The fees of the creators of the national anthem have been announced

A special resolution of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on the approval of the new Soviet anthem was signed on December 14, 1943.

Citizens were notified that the Soviet Country, which was waging a difficult war against the Nazis, had a new anthem, publishing information with an appropriate explanation on the front pages of newspapers a few days later.

“Due to the fact that the current state anthem of the Soviet Union “International” in its content does not reflect the fundamental changes that have occurred in our country as a result of the victory of the Soviet system, and does not express the socialist essence of the Soviet state, the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR decided to replace the text of the national anthem a new text, corresponding in its content to the spirit and essence of the Soviet system…”

Next, the text of the anthem was printed. And the message ended with a specific date: “The universal performance of the new national anthem will be introduced on March 15, 1944.”

This “old song about the main thing,” the musical part of which retains its highest state status to this day, has a long and whimsical history. Many of its episodes may seem surprising.

Here are just a few facts.

The music of this “heraldic” work appeared 5 years earlier than the anthem itself was created. Thus, this melody, which anti-Russian Western sanctioners now so categorically do not want to hear, has already celebrated 85 years of its existence.

The text of the anthem has been revised several times. The original “Stalinist” version sounded for 12 years – until 1955. This was followed by the “nullification” of the words: for the next 22 years, only music could be heard during the performance of the Soviet anthem. Period No. 3, when the text of the anthem was corrected by Sergei Mikhalkov in accordance with the new political realities, lasted 14 years. Finally, at the end of the next – no longer Soviet, but Russian, 9th anniversary, during which Mikhail Glinka’s “Patriotic Song” was used as the anthem of the Russian Federation in official practice, the music of the former “state solemn song”, composed at the end of the 1930s by composer Alexandrov. A new version of the text for it was written by the same unfading Sergei Mikhalkov.

First, let’s be clear about the musical part. The composer and conductor Alexander Alexandrov composed such a familiar melody to all of us in 1938 for the “Hymn of the Bolshevik Party”, the poems for which were written by the poet Vasily Lebedev-Kumach. It was this such majestic-sounding music that, by decision of the “Kremlin jury” headed by Stalin, was chosen in the winter of 1943 for the new national anthem of the USSR.

Although initially the authors of the text, Sergei Mikhalkov and El-Registan (Gabriel Ureklian), gave their version of the poems for the anthem to the famous Soviet composer Dmitry Shostakovich, so that he would write the music for them.

The decisive day was November 16, 1943. The entire top leadership of the country, headed by Joseph Vissarionovich, gathered at the Bolshoi Theater to audition. The symphony orchestra and choir performed several anthems for the Kremlin comrades. Including – for comparison – the anthems of the largest Western powers, as well as the former pre-revolutionary Russian one – “God Save the Tsar!” Finally, a “competition program” was performed – versions of the new Soviet anthem with the words of Mikhalkov – El-Registan, first to music composed by Shostakovich, and then using Alexander’s melody of the “Hymn of the Bolshevik Party”. It was this option that seemed to the “best friend of Soviet composers” (followed by him, of course, to other high-ranking party members) the most successful.

Now about the text.

Nineteen poets took part in a competition to write words for the future national anthem, which took place over several months in 1943. Of all the options they proposed, preference was given to the creation of Mikhalkov and El-Registan. However, these rhymed lines, taking into account their future national importance, were subsequently subject to corrections. The verses were repeatedly, at least 7 times, altered.

The funds of the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History contain artifacts – sheets with variants of the text of the anthem and corrections made to them by the “father of nations” himself.

Here, for example, are the versions of the third verse, composed by the authors (as follows from the inscription at the top) “after a telephone call from I.V. Stalin on the night of October 26-27, 1943.”

In this manuscript you can see several versions of the same poetic lines:

We do not bow our banners in battles,

And our Red Army is strong.

For the sake of freedom of our generations

It will destroy fascism forever.

And right there, Mikhalkov and El-Registan wrote down alternative options:

…Bow your banners on the battlefield

She will force foreign enemies…

…Beg for mercy on the battlefield

She will force foreign enemies…

In the final version, the third verse turned out to be completely different:

We raised our army in battles,

Let’s sweep the vile invaders out of the way!

In battles we decide the fate of generations,

We will lead our Fatherland to glory!

And looking at another piece of paper, it becomes clear that I.V. could well be added to the list of authors of the final text of the anthem. Stalin. It was the “master of the Kremlin”, reading the 7th version of the text handed over to him by the poets, who did not approve of the opening line – “A noble union of free peoples” (apparently, the last word reminded him of the previously so common address “your honor” and seemed to be a hint at former noble remnants stories). Instead, Joseph Vissarionovich wrote the first words of the Soviet anthem, which have become so familiar to everyone: “The indestructible union…”. True, then Stalin first suggested “…free peoples,” but then ordered it to be corrected to a different combination of words: “…free republics.”

In another verse, the Secretary General corrected the line about himself. In the version proposed by the poets, “…We were raised by Stalin, the chosen one of the people,” the Secretary General crossed out the last two words and replaced them with more correct ones, in his opinion. Now it looked like this: “…Stalin raised us to be loyal to the people.”

The public test of the new anthem took place on the night of December 31, 1943 to January 1, 1944. And in the January 1 issue, Pravda published its text and notes.

However, this was followed by a pause – much longer than could have been expected based on the above-mentioned December newspaper report. The fact is that, as can be understood from the surviving evidence, the “owner” and his associates did not really like the orchestration option. Because of this, we had to prepare and approve another one “at the top.” The fact remains that Soviet citizens heard the anthem again more than a month later than promised: in mid-spring 1944. It was broadcast on All-Union Radio on the night of April 17-18.

For their work, the creators of the anthem – S.V. Mikhalkov, El-Registan, A.V. Alexandrov – received very large sums for that time. Each of them was paid 100 thousand rubles.