On 8 July, Soviet and Russian composer Alexander Alexandrov (whose real name was either Koptelov or Koptelev) died unexpectedly in Moscow.
A versatile musician, Alexandrov was a conductor, choirmaster, teacher, and even a major-general. He is best known for writing the anthem for the USSR which was finally adopted on 14 December 1943 and first broadcast on radio in its modern version on the night of 17- 18 April 1944.
A competition to write the USSR’s anthem was held in 1943, and the government commission was headed by Soviet Marshal Kliment Voroshilov, but everyone knew that it was Joseph Stalin who was running the competition and would determine the winner. Each composer was paid 100,000 roubles for their participation and an extra 4,000 for each version.
A joint entry written by two greats, Dmitri Shostakovich and Aram Khachaturian, an anthem by Iona Tuskiya, and Alexander Alexandrov's “Hymn of the Bolshevik Party” all made the final round. The text of the anthem by Sergei Mikhalkov and Gabriel El-Registan (real name Gabriyel Ureklyan) was personally edited by Stalin at his residence, Kuntsevo.
The hymn received a mixed reaction: the writer Mikhail Prishvin wrote in his diary on 21 December 1943: "The hymn, composed by Sergei Mikhalkov and El-Registan, made a tremendous impression – that such great deeds at the front have been so miserably expressed in poetry".
Composer Alexander Atarov thought that Alexandrov had turned to Robert Schumann's ballad "Frühlingsfahrt" (A Spring Journey) as a "source of inspiration".
Some of Alexandrov's works became known all over the world - for example, "The Sacred War", 1941, "Indestructible and Legendary", "March of Artillerymen", and "Cantata About Stalin", among other major works. But until 1926, Alexandrov was really a writer of religious music, pieces such as "Christ is Risen Again" - a poem for a chorus, orchestra, organ, and soloists - a concerto "Have Mercy On Me, God", and six hymns for the Liturgy. He also conducted the Red Banner Soviet Army Song and Dance Ensemble (Red Army Choir) and he died during the group's European tour in Berlin. By 9 July, the composer's body had been transported to Moscow and starting from 7 p.m. the coffin with the body was open for farewells at the Central House of the Red Army. He was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.
Also in July 1946, the Red Banner Soviet Army Song and Dance Ensemble, which had already received the Order of the Red Star twice, and which had been created by Alexandrov, was named after its founder and the USSR’s - and later, Russia’s - largest artistic ensemble was renamed the Alexandrov Ensemble.
The music of the USSR’s anthem would outlive both its creator and the USSR itself - and would again become the music for the national anthem of the Russian Federation by decree of Vladimir Putin in 2000. Sergei Mikhalkov, co-author with Alexander Alexandrov, eventually wrote new lyrics.
Source: Vladimir Krylov, "Composer Alexandrov: Born Under the Ryazan Sky", Ryazan: Litera, 2013. 195 p. (in Russian).
