Boris Alexandrovich Alexandrov (russian: Борис Александрович Александров; 4 August 1905,

Bologoye Bologoye () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. ;Urban localities *Bologoye, Tver Oblast, a town in Bologovsky District of Tver Oblast ;Rural localities * Bologoye, Omsk Oblast, a '' selo'' in Rozovsky Rural Okrug of Russko-P ...

– 17 June 1994,

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n composer and, from 1946 to 1986, the second head of the

Alexandrov Ensemble The Alexandrov Ensemble ( rus, Ансамбль Александрова, r=Ansambl' Aleksandrova; commonly known as the Red Army Choir in the West) is an official army choir of the Russian armed forces. Founded during the Soviet era, the e ...

which was founded by his father,

Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov (; – 8 July 1946) was a Soviet and Russian composer and founder of the Alexandrov Ensemble, who wrote the music for the State Anthem of the Soviet Union, which in 2000 became the national anthem of Russia (w ...

. Alexandrov reached the rank of Major-General and was awarded the order of

Hero of Socialist Labour The Hero of Socialist Labour (russian: links=no, Герой Социалистического Труда, Geroy Sotsialisticheskogo Truda) was an honorific title in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries from 1938 to 1991. It repre ...

, the

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...

and

Stalin Prize Stalin Prize may refer to: * The State Stalin Prize in science and engineering and in arts, awarded 1941 to 1954, later known as the USSR State Prize The USSR State Prize (russian: links=no, Государственная премия СССР, ...

, and named

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR ( rus, Народный артист СССР, Narodny artist SSSR), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. Nomenclature and significan ...

Life

Early years

He began his musical career, aged 13, as a viola player and in the children's choir at the

Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, literally "Big Theater", p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈatər) is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds ballet and ope ...

, performing alongside singers such as

Feodor Chaliapin Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin ( rus, Фёдор Ива́нович Шаля́пин, Fyodor Ivanovich Shalyapin, ˈfʲɵdər ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ʂɐˈlʲapʲɪn}; April 12, 1938) was a Russian opera singer. Possessing a deep and expressive bass v ...

. From 1923 to 1929 he attended the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

, taught by

Reinhold Glière Reinhold Moritzevich Glière (born Reinhold Ernest Glier, which was later converted for standardization purposes; russian: Рейнгольд Морицевич Глиэр; 23 June 1956), was a Russian Imperial and Soviet composer of German and P ...

. From 1929 to 1937 he ran the music department of the newly established Central Theatre of the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

and from 1933 to 1941 was associate professor of Moscow Conservatory. In 1937, he became the deputy artistic director of the Alexandrov Ensemble. He was also a composer, writing in various genres of symphonic and chamber instrumental music.

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Boris Alexandrov, with his father, led the ensemble in

All-Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

radio concerts and over 1500 concerts at the Front, officially to actively promote Russian folk music and the songs of Soviet composers and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

for the sake of patriotism and morale. During this time, Boris shouldered increasing responsibility, due to his father's heart condition. After Alexandrov's death in 1946, Boris Alexandrov, his son, went on to succeed his father as musical director for the ensemble.

Leadership of the Ensemble

Boris Alexandrov was a composer, arranger, conductor, music critic, artist and teacher: an important 20th century figure in Russian military music. He saw to the training and promotion of many fine soloists. After World War II, the ensemble, led by Boris Alexandrov, traveled abroad sixty-eight times and was well received in many countries throughout

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. He carried on the central idea which drove his father: that the choir was central to the ensemble, and that without the choir there would be no ensemble.

Close of a long career

In 1985, his 80th birthday was publicly celebrated. Alexandrov finally retired in 1987. He was succeeded by Igor Agafonnikov the same year, with Anatoly Maltsev as the ensemble chief. He retired as the principal conductor in 1994; he died that year and was buried in

at the

Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery ( rus, Новоде́вичье кла́дбище, Novodevichye kladbishche) is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist ...

. He was succeeded by Viktor Fedorov, the chorus master since 1986.

Collaborations

The ensemble under Boris Alexandrov worked with

People's Artist of the RSFSR People's Artist of the RSFSR (russian: Народный артист РСФСР, ''Narodnyj artist RSFSR'') was an honorary title granted to Soviet Union artists, including theatre and film directors, choreographers, music performers, and orchest ...

, laureate of

KP Vinogradov;

Y. Petrov the Principal Chorus Master; VG Sokolov (later People's Artist of the USSR and Professor of the

); BI Kulikov (later Rector of the Moscow Conservatory); ES Tytyanko (People's Artist of the USSR); and VV Samsonenko, AP Kulygin and VI Chusei, all Honored Artists of the RSFSR. Dancers worked with People's Artist of the USSR PP Virsky, soloists of the

, Honored Art Worker AI Radunsky and Honored Artist of the RSFSR KG Farmanyants and People's Artist of the USSR U.P. Khmelnitski. The orchestra worked with VA Aleksandrov, VV Samsonenko both Honored Artist of the RSFSR, and People's Artist of the RSFSR VA Korobko.

Compositions and arrangements

He added over 150 new works to the repertoire, including works of composers local to the countries visited by the ensemble. He worked with living Soviet composers, enriching both works and performance. He wrote symphonic, chamber, instrumental, vocal-symphonic and theatrical music, and specialized in military music. He wrote a national anthem for which he received an award from the Ministry of Culture of the Soviet Union, and for which he was known by contemporaries as "the soldier-patriot". In 1937 he wrote the

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

Wedding in Malinovka ''Wedding in Malinovka'' (russian: Свадьба в Малиновке, ''Svadba v Malinovke'') is a 1967 Soviet musical comedy film directed by Andrei Tutyshkin based on an operetta by Boris Aleksandrov adapted by Leonid Yukhvid. The film is ...

which contained patriotic themes: revolutionaries, soldiers, peasants and

. Other operettas include ''The Girl from Barcelona'' (1942) about Russian partisans and a female Spanish co-combatant; ''My Gyuzel'' (1946), ''Near You'' (1949) and ''The One Hundred and First Wife'' (1957). Ballets include ''Young Friendship'' and ''Southpaw'' (1955). He also wrote cantatas including ''Cantata of the Party'' (1955), the oratorio ''October Soldier Defending the World'' (1967), ''Book of the Motherland'' (1979), plus the suite ''Guarding'' (1981).Ensemble-Aleksandrova: Biography of Boris Alexandrov
Translated Russian-English via Google Translate Tool Alexandrov composed the song " Long Live Our State" (Да здравствует наша держава) to be the anthem of the Soviet Union. It was rejected however, but the 1943 composition (with different lyrics) became the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

Transnistria Transnistria, officially the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (PMR), is an unrecognised breakaway state that is internationally recognised as a part of Moldova. Transnistria controls most of the narrow strip of land between the Dniester riv ...

in the 1990s. The song was used in parades in the Soviet Union and continues to be used at the end of Victory Day parades in Moscow today, adapted as a military march. Another march composed by him is "March of Joint Armies".

Awards

Medal "For Distinguished Labour" The Medal "For Distinguished Labour" (russian: Медаль «За трудовое отличие») was a civilian labour award of the Soviet Union bestowed to especially deserving workers to recognise and honour high performances in labour o ...

(1939) *

Honored Artist of the RSFSR Honored Artist of the RSFSR (, ''Zasluzhenny artist RSFSR'') was an honorary title granted to Soviet artists, including theatre and film directors, choreographers, music performers, and orchestra conductors, who had outstanding achievements in the ...

(1944) *

(1948) * Three

Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...

(1949, 1967, 1975) *

, 1st class (1950) *

Medal "For Battle Merit" The Medal "For Battle Merit" (russian: Медаль «За боевые заслуги») was a Soviet military medal awarded for " combat action resulting in a military success", "courageous defense of the state borders", or "successful military ...

(1953) *

(1958) *

Order of the Red Banner of Labour The Order of the Red Banner of Labour (russian: Орден Трудового Красного Знамени, translit=Orden Trudovogo Krasnogo Znameni) was an order of the Soviet Union established to honour great deeds and services to th ...

(1964) *

(1975) * Lenin Prize (1978) *

Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" The Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" (russian: Орден «За службу Родине в Вооружённых Силах СССР»), also known as the Order "For Service to the Motherland in the Armed For ...

, 3rd class (1982) *

Glinka State Prize of the RSFSR The Glinka State Prize of the RSFSR (Государственная премия РСФСР имени М.И. Глинки) was a prize awarded to musicians of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1965–1991. To be distinguished f ...

(1985) *

Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (russian: Орден Октябрьской Революции, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on October 31, 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferr ...