The State Anthem of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic was an

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

under Soviet occupation from 1950 to 1989.

History

During the Soviet occupation in Lithuania, the anthem was officially adopted by the Lithuanian Soviet government in 1950, substituted for "

Tautiška giesmė "" (; 'National Song') or "" ('Anthem of Lithuania'), also known by its incipit "" ('Lithuania, Our Homeland'), is the national anthem of Lithuania. The music and lyrics were written in 1898 by Vincas Kudirka, when Lithuania was still part of th ...

", which had been used as a national anthem of Lithuania since 1944. In 1988, the official anthem of the

Republic of Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, "

", was once again openly utilized as the Lithuanian anthem, and its status as the national anthem was restored by the independent Lithuanian government in 1992 and is still used today.

Background

The music was composed by Balys Dvarionas and Jonas Švedas, and the original lyrics authored by

Antanas Venclova Antanas Venclova (7 January 1906 – 28 June 1971) was a Soviet and Lithuanian politician, poet, journalist and translator. Early life Born in Kalvarija Municipality, Trempiniai in Suwałki Governorate, Venclova studied Lithuanian, Russian ...

. After

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 ...

's death, Vacys Reimeris changed the second stanza of the lyrics to remove mention of Stalin. The second stanza was changed to state that

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

had lit the path to freedom, helped by the

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

, led by the party (Reimeris changed the word "Stalin" to "party") and exhorted the

Lithuanian people Lithuanians () are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Americans, United Sta ...

to work with the peoples of the other Soviet Republics. This Soviet era anthem was confirmed in Article 169 of the 1978 Constitution of the Lithuanian SSR.

Lyrics

Post-Stalinist version

Original version

Playback incident

In 2015, during the victory ceremony for the Lithuanian team in World Deaf Basketball Championships in Taoyuan,

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, where they achieved first place, the Soviet-era song was accidentally played, much to the surprise of the Lithuanians. The organizers promptly acknowledged their mistake and apologized.

References

External links

Instrumental recording in MP3 format (Full version)

Instrumental recording in MP3 format (Short version)

MIDI file

Vocal recording in MP3 format

Original version (1950-1953)
{{Authority control

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was '' de facto'' one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944–1990. After 1946, its terr ...

Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Songs in Lithuanian Compositions in C major Compositions in C-sharp major