Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov (; – 8 July 1946) was a

Soviet 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 nation ...

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

composer and founder 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 en ...

, who wrote the music for the

State Anthem of the Soviet Union The "State Anthem of the Soviet Union" was the national anthem of the Soviet Union and the regional anthem of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1944 to 1991, replacing "The Internationale". Its original lyrics were written b ...

, which in 2000 became the

national anthem of Russia The "State Anthem of the Russian Federation" is the national anthem of Russia. It uses the same melody as the " State Anthem of the Soviet Union", composed by Alexander Alexandrov, and new lyrics by Sergey Mikhalkov, who had collaborated wit ...

(with new lyrics). During his career, he also worked as a professor of 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 ...

, and became a

Doctor of Arts The Doctor of Arts (D.A.; occasionally D.Arts or Art.D. from the Latin ''artium doctor'') is a discipline-based terminal doctoral degree that was originally conceived and designed to be an alternative to the traditional research-based Doctor of ...

. His work was recognized by the awards of the title of People's Artist of the USSR and two Stalin Prizes.

History

Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov, known as Sasha, was born on 13 April 1883 in Plakhino, a village in

Ryazan Governorate Ryazan Governorate (russian: link=no, Рязанская губерния, ''Ryazanskaya guberniya'', Government of Ryazan) was an administrative division (a '' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, wh ...

south-east of

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 millio ...

. As a boy, his singing was so impressive that he traveled to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

to become a chorister at Kazan Cathedral. A pupil of

Medtner Nikolai Karlovich Medtner (russian: Никола́й Ка́рлович Ме́тнер, ''Nikoláj Kárlovič Métner''; 13 November 1951) was a Russian composer and virtuoso pianist. After a period of comparative obscurity in the 25 years immedi ...

, he studied composition at

and in

, where he eventually became professor of music in 1918 and choirmaster at Christ the Savior from 1918 to 1922. Alexandrov founded the

, and spent many years as its director, in which role he gained favor with

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

, the country's ruler during the last two decades of Alexandrov's life. His choir participated successfully in the Universal Exposition of 1937 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, and in 1942, Stalin commissioned him and lyricists

Sergey Mikhalkov Sergey Vladimirovich Mikhalkov (russian: link=no, Серге́й Влади́мирович Михалко́в; 27 August 2009) was a Soviet and Russian author of children's books and satirical fables. He wrote the lyrics for the Soviet and Russ ...

and

Gabriel El-Registan In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

to create a new

Soviet national anthem The "State Anthem of the Soviet Union" was the national anthem of the Soviet Union and the regional anthem of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1944 to 1991, replacing "The Internationale". Its original lyrics were written b ...

, which was officially adopted on 1 January 1944 and was used by the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991. It later became the

National Anthem of Russia The "State Anthem of the Russian Federation" is the national anthem of Russia. It uses the same melody as the " State Anthem of the Soviet Union", composed by Alexander Alexandrov, and new lyrics by Sergey Mikhalkov, who had collaborated wit ...

in December 2000, with Mikhalkov writing the new lyrics. He also composed the famous song "

The Sacred War "The Sacred War" ( rus, Свяще́нная война́, links=1, r=Svyashchénnaya voyná, p=svʲɪˈɕːenːəjə vɐjˈna), also known as "Arise, Great Country!" ( rus, Встава́й, страна́ огро́мная!, r=Vstaváy straná ...

", and the official march of the Soviet and now Russian Armed Forces, the

Song of the Soviet Army The Song of the Soviet Army ( rus, Песня о Советской Армии, r= Pesnya o Sovetskoj Armii) or Invincible and Legendary () or known recently as Song of the Russian Army ( rus, Песня о Российской Армии, r= Pesn ...

. His works include a number of settings of various Russian folk songs (e.g., "

Utushka lugovaya "Utushka lugovaya" (russian: Утушка луговая, ''A Little Meadow Duck'') is an ancient Russian folk song. Synopsis A young woman or maiden, also called ''utushka lugovaya'', spends a night in the wood (or in the meadow), near a willo ...

"). He had a heart attack and died on 8 July 1946 at the age of 63, while on tour in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

; some records say he was returning from Germany.The exact place of his death is still in dispute and apparently controversial.

References

External links

Geraldika biography of A.V. Alexandrov by his grandson
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexandrov, Alexander V. 1883 births 1946 deaths 20th-century Russian conductors (music) 20th-century Russian male musicians Music educators from the Russian Empire People from Mikhaylovsky Uyezd Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Moscow Conservatory academic personnel Moscow Conservatory alumni Honored Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the USSR Stalin Prize winners Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Choral conductors National anthem writers Russian major generals Russian male composers Russian male conductors (music) Russian military musicians Russian music educators Soviet conductors (music) Soviet major generals Soviet male composers Soviet music educators Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery

History

See also

References

External links