God Save the Tsar!
| English: God Save the Tsar! | |
|---|---|
| Боже, Царя храни! | |
anthem of  Russian Empire | |
| Lyrics | Vasily Zhukovsky |
| Music | Alexei Lvov |
| Adopted | 1833 |
| Relinquished | 1917 |
"God Save the Tsar!" (Template:Lang-ru; transliteration: Bozhe, Tsarya khrani!) 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 Lvov, and the lyrics were by the Romantic court poet Vasily Zhukovsky. It was the anthem until the Russian Revolution of 1917, after which "Worker's Marseillaise" was adopted as the new national anthem until the overthrow of the Russian Provisional Government.
Many Russian composers made use of the theme in their compositions, most notably Tchaikovsky who quoted it in the 1812 Overture, the Marche Slave and his overture on the Danish national anthem. During the Soviet era, authorities altered Tchaikovsky's music (such as the 1812 Overture and Marche Slave), substituting other patriotic melodies for "God Save the Tsar."
In 1842, English author Henry F. Chorley wrote God, the Omnipotent! set to Lvov's tune and published in 19th and 20th century hymnals as the Russian Hymn.[1] The Russian Hymn tune continues to appear in various modern English language hymnals, such as those of the United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), or as Russia in The Hymnal 1982 of the U.S. Episcopal Church. [2]
The same melody is also used with different lyrics for Hail, Pennsylvania! (alma mater of the University of Pennsylvania), Dear Old Macalester (alma mater of Macalester College), Firm Bound in Brotherhood (official song of the Order of the Arrow), and the alma mater of Tabor Academy.
Maurice Jarre's score for the film 1965 film Doctor Zhivago uses this song in several tracks, most notably in the Overture.
In 1998, a writer and musician named Alexander Gradsky proposed using the song again as the Russian national anthem, but with substantially different lyrics from those originally written by Zhukovsky.
Lyrics
Russian
- Боже, Царя храни!
- Сильный, державный,
- Царствуй на славу, Hа славу нам!
- ( 2x :)
- Царствуй на страх врагам,
- Царь православный.
- Боже, Царя храни!
- ( 2x :)
Transliteration
- Bozhe, Tsarya khrani!
- Sil'nyj, derzhavnyj,
- Tsarstvuj na slavu, Na slavu nam!
- ( 2x :)
- Tsarstvuy na strakh vragam,
- Tsar' pravoslavnyj.
- Bozhe, Tsarya khrani!
- ( 2x :)
English translation (literal)
- O God, save the Tsar!
- Strong and majestic,
- Reign for glory, For our glory!
- ( 2x :)
- Reign to foes' dismay,
- O Orthodox Tsar.
- God, save the Tsar!
- ( 2x :)
References
- ^ The Hymnal 1982. New York: Episcopal Church Publishing. 1985. p. 569.
- ^ The Methodist Hymnal. Nashville, Tennessee: The Methodist Publishing House. 1966. p. 544.