National Anthem of Russia - Historic Anthems

Historic Anthems

Before "Molitva russkikh" (The Prayer of the Russians) was chosen as the national anthem of Imperial Russia in 1816, various church hymns and military marches were used to honor the country and the Tsars. Songs used include "Grom pobedy, razdavaysya!" (Let the thunder of victory sound) and "Kol slaven" (How Glorious is Our Lord). "Molitva russkikh" was adopted around 1816, and used lyrics by Vasily Zhukovsky set to the music of the British anthem "God Save the King". Russia's anthem was also influenced by the anthems of France and the Netherlands, and by the British patriotic song "Rule, Britannia!".

In 1833, Zhukovsky was asked to set lyrics to a musical composition by Prince Alexei Lvov called "The Russian People's Prayer". Known more commonly as "God Save The Tsar!", it was well received by Nicholas I, who chose the song to be the next anthem of Imperial Russia. The song resembled a hymn, and its musical style was similar to that of other anthems used by European monarchs. "God Save the Tsar" was performed for the first time on 8 December 1833 at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. It was later played at the Winter Palace on Christmas Day by order of Nicholas I. Public singing of the anthem began at opera houses in 1834, but it was not widely known across the Russian Empire until 1837.

"God Save the Tsar" was used until the February Revolution, when the Russian monarchy was overthrown. Upon the overthrow of tsarism in March 1917, the "Worker's Marseillaise", Pyotr Lavrov's modification of the French anthem "La Marseillaise", was used as an unofficial anthem by the Russian Provisional Government. The modifications made by Lavrov to "La Marseillaise" included a change in meter from 2/2 to 4/4 and music harmonization to make it more Russian. It was used at government meetings, welcoming ceremonies for diplomats, and state funerals.

After the provisional government had been overthrown by the Bolsheviks in the 1917 October Revolution, the anthem of international revolutionary socialism, "L'Internationale" (usually known as "The Internationale" in English), was adopted as the new anthem. The lyrics were created by Eugène Pottier, and the music was composed by Pierre Degeyter in 1871 to honor the creation of the Second Socialist International organization. The lyrics by Pottier were later translated into Russian by Arkadiy Yakovlevich Kots in 1902. Kots also changed the tense of the song to make it more decisive in nature. The first major use of the song was at the funeral of victims of the February Revolution in Petrograd. Lenin also wanted "The Internationale" to be played more often because it was more socialist, and could not be confused with the French anthem. Other forces in the new Soviet government felt that "La Marseillaise" was too much of a song for the bourgeoisie. The Internationale was used as the anthem of Soviet Russia from 1918, adopted by the newly created Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922, and was used until 1944.