"Slav’sya!", (russian: Славься!, translit=, link=no) is the name of the final song in the epilogue of

Mikhail Glinka Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka ( rus, link=no, Михаил Иванович Глинка, Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka., mʲɪxɐˈil ɪˈvanəvʲɪdʑ ˈɡlʲinkə, Ru-Mikhail-Ivanovich-Glinka.ogg; ) was the first Russian composer to gain wide recogni ...

's first opera ''

A Life for the Tsar ''A Life for the Tsar'' ( rus, "Жизнь за царя", italic=yes, Zhizn za tsarya ) is a "patriotic-heroic tragic opera" in four acts with an epilogue by Mikhail Glinka. During the Soviet era the opera was known under the name ''Ivan Susanin' ...

'' (1836) and now considered as one of Russia's greatest classical and patriotic anthems of the 19th century. The original version of the song, written by Vasily Zhukovsky and Egor Fyodorovich Rozen, praised the

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

and the

Russian Tsardom The Tsardom of Russia or Tsardom of Rus' also externally referenced as the Tsardom of Muscovy, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of Tsar by Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter I in ...

, while the latter version by Sergey Gorodetsky was one of a patriotic form and is even sometimes regarded as a patriotic anthem of the Russia in the 20th century and today. It is one of the more popular pieces from the opera, which is performed during patriotic concerts by orchestras and traditional Russian and Soviet instrumental ensembles. It has also been played by

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the tit ...

s and civil

concert band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

s, using the arrangement composed by military composer Yevgeny Makarov for the

Moscow Victory Parade of 1945 The Moscow Victory Parade of 1945 ( rus, Парад Победы, r= Parad Pobedy) also known as the Parade of Victors ( rus, Парад победителей, r= Parad pobediteley) was a victory parade held by the Soviet Armed Forces (with the C ...

after

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 ...

, and was also arranged for 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 played it during their 2004 concert in the Vatican. While the modern version is the more commonly known version sung today, there have been also performances in which the original Imperial lyrics have been sung.

Lyrics of the original Imperial version

Variant 1

Славься, славься, нашъ русскiй Царь! Господомъ данный намъ Царь-Государь! Да будетъ безсмертенъ твой Царскiй родъ, Да имъ благоденствуетъ русскiй народъ. Славься, славься ты, Русь моя, Славься ты, русская наша земля. Да будетъ во вѣки вѣковъ сильна Любимая наша родная страна. Славься, славься изъ рода въ родъ, Славься, великiй нашъ русскiй народъ. Враговъ, посягнувшихъ на край родной, Рази безпощадной могучей рукой. Славься, славься, родная Москва, Родины нашей, страны голова. Живи, возвышайся на радость намъ, На счастье народовъ, на гибель врагамъ. Слава, слава героямъ-бойцамъ, Родины нашей отважнымъ сынамъ. Кто кровь за Отчизну свою прольетъ, Того никогда не забудетъ народъ. Слава, слава, греми, Москва! Празднуй торжественный день Государя, Ликуй, веселися: твой Царь грядетъ! Царя-Государя встрѣчаетъ народъ. Слава, слава нашему Царю! Слава, слава земле родной! Слава героямъ Руси Святой! Ура! ура! ура!

Public performance lyrics

Lyrics of the post-Imperial version

Performance lyrics of abbreviated version as sung by the

Version 1

Version 2

Version 3

Use in other songs

In 2015,

Oleg Gazmanov Oleg (russian: Олег), Oleh ( uk, Олег), or Aleh ( be, Алег) is an East Slavic given name. The name is very common in Russia, Ukraine and Belаrus. It derives from the Old Norse ''Helgi'' ( Helge), meaning "holy", "sacred", or "bless ...

released his single, ''Vperyod – Rossiya!'' ("Forward – Russia!") and samples the first lines of Slavsya.

References

{{Reflist 1836 songs Compositions by Mikhail Glinka Choral compositions Russian patriotic songs