Александр Васильевич Александров

Александр Васильевич Александров

Outstanding Soviet composer, arranger, choral conductor, choirmaster, and teacher. USSR People's Artist (1937). Founder of the The Alexandrov Red Army Ensemble.

Born: April 13 (1 O.S.) 1883, Plakhino, Ryazan Governorate, Russian Empire
Died: July 8, 1946, Berlin, Germany

The son of a peasant, Alexandrov sang in the choir of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg from 1891. He studied at the St. Petersburg Imperial Chapel and at the St. Petersburg Conservatory under Anatoly Liadov and Alexander Glazunov. In 1913, he graduated from the Moscow Conservatory, then ran a music school in Tver between 1913 and 1916. In 1918, he joined the faculty of the Moscow Conservatory to teach choral singing. In 1922, he rose to professor, in 1925 to Head of the Choral Department. Between 1929 and 1936, he served as Deputy Dean of the Military Conducting Faculty. In 1940, he acquired the Doctor of Arts degree.

In 1928, Alexandrov founded the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Red Army, which he led until his death in 1946. Afterwards, it was named the The Alexandrov Red Army Ensemble.

For his army choir, Alexandrov wrote numerous songs, glorifying the heroes of the Russian civil war and Comrade Stalin, such as "Кантата о Сталине" (Cantata about Stalin), "Песня о Сталине" (Song about Stalin), "Песня о военном комиссаре" (Song about the Military Commissar), "Гимн партии большевиков" (Hymn of the Bolshevik Party). Two days after the outbreak of the war in 1941, he wrote "Священная война" (Holy War), which became a symbol of the USSR's struggle against Fascism. Most famously, Alexandrov composed the music for the national anthem of the Soviet Union, which, in 2001, became the anthem of Russia (with new lyrics).

For his Red Army Choir, Alexandrov also arranged many Russian and Ukrainian folk songs, some of them, such as "Калинушка" (Kalinushka), "Закувала та сива зозуля" (The Gray Cuckoo Began Cuckooing), "Распрягайте, хлопцы, кони" (Unhitch the Horses, Boys), specifically requested by Stalin and Voroshilov.

Alexandrov's work was recognized with many awards, such as the title of People's Artist of the USSR (1937) and the Stalin Prize (1942, 1946). In 1943, he was promoted Major General.

Father of Boris Alexandrov, who succeeded him as the Director of the Alexandrov Ensemble, and Владимир Александров, who was a Major in the Red Army and also temporarily acted as Director and Conductor of the Red Army Ensemble.