God Save the Tsar!

"God save the Tsar!" was the national anthem of the late Russian Empire. The song was chosen from a competition held in 1833. The composer was violinist Prince Alexei Fyodorovich Lvov, and the lyrics were by the Romantic court poet Vasily Zhukovsky. It served until 1917, when the Russian Revolution overthrew the Tsarist monarchy and adopted The Internationale as the new national anthem.

The melody can be heard in the 1812 Overture, Marche Slave, "Hail, Pennsylvania!" (which is the official state song of Pennsylvania), "God, the Omnipotent!"; "Firm Bound in Brotherhood", the official song of the Order of the Arrow, uses the same melody with different lyrics.

Russian lyrics

Боже, Царя храни!

Сильный, державный,

Царствуй на славу,

Hа славу намъ!

( 2x :)

Царствуй на страхъ врагамъ,

Царь православный,

Боже, Царя,

Царя храни!

( 2x :)

Transliteration

Bozhe, Tsarya hrani!

Silnyy, derzhavnyy,

Tsarstvuy na slavu,

Na slavu nam!

( 2x :)

Tsarstvuy na strakh vragam,

Tsar' pravoslavnyy.

Bozhe, Tsarya,

Tsarya hrani!

( 2x :)

English Translation

O God, save thou the Tsar!

Strong and majestic,

Reign he in glory,

In our glory!

( 2x :)

Dread of his enemies,

The Orthodox Tsar,

God, save the Tsar,

Save Thou the Tsar!

( 2x :)

Wikisource

• "Боже, царя храни!" (God Save the Tsar!, in Russian)

See also

• Russian Anthems museum