God Save The Tsar!

Infobox Anthem
title = Боже, Царя храни!
transcription = Bozhe, Tsarya khrani!
english_title = God Save the Tsar!
prefix =
country = flagicon|Russia flag|Russian Empire|1858|name=Russia
composer = Alexei Lvov
author = Vasily Zhukovsky
adopted = 1833
until = 1917

"God Save the Tsar!" (Russian: Боже, Царя храни!; transliteration:Bozhe, Tsarya khrani!) was the national anthem of the late Russian Empire. The song was chosen from a competition held in 1833. The composer was violinist Prince Alexei Lvov, and the lyrics were by the Romantic court poet Vasily Zhukovsky. It was the anthem until the Russian Revolution of 1917, after which first "La Marseillaise" and then "The Internationale" were adopted as the new national anthem.

Many Russian composers made use of the theme in their compositions, most notably Tchaikovsky who quoted it in the 1812 Overture, the "Marche Slave" and his overture on the Danish national anthem. During the Soviet era, authorities altered Tchaikovsky's music (such as the 1812 Overture and Marche Slave), substituting other patriotic melodies for "God Save the Tsar."

"Hail, Pennsylvania!" (alma mater of the University of Pennsylvania), the hymn "God, the Omnipotent!"; "Dear Old Macalester" (alma mater of the Macalester College), "Firm Bound in Brotherhood" (official song of the Order of the Arrow), and the alma mater of Tabor Academy all use the same melody or tune (set in the hymn and alma maters of course to different lyrics).

Maurice Jarre's score for the film 1965 film "Doctor Zhivago" quotes this song in several tracks, most notably in the Overture.

In 1998, a writer and musician named Alexander Gradsky proposed using the song, again as the Russian national anthem, but its lyrics are substantially different from the original lyrics written by Zhukovsky.

Lyrics

Russian

:Боже, Царя храни!:Сильный, державный,:Царствуй на славу, Hа славу намъ!:"( 2x :)"

:Царствуй на страхъ врагамъ,:Царь православный.:Боже, Царя, Царя храни!:"( 2x :)"

Transliteration

:Bozhe, Tsarya khrani!:Sil'nyj, derzhavnyj,:Tsarstvuj na slavu, Na slavu nam!

:"( 2x :)"

:Tsarstvuy na strakh vragam,:Tsar' pravoslavnyj.:Bozhe, Tsarya, Tsarya khrani!:"( 2x :)"

English translation (literal)

:O God, save the Tsar!:Strong and majestic,:Reign for glory, For our glory!:"( 2x :)"

:Reign to foes' dismay,:O Orthodox Tsar.:God, save the Tsar, Save the Tsar!:"( 2x :)"

English translation (singable)

:God save the noble Tsar!:Long may he live:In power,:In happiness,:In Peace to reign!:"( 2x :)"

:Dread to his enemies,:Faith's sure defender,:God save the tsar!:"( 2x :)"

External links

* [http://www.hymn.ru/index-en.html Russian Anthems museum] has several downloadable audio recordings of "God Save the Tsar", as well as an [http://www.hymn.ru/god-save-the-tsar-en.html autograph score and lyrics] handwritten by Lvov and Zhukovsky.