Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov ( – 8 July 1946, born Koptelov or Koptelev) was a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and Russian composer and founder of the Alexandrov Ensemble, who wrote the music for the

State Anthem of the Soviet Union The State Anthem of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was the national anthem of the Soviet Union and the regional anthem of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from 1944 to 1991, replacing "The Internationale". Its original ...

, which in 2000 became the national anthem of Russia (with new lyrics). During his career, he also worked as a professor of the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory () is a higher musical educational institution located in Moscow, Russia. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in musical performance and musical research. Th ...

, and became a

Doctor of Arts The Doctor of Arts (D.A.; occasionally D.Arts or Art.D. from the Latin language, Latin ''artium doctor'') is a List of academic disciplines, discipline-based terminal degree, terminal doctorate, doctoral academic degree, degree that was originall ...

. His work was recognized by the awards of the title of

People's Artist of the USSR People's Artist of the USSR, also sometimes translated as National Artist of the USSR, was an honorary title granted to artists of the Soviet Union. The term is confusingly used to translate two Russian language titles: Народный арти ...

and two Stalin Prizes.

Background

Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov, known as Sasha, was born on 13 April 1883 in Plakhino, a village in

Ryazan Governorate Ryazan Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, which existed from 1796 to 1929. Its capital was in Ryazan. Administrative division Ryazan Governorate consisted of the follo ...

south-east of

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. As a boy, his singing was so impressive that he traveled to

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

to become a chorister at Kazan Cathedral.

Career

A pupil of Medtner, Alexandrov studied composition at

and in

, where he eventually became professor of music in 1918 and choirmaster at Christ the Savior from 1918 to 1922.

Alexandrov Ensemble

Alexandrov founded the Alexandrov Ensemble, and spent many years as its director, in which role he gained favor with

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, the country's ruler during the last two decades of Alexandrov's life. His choir participated successfully in the Universal Exposition of 1937 in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Works

In 1942, Stalin commissioned Alexandrov and lyricists Sergey Mikhalkov and Gabriel El-Registan to create a new Soviet national anthem, which was officially adopted on 1 January 1944 and was used by the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991. It became the National Anthem of Russia in December 2000, with Mikhalkov writing the new lyrics. Alexandrov also composed the 1941 call to arms, " The Sacred War", and the official march of the Soviet and now Russian Armed Forces, the Song of the Soviet Army. His works include a number of settings of various Russian folk songs, for example, " Utushka lugovaya".

Death

Alexandrov had a heart attack and died on 8 July 1946 at the age of 63, while on tour in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

; some records say he was returning from Germany. He was buried at the

Novodevichy Cemetery Novodevichy Cemetery () is a cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. History The cemetery was designed by Ivan Mashkov and inaugurated ...

in Moscow.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alexandrov, Alexander V. 1883 births 1946 deaths 20th-century Russian conductors (music) 20th-century Russian male musicians Music educators from the Russian Empire People from Mikhaylovsky Uyezd Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Academic staff of Moscow Conservatory Moscow Conservatory alumni Honored Artists of the RSFSR People's Artists of the USSR Recipients of the Stalin Prize Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Recipients of the Order of the Red Star National anthem writers Russian major generals Russian male composers Russian male conductors (music) Russian military musicians Russian music educators Soviet conductors (music) Soviet major generals Soviet male composers Soviet music educators Burials at Novodevichy Cemetery Soviet choral conductors