Loading AI tools
"How Glorious Is Our Lord in Zion"[lower-alpha 1] is a hymn written in the spring of 1794 by the composer Dmitry Bortniansky to the verses of the poet Mikhail Kheraskov. It was the unofficial anthem of the Russian Empire between the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
| English: "How Glorious Is Our Lord in Zion" | |
|---|---|
Former national anthem of Russia | |
| Lyrics | Mikhail Kheraskov |
| Music | Dmitry Bortniansky |
| Adopted | 1790 |
| Readopted | 1918 |
| Relinquished | 1816 |
| Preceded by | "Let the Thunder of Victory Rumble!" (1798) "The Internationale" (1918) |
| Succeeded by | "The Prayer of Russians" (1816) "The Internationale" (1920) |
| Audio sample | |
How Glorious Is Our Lord in Zion | |
The first public performance took place on 29 November 1798 during the ceremony of laying on the Russian Emperor Paul I the crown and other regalia of the Grand Master of the Order of St. John in the Winter Palace,[1] and since 1801 the anthem actually supplanted the previously performed "Let the Thunder of Victory Rumble!".[2] In 1816 it was replaced by the officially approved composition "The Prayer of Russians". From 1856 to October 1917, the chimes of the Spasskaya Tower in the Moscow Kremlin rang out the melody of the anthem. Also, before the October Revolution, it was performed by the chimes of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, and in 2003 it was restored in honor of the celebration of the anniversary of Saint Petersburg.[3] In 1918–1920, "If glorious" was the anthem of the Russian State, and later continued to be popular among the first wave of emigrants. During the Great Patriotic War, it was performed at the official meetings of the KONR, in fact it was the anthem of the ROA.[4] In the modern Russian Federation, it is performed in military ceremonies when honoring - at the opening of monuments, farewell to servicemen and at burial.[5]
The text of the hymn is based on the 48th Psalm and is replete with Christian symbolism, and its music is close to individual Voices of the Great Znamenny Chant.
The melody of the anthem was used in a German song to the lyrics Ich bete an die Macht der Liebe ("I pray to the power of love") by Gerhard Tersteegen. Also, the music of the anthem was used by the composer G. Beck when writing the anthem of the Jewish Socialist Party Bund "Di Shvue".[6]
| Original Russian orthography | Modern orthography | Russian Latin alphabet | English translation |
|---|---|---|---|
Коль славенъ нашъ Господь въ Сіонѣ, |
Коль славен наш Господь в Сионе, |
Kolj slaven naš Gospodj v Sione, |
How glorious our Lord is on Zion, |
- Russian: Коль славен наш Господь в Сионе, romanized: Kolj slaven naš Gospodj v Sione, IPA: [kolʲ ˈslavʲɪn naʐ‿ɡɐˈspotʲ f‿sʲɪˈonʲɪ]
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
