God Save the Tsar!
"God Save the Tsar!" was the national anthem of the Russian Empire and, for a time, the national anthem of the Principality of Bulgaria. The song was chosen from a competition held in 1833 and was first performed on 18 December 1833. It was composed by violinist Alexei Lvov, with lyrics written by the 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. The Tsar of Russia would later be murdered by the Bolsheviks. The royal family was given a proper burial 7 years after the fall of the USSR, in 1998.
Lyrics
| Cyrillic script | Latin script | transcription | Literal English translation | Poetic English translation |
Сильный, державный, Царствуй на славу, на славу намъ! Царствуй на страхъ врагамъ, Царь православный! Боже, Царя храни! | Siljnyj, deržavnyj, Carstvuj na slavu, na slavu nam! Carstvuj na strax vragam, Carj pravoslavnyj! Bože, Carja xrani! | ˈsʲilʲnɨj, dʲɪrˈʐavnɨj, ˈt͡sarstvʊj nə ˈslavʊ, nə ˈslavʊ nam ˈt͡sarstvʊj nə ˈstrax vrɐˈgam, ˈt͡sarʲ prəvɐˈslavnɨj ˈboʐɨ, t͡sɐˈrʲæ xrɐˈnʲi | Strong, sovereign, Reign for glory, for our glory! Reign to make foes fear, Orthodox Tsar! God, save the Tsar! | Great be his glory! Growing in power and majesty; Tsar! May good fortune be Showered upon thee; God save thee still, Our Noble Tsar! |
Influence
Many composers made use of the theme in their compositions, most notably Tchaikovsky, who quoted it in the 1812 Overture, the Marche Slave, his overture on the Danish national anthem, and the Festival Coronation March. During the Soviet era, authorities altered Tchaikovsky's music, substituting other patriotic melodies, such as the "Glory" chorus from Mikhail Glinka's opera A Life for the Tsar, for "God Save the Tsar". Charles Gounod uses the theme in his Fantaisie sur l'Hymne National Russe. William Walton's score for the 1970 film Three Sisters, based on Chekhov's play, is dominated by the theme.In 1842, English author Henry Chorley wrote "God, the Omnipotent!", set to Lvov's tune and published in 19th- and 20th-century hymnals as the Russian Hymn. The Russian Hymn tune continues to appear in various modern English language hymnals, such as those of the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church, the Lutheran Book of Worship of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, or as Russia in The Hymnal 1982 of the U.S. Episcopal Church.
The same melody is also used with different lyrics for various institutional songs: Doxology of Phi Gamma Delta, "Noble Fraternity" of Phi Kappa Psi, West Chester University Alma Mater, Hail, Pennsylvania!, Dear Old Macalester, Hail, Delta Upsilon, Firm Bound in Brotherhood, the UST High School Hymn of the University of Santo Tomas High School in Manila, and the alma mater of Texas Woman's University, Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas in Dallas, Texas, Westover School in Middlebury, Connecticut titled "Raise Now to Westover", Tabor Academy in Marion, Massachusetts, Dimmitt High School in Dimmitt, Texas, Grant High School in Portland, Oregon and Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida.
Maurice Jarre's score for the film 1965 film Doctor Zhivago uses this song in several tracks, most notably in the Overture.
In 1998, singer-songwriter Alexander Gradsky, one of the best-known rock artists during the Soviet period, proposed using the song again as the Russian national anthem, but with substantially different lyrics from those originally written by Zhukovsky.