The "Song of the Soviet Army ", [a] also known as the "Song of the Russian Army" [b] or by the refrain's opening line "Invincible and Legendary", [c] is a Soviet patriotic song written during the end of World War II. Its performance has been done by numerous artists, especially by the Alexandrov Ensemble. The original 1945 version is triumphal in tune, with its brass fanfares and ecstatic chords extended upward with the aid of trumpets, as part of the V-E Day celebrations. That arrangement by A. Alexandrov is very much in the tradition of final choruses in 19th-century Italian grand opera, and shows how he originally envisaged this composition. There are many versions of the song.
Besides the original lyrics in Russian, [1] the song has been performed in German, [2] Hungarian, [3] Chinese, [4] and Japanese. [5]
Russian original | Romanization of Russian | English translation |
---|---|---|
Над страною шумят как знамёна | Nad stranoju šumjat kak znamjona | Over the country wave the banners |
Russian original | Romanization of Russian | English translation |
---|---|---|
Над тобою шумят как знамёна | Nad toboju šumjat kak znamjona | Over you wave the banners |
Russian original | Romanization of Russian | English translation |
---|---|---|
Над тобою шумят как знамёна | Nad toboju šumjat kak znamjona | Over you wave the banners |
Apparently, there's also a 4th missing verse in the song that rarely sung. The 1982 Red Army Choir concert use this verse as the 3rd verse when they sing the song.
Russian original | Romanization of Russian | English translation |
---|---|---|
Процветай же, родная держава, | Procvetaj že, rodnaja deržava, | Prosper, dear country, |