Russian Empire (1721-1917) Symphony “Fantaisie sur l’Hymne National Russe“ (1886)

Charles Gounod’s “fantasia“ on Prince Alexei Lvov’s original “God Save the Tsar“. The original “God, save the Tsar“ was the national anthem of the late Russian Empire. The anthem, written by violinist Prince Alexei Lvov to the words of the Romantic court poet Vasily Zhukovsky, was chosen from a competition held in 1833 and quickly became one of the symbols of the Empire, its’ simple one-verse structure and stately music congenial to the Russian character. It remained the national anthem until the Russian Revolution of 1917. Over the years many Russian composers made use of the theme in their compositions, most notably Tchaikovsky who quoted it in the 1812 Overture and his Sinfonia on the Danish national anthem. Interestingly enough, the melody seems to have been adapted by foreign composers as well, in this particular, the French operatic composer, Charles Gounod.