"God Save the Tsar!" () was 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 ...

of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. 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 Alexei Fyodorovich Lvov (Russian: ''Алексей Фёдорович Львов'') ( – ) was a Russian composer., best known for the composition of the Imperial Russian National Anthem, ''God Save the Tsar''. Biography Lvov was born i ...

, with lyrics written by the court poet Vasily Zhukovsky. It was the anthem until the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

of 1917, after which " Worker's Marseillaise" was adopted as the new national anthem until the overthrow of the

Russian Provisional Government The Russian Provisional Government was a provisional government of the Russian Empire and Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately after the abdication of Nicholas II on 2 March, O.S. New_Style.html" ;"title="5 ...

by the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

in the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

of the same year.

Lyrics

Influence

Many composers made use of the theme in their compositions, most notably

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer during the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally. Tchaikovsky wrote some of the most popular ...

, who quoted it in the

1812 Overture ''The Year 1812, Solemn Overture'', Op. 49, popularly known as the ''1812 Overture'', is a concert overture in E major written in 1880 by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The piece commemorates Russia's successful defense against the ...

, the '' Marche Slave'', his overture on the Danish national anthem, and the Festival Coronation March. During the

Soviet era The history of the Soviet Union (USSR) (1922–91) began with the ideals of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following the Russian Civil War, ...

, authorities altered Tchaikovsky's music (such as the 1812 Overture and ''Marche Slave''), substituting other patriotic melodies, such as the "Glory" chorus from

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

's opera '' A Life for the Tsar'', for "God Save the Tsar".

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

uses the theme in his Fantaisie sur l'Hymne National Russe (Fantasy on the Russian National Hymn).

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

's score for the 1970 film '' Three Sisters'', based on

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

'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 United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

, the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, Protestant tradition named for its form of ecclesiastical polity, church government by representative assemblies of Presbyterian polity#Elder, elders, known as ...

, the '' Lutheran Book of Worship'' of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is a mainline Protestant church headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The ELCA was officially formed on January 1, 1988, by the merging of three Lutheran church bodies. As of December 31, 2023, it ...

, 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 Phi Gamma Delta (), commonly known as Phi Gam and sometimes written as FIJI, is a North American social fraternity with 139 active chapters and 13 colonies across the United States and Canada. It was founded at Jefferson College, Pennsylvania ...

, "Noble Fraternity" of Phi Kappa Psi, West Chester University Alma Mater, "

Hail, Pennsylvania! "Hail, Pennsylvania!" () is a song written by Edgar M. Dilley (Class of 1897) as a submission to a University of Pennsylvania alumni committee-sponsored contest to write a song to the tune of " God Save the Tsar!", the national anthem of Imperial R ...

" (

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

of the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

), "Dear Old Macalester" (alma mater of

Macalester College Macalester College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate institution with an enrollment of 2,142 students in the fall of 2023. The college ha ...

), "Hail, Delta Upsilon" ( Delta Upsilon fraternity), "Firm Bound in Brotherhood" (official song of the

Order of the Arrow The Order of the Arrow (OA) is the honor society of Scouting America, composed of Scouts and Scouters who best exemplify the Scout Promise, Scout Oath and Scout Law, Law in their daily lives as elected by their peers. It was founded as a camp fr ...

), the ''UST High School Hymn'' of the University of Santo Tomas High School in

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, and the alma mater of Texas Woman's University,

Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas (commonly referred to as Jesuit Dallas or Dallas Jesuit, and formerly known as Jesuit High School) is a private, college-preparatory school for Single-sex school, young men under the direction of the ...

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 Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, Jesuit High School in Tampa, Florida, Windber Area High School in Windber, Pennsylvania and the former St Peter's High School in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Maurice Jarre's score for the 1965 film '' Doctor Zhivago'' uses this melody in several tracks, most notably in the

Overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") is a music instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overtures which ...

. The anthem, played by the Band of the Welsh Guards, was used as the

theme music Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

for the epic

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television adaptation of ''War and Peace'' in 1972. The

Royal Scots Dragoon Guards The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys) is a light Cavalry regiments of the British Army, cavalry regiment of the British Army, and the senior Scottish regiment. The regiment, through the Royal Scots Greys, is the oldest survivi ...

continue to play "God Save the Tsar!" at formal events as a tribute to Nicholas II as the former colonel-in-chief of their predecessor, the Scots Greys. In 1998, singer-songwriter Alexander Gradsky, one of the best-known rock artists during the Soviet period, proposed using the theme again as the

Russian national anthem 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, State Anthem of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics", composed by Alexander Vasilyevich Alex ...

, but with substantially different lyrics from those originally written by Zhukovsky. In ''

Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and musical theatre#Book musicals, book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in or around 19 ...

'' (1971), a character tells a popular joke: “

Rebbe A Rebbe () or Admor () is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spirituality (Audio)''. UCTV, 20 Oct 2011. web. ...

, can we pray for the Tsar?” “Yes. ‘God save the Tsar… keep him far away from us!’”

Usage in Bulgaria

The composition was used as the royal anthem of the

Principality of Bulgaria The Principality of Bulgaria () was a vassal state under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire. It was established by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. After the Russo-Turkish War ended with a Russian victory, the Treaty of San Stefano was signed ...

, having been imposed by the temporary Russian government and the Russian army commanders. The usage of it in Bulgaria was relinquished after the Bulgarian Declaration of Independence in 1908.

References

External links

Russian Anthem Museum

National Anthem Info
* Brandenburg Historica (C) 2014.
Military Music and Tradition in Imperial Russia, 1700-1917
. Updated 22 August 2014.
„God Save the Tsar!“ in the House of the Union

Bozhe tsarya khrani!
{{DEFAULTSORT:God Save The Tsar! 1833 songs Historical national anthems Russian anthems European anthems Royal anthems God in culture God Save the King Royal Scots Dragoon Guards

Lyrics

Influence

Usage in Bulgaria

See also

References

External links