NATIONAL ANTHEM OF RUSSIA

INTRODUCTION:

Whenever there is a debate of world largest country is raised, the name of Russia comes in the mind of everybody. Russia is the world largest nation; its boarders are spread from the European countries to the Asian on the other side from the Arctic Ocean to the Pacific. It is officially known as the Russian Federation and its prior name was Soviet Union. It has an area of 17,075,200 square km. By the land area none of the countries in the world can compete with Russian Federation as it is the largest country by surface area. It covers the one-eighteenth of the world’s total land. Its capital city is Moscow and official language is Russian language.

NATIONAL ANTHEM OF RUSSIAN FEDERATION:

Gosudarstvenny Gimn Rossiyskoy Federatsii (The Hymn of Russian Federation) is the national anthem of Russia, written in Russian language.

The national anthem of present Russian Federation is adopted from the national anthem of prior Soviet Union 1944. The lyrics were composed by the famous Russian federalist, a visionary writer and whose writings were very inspiring for those people of Russia, who were participants in the Russian revolution. His name was Sergey Mikhalkov. The music of national anthem of Russia was composed by the Alexander Alexandrov. Before this national anthem the old national anthem of Russia was ‘Molitva russkikh it was religious hymn for praising the Tsars, the Royal Family of Russia. It was accepted by the large number of people as the national anthem of the Russia. Further in 1833 the national anthem of the Russia was composed again by Zhukovsky and Alexei Fyodorovich Lvov. This composition is known as “The Russian People’s Prayer”. Nicholas I appreciated this composition and after bringing some new changes in the anthem, introduced “God Save the Tsar” as new national anthem of Russia. After the downfall of Tsar Family the national anthem of the world’s largest country was changed again by. “Worker’s Marseillaise”. Perhaps it was not recognized by the law. It was the unofficial anthem of the Russia. The national anthem of Russia has gone through many controversies, in the consecutive years 1918, 1922 and 1944 some efforts were initiated to prepare a national anthem in a well written form but this issue seems to be continued and not ending. Another amendment in the national anthem of Russia was made in 1944, which removed the idea of “unbreakable union” i.e. Soviet Union. Rather it emphasized the aspects of large area and enriched resources. In 1990 ‘The Patriotic Song’ was selected as the national anthem of the Russia. Later in 2000 the president Vladimir Putin again replaced the “Patriotic Song” with “Hymn of Russian Federation”. The liberal groups of Russia opposed this decision of adopting the Hymn as national anthem of Russia before and after taking the decision as well. Liberals are of the view that adoption of the Hymn as national anthem of Russia is a stepping stone towards the revival of the prior Soviet Union.

WRITTEN FORM OF NATIONAL ANTHEM OF RUSSIA (Russian Language)

Rossiya — svyashchennaya nasha derzhava,
Rossiya — lyubimaya nasha strana.
Moguchaya volya, velikaya slava —
Tvoyo dostoyanye na vse vremena!

Chorus:
Slavsya, Otechestvo nashe svobodnoye,
Bratskikh narodov soyuz vekovoy,
Predkami dannaya mudrost narodnaya!
Slavsya, strana! My gordimsya toboy!
Ot yuzhnykh morey do polyarnogo kraya
Raskinulis nashi lesa i polya.
Odna ty na svete! Odna ty takaya —
Khranimaya Bogom rodnaya zemlya!

Chorus
Shirokiy prostor dlya mechty i dlya zhizni.
Gryadushchiye nam otkryvayut goda.
Nam silu dayot nasha vernost Otchizne.
Tak bylo, tak yest i tak budet vsegda!

English Translation / Meaning

Russia – our sacred homeland,
Russia – our beloved country.
A mighty will, a great glory –
These are your heritage for all time!

Chorus:

Be glorious, our free Fatherland,

Age-old union of fraternal peoples,

Ancestor-given wisdom of the people!

Be glorious, our country! We are proud of you!

From the southern seas to the polar lands
Spread are our forests and fields.
You are unique in the world, one of a kind –
This native land protected by God!

Chorus

Wide spaces for dreams and for living
Are opened for us by the coming years
Our loyalty to the Fatherland gives us strength.
Thus it was, thus it is and thus it always will be!

(CHORUS is a part of song which is repeated after every verse.)