Russian Empire, 1794 Donate & Support: The religious solemn hymn by Dmitrj Bortnyanskij, written in the end of the era of Catherine the Great. Almost immediately (at the end of the XVIII century), it began to play the unofficial role of the national anthem of the Russian Empire - in particular, the melody of this work was performed by the Kremlin chimes. This composition received its second birth as a national anthem during the Civil War in Russia, when it was used by many White governments (including the one in Omsk, led by Admiral Kolchak). The lyrics of the anthem was composed by Mikhail Kheraskov and they are based on psalms. In this video, the anthem is performed by the “Valaam” choir. Portrayed by Dmitrij Bortnyanskij (1751—1825), a great Russian composer of Ruthenian (Lemko) descent and the author of the music used in this video. He is also most famous for his Russian version of “Te Deum“. LYRICS (Original ones, slig
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