Anthem of Free Russia
1917 hymn
The Anthem of Free Russia, sometimes known by its incipit "Long Live Russia", was a proposed anthem of the Russian Republic after the February Revolution. The music was composed by Russian composer Alexander Gretchaninov and the lyrics were written by Constantine Balmont. However, unlike the "Worker's Marseillaise", the Hymn of Free Russia was not adopted by the Russian Provisional Government of 1917, nor was it approved during several special meetings of artists.
Development
When Gretchaninov found out the music of the song was finalized along with unfinished lyrics, he became dissatisfied with the lyrics, so he contacted Balmont. After Gretchaninov contacted Balmont, the lyrics were complete. The anthem was eventually published and was first performed at Bolshoi Theatre, directed by Emil Cooper. Originally, the plot was taken from My Life («Моя жизнь»), a book written by Gretchaninov. It was published in New York City in 1954.
After Gretchaninov's arrival in the United States, his friend Kurt Schindler and his wife translated the text into English, which was published by G. Schirmer, Inc.
Historical significance
The song was widely popular between February and the Bolshevik Revolution in November.
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This entry incorporates text from “Anthem of Free Russia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.