The Sacred War song that became the undisputable anthem of the Great
Patriotic War was written by poet Vasily
The song or rather the poem first saw light on June 24 of 1941 when it was recited on radio by the then famous actor of Maly Theater Alexander Ostuzhev. The same day the verses beginning with the famous line Arise, you mighty motherland were published by Izvestia and Red Star newspapers, since then gaining its permanent place on radio.
These powerful and catchy words immediately attracted attention
by various composer, and just three days later, on June 27,
a booklet with the song lyrics was sent to printing with circulation
of 10 thousand copies. Music was composed by Matvey Blanter, author
of another iconic
However, gaining hearts and minds of people the song started several months later, after October 15 of 1941 when the Battle of Moscow was gaining momentum. At first the Soviet ideology masterminds were reluctant to introduce the song among the Red Army soldiers considering its lyrics about the deadly battle to be too tragic and not doing justice to the strategy of close victory without great losses.
But the song’s
The song has never lost its popularity both at home and abroad. The Alexandrov Ensemble has performed it every time it staged a concert abroad. Thus, in 2007 it brought down the NATO Headquarters winning a round of standing applause.