God Save the Tsar

God save the Tsar! was the national anthem of Imperial Russia. The song was chosen from a competition held in 1833. The composer was violinist Prince Alexey Fedorovich Lvov[?], and the lyrics were by court poet and friend of Alexander Pushkin, Vasily Zhukovsky[?]. It served until 1917, when the Russian Revolution overthrew the Tsarist monarchy.

Russian Lyrics

Боже, Царя храни!
Сильный, державный,
Царствуй во славу,
Во славу нам!
Царствуй на страх врагам,
Царь православный,
Боже, Царя, Царя храни!
Царя храни!
(repeat previous three lines)

Transliteration

Bozhe Carja hrani!
Sil'nyj, derzhavnyj,
Carstvuj na slavu,
na slavu nam!
Carstvuj na strah vragam,

Car' pravoslavnyj.
Bozhe Carja, Carja hrani!
Carja hrani!
(repeat previous three lines)

English Translation

God save the noble Czar!
Long may he live, in power,
In happiness,
In peace to reign!
Dread of his enemies,

Faith's sure defender,
God save the Czar!
God save the Czar!
(repeat previous three lines)