The Prayer of Russians
- file
- help
"The Prayer of Russians" (Russian: Молитва русских, romanized: Molitva russkikh, IPA: [mɐˈlʲitvə ˈruskʲɪx]) is a song that was used as the national anthem of Imperial Russia from 1816 to 1833.
After defeating the First French Empire, Tsar Alexander I of Russia recommended a national anthem for Russia. The lyrics were written by Vasily Zhukovsky, and the music of the British anthem "God Save the King" was used.
In 1833, "The Prayer of Russians" was replaced with "God Save the Tsar" (Bozhe, tsarya khrani). The two songs both start with the same words Bozhe, tsarya khrani but diverge after that.
Some consider God Save the Tsar Russia's first true national anthem, as both its words and music were Russian. Others[who?] say the title belongs to Grom pobedy, razdavaysya!, another popular song of the time, although it never had official status.
Lyrics
Russian | Pre-1917 Orthography | Transliteration | English translation |
---|---|---|---|
Боже, Царя храни! | Боже, Царя храни! | Bozhe, tsarya khrani! | God, save the Tsar! |
Перводержавную | Перводержавную | Pervoderzhavnuyu | The land of the first throne, |
Rarely used verses | |||
Воинство бранное, | Воинство бранное, | Voinstvo brannoye, | The warriors' host, |
Мирных воителей | Мирныхъ воителей | Mirnykh voiteley, | (For our) warriors of peace, |
О, Провидение! | О, Провидѣніе! | O, Provideniye! | O, Providence! |
Будь нам заступником, | Будь намъ заступникомъ, | Bud' nam zastupnikom, | Be our protector, |
External links
- Prayer of Russians (in Russian)
- An audio recording of Molitva russkikh by Valaam choir
- v
- t
- e
- "Let the Thunder of Victory Rumble!" (1791–1816; unofficial)
- "How Glorious Is Our Lord in Zion" (1794–1816; unofficial)
- "The Prayer of Russians" (1816–1833)
- "God Save the Tsar!" (1833–1917)
- "Worker's Marseillaise" (1917–1918)
- "Anthem of Free Russia" (1917; unofficial)
"How Glorious Is Our Lord in Zion" (1918–1920)- "The Internationale" (1918–1944)
- "State Anthem of the Soviet Union" (1944–1991)
- "The Patriotic Song" (1991–2000)
- "State Anthem of the Russian Federation" (2000–present)