We have had many threads about favorite National Anthems and Russia’s is always at the top. This is the first time I ever heard it in English. It is stirring and I have to keep reminding myself that Stalin was one of the biggest butchers of all time.
I have always thought that the Soviet anthem was the best national anthem of any country, even more so than America’s (I know that makes me a traitor - whatever.) It’s an amazing melody and is only done justice when performed with a full brass section and choir.
Every so often I try to learn it in Russian.
Great tune, but that is not a good rendering of it. What on earth was he thinking?
Needs more cowbell
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I despise the Nazis and the Third Reich
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Hitler was one of the worst monsters of all time, right up there with Joe Stalin.
But I’ve always felt that the Horst Wessel song, considered to be the Nazi’s anthem, is a very beautiful piece of music (as long as it’s in German and you can’t understand the lyrics). I found a version that doesn’t have photos of marching Nazis.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CFvI1vngIE
I understand that playing or listening to it in Deutschland can get you a term in the slammer, so you German Dopers may want to pass on this one,
BTW, the Germans built a sailing ship for training seamen in 1936 and named her Horst Wessel. The US took it over after the war, and instantly changed her name to Eagle.
For what it’s worth, the Russian Federation has adopted the music of the Soviet anthem as its own national anthem. The lyrics have been changed, so I think you can enjoy it without guilt.
Wow, that is a great tune! I was unfamiliar with the Russian anthem till now, thanks.
During the world cup one of our favorite things here at home is to listen and compare different national anthems. The American anthem is a favorite of mine, along with the French and Chilean ones. Italy’s is popular among the people I know but I’ve never really liked it. My country’s own anthem is also pretty great (IMHO of course) and may deserve a listen:
(with rather bad english translation in the subtitles)
A lot of anthems from around the world sound like marches written in Europe. But I notice that Japan’s anthem actually sounds Japanese.* (I couldn’t find any versions online that just sing the melody line, though–they all European style harmonies which IMO don’t really work for the song but for all I know they’re a standard part of the anthem.)
What other national anthems make use of local musical tropes more so than appropriating European tropes?
*Well… upon third and fourth listenings, it kind of sounds like a mix of western and Japanese tropes, but still, definitely sounds less “European” than any other anthem I’ve heard from a non-european country.