| Written: | 1941 |
| Genre: | Martial music |
| Composer: | Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov |
| Lyricist: | Vasily Lebedev-Kumach |
"The Sacred War", also known as "Arise, Great Country!", is one of the most famous Soviet songs of World War II. The music is by Alexander Alexandrov, founder of the Alexandrov Ensemble and the musical composer of the State Anthem of the Soviet Union. The lyrics are by Vasily Lebedev-Kumach.[1]
The circumstances of the composition and first performance of the song were hurried; the lyrics were published on 24 June 1941, and Alexandrov immediately wrote the music for them, writing the notes out on a blackboard for the singers to copy manually. The first performance was on 26 June at Belorussky Railway Station, where according to eyewitnesses it was sung five times in succession.[2]
In the 1990s, Russian media published the allegation that the lyrics had been plagiarized by Lebedev-Kumach, and that they were indeed written during the First World War by (1865 - 1939). These claims were taken to court, and the newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta in June 2000 was forced to publish a retraction of the claim.[3] Prof. Evgeniy Levashev (2000) still upheld doubts on the authorship, and on the reasonableness of the court's decision.[4]
One of the most famous Soviet patriotic songs, "The Sacred War" has been sung in several languages including Russian, Finnish, Hungarian, Estonian, Latvian, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Hindi, Punjabi, German, French and English, as well as several other languages of the Soviet Union. Like Katyusha, it is one of the most translated Soviet songs.