From choirboy to Soviet anthem composer, founder of the Red Army Choir
26 June 1941: the first performance of 'The Sacred War' at Belorussky Railway Station. Soldiers listened in silence, then demanded it five times in succession.
Born to peasants in Ryazan, he began as a choirboy at Kazan Cathedral. He studied under Glazunov in St. Petersburg and Vasilenko in Moscow, becoming a Conservatory professor who shaped Soviet choral education. In 1928 he founded the Red Army Song and Dance Ensemble (the Alexandrov Ensemble) combining male choir, mixed orchestra and ballet into a unique military-cultural institution. Days into the 1941 German invasion he composed 'The Sacred War,' the unofficial battle hymn of the Red Army. In 1943 he adapted his 'Hymn of the Bolshevik Party' into the USSR State Anthem, adopted in 1944 and reinstated as Russia's anthem in 2000. From church liturgy to the most solemn musical emblems of the Soviet state, his trajectory was singular.
Career Timeline
- 1900Graduated from Imperial Court Chapel regency classes, qualified as choirmaster (regent)
- 1913Graduated from Moscow Conservatory, composition (large silver medal)
- 1918–1922Choirmaster, Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Moscow
- 1922Professor, Moscow Conservatory
- 1928–1946Founder, music director, artistic director, chief conductor of the Red Army Ensemble
- 1940Dean of Conducting & Choral Faculty, Moscow Conservatory; Doctor of Arts
- 1943Promoted to Major General
- 1944Music of the USSR State Anthem officially adopted