"Farewell of Slavianka" (russian: Прощание славянки, Proščanije slavjanki) is a Russian patriotic march, written by the composer Vasily Agapkin in honour of Slavic women accompanying their husbands in the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

. The march was written and premiered in

Tambov Tambov (, ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers, about south-southeast of Moscow. Population: 280,161 ( 2010 Census); 29 ...

in the end of 1912. In summer of 1915 it was released as a

gramophone A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

single in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

. ''Slavianka'' means "Slavic woman".

History

The melody gained popularity in Russia and adjoining countries during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, when the Russian soldiers left their homes and were accompanied by the music of the march. It was performed also during parade of 7 November 1941 on the

Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːətʲ) is one of the oldest and largest squares in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Owing to its historical significance and the adjacent historical build ...

after which soldiers went straight to fight in the

Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January 1942. The Soviet defensive ...

. This march was also used as an unofficial anthem of Admiral Kolchak's

White Army The White Army (russian: Белая армия, Belaya armiya) or White Guard (russian: Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya, label=none), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (russian: Бѣлогв� ...

. Western sources alleged that the song was banned prior to its use in the award-winning 1957 film ''

The Cranes Are Flying ''The Cranes Are Flying'' (russian: Летят журавли, translit. ''Letyat zhuravli'') is a 1957 Soviet film about the Second World War. It depicts the cruelty of war and the damage done to the Soviet psyche as a result of war, which ...

'', because of its lyrics about supposedly banned subjects. However, there are multiple documentations of the song being performed prior to this, many conducted by Agapkin himself. The earliest recorded publication of Farewell to Slavianka in the Soviet era was in 1929, and its earliest known performance by communist troops was in 1918. Most famously, it was one of four marching tunes performed during the iconic 1941 October Revolution Parade in Red Square. The song was originally published by Zimmerman Production Association around 1912. The march was published in an official collection of music for

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

orchestras, and it was recorded in the early 1940s by a military orchestra under the conductor Ivan Petrov (1906–1975), but different lyrics were then used. Other lyrics are now usually sung by the Red Army choir. Subsequently, several Russian and Polish composers have written lyrics for the music. During the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

German-occupied Poland German-occupied Poland during World War II consisted of two major parts with different types of administration. The Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany following the invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II—nearly a quarter of the ...

, an adapted "underground" version of the song, ''Rozszumiały się wierzby płaczące'' ("Weeping Willows Began to Hum"), became popular in the Polish resistance and was based on lyrics by Roman Ślęzak. In the 1990s, the political party

Yabloko The Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko (RUDP Yabloko) (russian: Росси́йская объединённая демократи́ческая па́ртия «Я́блоко», Rossíyskaya obyedinyónnaya demokratícheskaya pártiya "Y ...

lobbied unsuccessfully for the march to be adopted as the Russian national anthem. "Farewell of Slavianka" was used in movies like ''The Cranes Are Flying'' and '' Charlie Wilson's War'', which is about the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...

, and in the Russian movies '' 72 Meters'' (72 метра) and ''

Prisoner of the Mountains ''Prisoner of the Mountains'' (russian: Кавказский пленник, ''Kavkazskiy plennik''), also known as ''Prisoner of the Caucasus'', is a 1996 Russian war drama film directed by Sergei Bodrov and written by Bodrov, Arif Aliyev and B ...

'' (Кавказский пленник, ''Kavkazskiy plennik''). An instrumental version of the song was also featured in the 1990 Ukrainian film ''Raspad'' ("Decay") during the

Pripyat Pripyat ( ; russian: При́пять), also known as Prypiat ( uk, При́пʼять, , ), is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, located near the border with Belarus. Named after the nearby river, Pripyat, it was founded on 4 February 1 ...

evacuation scene. A Hebrew version was written in 1945 by the singer/songwriter Haim Hefer for the

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Companies") was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. The Palmach ...

. In his version of the song, ("Between Borders"), Hefer coined the phrase (We are here a defensive wall), which was used by

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

to call

Operation Defensive Shield Operation "Defensive Shield" ( he, מִבְצָע חוֹמַת מָגֵן, ''Mivtza Homat Magen'', literally "Operation Shield Wall") was a large-scale military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces in 2002 during the Second Intifada ...

(literally "Operation Defensive Wall") in 2002.

Lyrics

1967 version

The Farewell of Slavianka first received official lyrics under the Soviet leadership that were appropriate for the time's political climate, but references to Russian culture, religion and patriotism were changed. The new version by A. Fedotov. The first version under the Soviet Union (1941) did not mention the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula– ...

, unlike the later version (1967).

1984 version

Another version of the lyrics was written by Vladimir Lazarev in 1984 and has gained the popularity since the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

in 1991 because of the slower tempo and the added human fragility factor ("Farewell, fatherland, remember us, … … not all of us will come back. ...").

1997 version

A White Army version of the march, written by Andrei Mingalyov, was created after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Tambov Oblast anthem

The Farewell of Slavianka melody was used for the

Tambov Oblast Tambov Oblast (russian: Тамбо́вская о́бласть, ''Tambovskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Tambov. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 1,091,994. Ge ...

anthem, whose lyrics were written on 22 May 2002 by A. Mitrofanov.Текст гимна Тамбовской области
''tambov.gov.ru''.

''My Comrade in Death Throes''

The melody of the song is also used for the poem ''My Comrade in Death Throes''. Here is a sample verse: :Ты не плачь, не стони, ты не маленький, :Ты не ранен, ты просто убит. :Дай на память сниму с тебя валенки, :Нам еще наступать предстоит. ::Do not cry, do not moan, you're not little. ::You're not wounded, you're simply killed. ::Let me take off your ''valenki'' for memory, ::We are yet to delve into attack. It was written in December 1944 by Ion Degen, a

tank ace.

''Vapaa Venäjä''

Another version of the song is '' Vapaa Venäjä'', which was composed by the Finnish Red Guards to serve as a

marching song A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Wagner's ...

for them.

References

External links

A Chinese rendition with translated (Red Army Choir) lyrics performed by the Male Choir of the People's Armed PoliceA version from 1990s
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farewell Of Slavianka 1912 compositions Russian military marches Russian patriotic songs Soviet songs Songs about parting Songs of World War I Songs of World War II 1912 songs Russian anthems