The Patriotic Song (anthem)

"The Patriotic Song"^[a] was the national anthem of Russia from 1991 to 2000. It was also previously used as the regional anthem of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1990 – replacing the State Anthem of the Soviet Union – until 1991, when it transformed into the Russian Federation after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Unlike most national anthems, it had no official lyrics. Although unofficial ones were written for it, they were never adopted.

"The Patriotic Song" was originally a piano composition without lyrics, composed by Mikhail Glinka (1804–1857), and it was originally titled "National Song Motif" (French: Motif de chant national). The song has been known under its current title of "The Patriotic Song" since 1944,^[1] after Glinka's composition was arranged for orchestra by composer Mikhail Bagrinovskiy under that name, popularizing it and leading it to become synonymous with Glinka's original work itself.^[2]

Initially, "The Patriotic Song" was a composition for piano without lyrics, written by Mikhail Glinka in 1833 and titled (in French) "Motif de chant national". It was often claimed that it was written by Glinka as part of a national anthem contest or with the intent of becoming a national anthem,^[4] though evidence for either claim is scant. In 1885, Glinka's manuscript was re-discovered after languishing in obscurity at the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg. In 1944, it was arranged for orchestra by composer Mikhail Bagrinovsky under the Russian-language title "Patrioticheskaya Pesnya"^[5] and a few years later, poet Alexei Mashistov set lyrics to Bagrinovsky's arrangement of Glinka's composition for a song dedicated to the Soviet capital of Moscow, both of which helped popularize Glinka's work among the Soviet public and gave it its common contemporary moniker.^[5]

The Soviet and Russian TV news program Vremya used it as its theme tune from 2 January 1984, to 10 May 1986.

In the 1990s, President Boris Yeltsin chose the tune as the new state anthem of the Russian SFSR and it was officially adopted as such on 23 November 1990, by the Supreme Soviet of Russia.^[3] It remained in de facto usage through inertia by the new Russian Federation from 1991 until its official confirmation as the state's national anthem in 1993 when the Russian constitution was enacted.^[6] Also favored by the Russian Orthodox Church, the music went without lyrics for several years. This was despite there being over six thousand submissions over the period of ten years.^[7] In 1999, Viktor Radugin won a contest to provide suitable words for it with his poem "Glory to Russia!" (Russian: Славься, Россия!, romanized: Slávsya, Rossíya!). However, no lyrics and none of the entries were ever adopted.

It reportedly proved to be unpopular with the Russian public and with many politicians and public figures, because of its tune and lack of lyrics, and consequently its inability to inspire Russian athletes during international competitions.^[8] One key driver for the changing of the Russian anthem away from the Patriotic Song was when players from the Russian football club Spartak Moscow sent a letter to Vladimir Putin in the summer of 2000 requesting an alternative to the wordless anthem to inspire their morale.^[7] The other driver of change came from Russian Olympians, who requested a shift away from the Patriotic Song as they felt "embarrassed to be the only ones whose lips did not move as their national anthem was performed".^[7]

It was subsequently replaced soon after Yeltsin's successor as President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, first took office on 7 May 2000. After conducting a nationwide poll on 13 November 2000, the subsequent results concluded that only a abysmal 15% of Russians supported the Patriotic Song.^[7] This poll made it clear that change was inevitable. Therefore, on 8 December 2000, the federal legislature established and approved the music of the National Anthem of the Soviet Union with newly written lyrics through a vote of 381 to 51.^[7] Still, despite overwhelming support for this change, Yeltsin himself criticized Putin for supporting the semi-reintroduction of the Soviet-era national anthem.^[9]

Today, the song is used by some elements of the Russian opposition as a political anthem.^[10][11] It is also sometimes erroneously played during sporting events involving Russia.^{[12][13][14][15][16]}

These are the unofficial lyrics to "The Patriotic Song" by Viktor Radugin, titled "Glory to Russia!" (Славься, Россия!). It has been confused with the closing chorus of Glinka's opera A Life for the Tsar, possibly due to both beginning with the same word glory (славься), but the two works are unrelated with the latter being derived from an old Polish folk song (though the operatic music, too, has been suggested as a candidate for a Russian national anthem).^[17]

"Majestically Above the Fatherland" (Russian: Над Отчизной величаво, romanized: Nad Otchíznoy velichávo) written by Vladimir Kalinkin in 1998, was another proposed set of lyrics. Performed by Russian artist Vladimir Detayov, the Duma was made aware of this piece's existence in April 1999. At the initiative of the Ministry of Ethnic Policy of Russia, this record was first publicly presented at the First Congress of the Assembly of Peoples of Russia. During the summer of that year, it was performed on the radio station "Radio of Russia" and the TV channel "Moskoviya", devoted to writing a text for the national anthem.^[18]

In January 2000, it was carried out in a new orchestral arrangement performed by the N.P. Osipov National Academic Orchestra of Folk Instruments and the A.V. Sveshnikov Academic Choir. Overall the song received positive reviews, although like "Glory to Russia!", never attained official status.

In 1992, a version of "The Patriotic Song" with lyrics specifically about Moscow was sung by the “Red Star" Russian Army Choir and Dance Ensemble of RVSN at the Tchaikovsky Hall.^[19]

A 103rd anthem candidate (out of 140), titled "Glory to Our Russia for Centuries to Come!" (Russian: На века России нашей – слава!), was prepared by the poet Nina Benson. It was performed by the Big Choir of Radio and Orchestra of the Ministry of Defense conducted by Viktor Afanasiev (recorded in 1998; the draft words and this recording were presented at a presentation in the Duma on 3 February 1998).^[20]

In May 1991, the artistic director of the ensemble named after Alexandrova, Igor Agafonnikov recorded the anthem with the following text:^[21]

• "Aegukka"
• "God Save the Tsar!"
• National anthem of Russia
• State Anthem of the Soviet Union

• Russian national anthems, including the score for Glinka's tune
• Russian Anthems Museum, including MP3 recordings of Glinka's anthem with and without words
• Glinka – the author of Russian national anthem in Russian. by K.Kovalev – Eng. Bortniansky's anthem "Kol slaven" – Eng.