the hope build your own world on the ruins of the old world. It remains only to add that according to the Holy Scriptures, “those branded with a curse” are demons, but people can brand themselves with the curse of the Almighty if they rebel against God and begin to cooperate with demons. Here is the first verse of the international, compare it with the prayer hymn "God Save the Tsar":

Get up, damned,
The whole world of hungry and slaves!
Boils our mind indignant
And ready to fight to the death.
We will destroy the whole world of violence
To the bottom and then
We are ours, we are new world let's build:
Who was nothing will become everything!

Later ( in 1943) there will be a new anthem "The Union of the indestructible republics of the free rallied forever Great Russia. Long live the one, mighty created by the will of the peoples Soviet Union!" But that's another story.

And now Zhanna Bichevskaya and the male choir are performing the Anthem of the Russian Empire "God Save the Tsar!"

"God Save the Tsar" was the national anthem of the Russian Empire from 1833 to 1917. It was written on behalf of Nicholas I after his visit to Austria and Prussia in 1833, where the emperor was greeted with the sounds of the English anthem. For the first time, “God Save the Tsar” was performed in December 1833 and at the end of the month, on the 31st, became the official anthem of the Russian Empire. The history of the creation of the anthem will be reminded by Marina Maksimova.

Among the definitions of the anthem, one can also find the following: the anthem is a symbol of the state, reflecting the ideological and spiritual mood of society, or the anthem is summary national and sovereign idea of ​​the people. Historians argue that in the 19th century the need for a new, official state anthem of the Russian Empire became apparent. The anthem was to open new stage development of Russia as a self-sufficient great power. The main song of the country, set to foreign music, no longer corresponded to the ideological postulates of its time.

For the first time in Russia, they thought about their own anthem in late XVIII century after the victories in Russian-Turkish wars, then there was the famous capture of Ishmael, and finally, a new patriotic impulse swept Russia after the victory over Napoleon. In 1815, Vasily Zhukovsky wrote and published in the magazine "Son of the Fatherland" a poem called "Prayer of the Russians", dedicated to Alexander I, which began with the words: "God save the Tsar!". And it was this work, set to the music of the English anthem (God Save the King), that was used as the Russian anthem from 1816 to 1833 - for 17 years. This happened after the conclusion in 1815 of the "Quadruple Union" - Russia, Great Britain, Austria and Prussia. It was proposed to introduce a single anthem for the members of the union. One of the oldest hymns in Europe, God Save the King, was chosen as the music.

For 17 years, the anthem of the Russian Empire was performed to the music of the British anthem

Lvov recalled that the task seemed very difficult to him: “I felt the need to create a majestic, strong, sensitive hymn, understandable for everyone, having an imprint of nationality, suitable for the church, suitable for the troops, suitable for the people - from the scientist to the ignorant.” Such conditions frightened Lvov, later he said that days passed, and he could not write anything, when suddenly one evening, returning home late, he sat down at the table, and in a few minutes the anthem was written. Then Lvov turned to Zhukovsky with a request to write the words to the already finished music. Zhukovsky provided almost existing words, "fitting" them to the melody. Only 6 lines of text and 16 measures of the melody.

God Save the King!

Strong, domineering,

Reign for our glory;

Reign in fear of enemies

Orthodox king!

God Save the King!

The hymn "God Save the Tsar" consisted of only 6 lines

Eyewitnesses say that Nicholas I was delighted with the new anthem. The emperor praised Lvov, saying that he “absolutely understood him” and gave him a golden snuffbox with diamonds. For the first time, the anthem was performed publicly in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theater on December 6, 1833. Here is how one Moscow eyewitness describes this memorable theatrical evening: “As soon as the words of the chant “God save the Tsar!” were heard, all three thousand spectators who filled the theater rose from their seats, following the representatives of the nobility, and remained in this position until the end of the singing. The picture was extraordinary; the silence that reigned in the huge building breathed majesty, words and music so deeply affected the feelings of all those present that many of them shed tears from excess excitement.

For the first time in an official setting, "God Save the Tsar" was performed in St. Petersburg during the opening of the Alexander Column on Palace Square. After that, the hymn was subject to mandatory performance at all parades, at divorces, at the consecration of banners, at morning and evening prayers of the Russian army, meetings of the imperial couple with troops, during the taking of the oath, as well as in civilian educational institutions.

As an anthem, the work of Zhukovsky and Lvov existed until the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne - March 2, 1917.