DESCRIPTION:
The Russian Empire (Pre-reform Russian orthography: Россійская Имперія, Modern Russian: Российская Империя, translit: Rossiyskaya Imperiya) was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia. It was the predecessor of the short-lived Russian Republic, which was in turn succeeded by the Soviet Union. It was one of the largest empires in world history, surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires: at one point in 1866, it stretched from eastern Europe across Asia and into North America.

"God Save the Tsar!" (Russian: Боже, Царя храни!; transliteration: Bozhe, Tsarya khrani!) was the national anthem of the late Russian Empire. The song was chosen from a competition held in 1833. The composer was violinist Alexei Lvov, and the lyrics were by the court poet Vasily Zhukovsky. It was the anthem until the Russian Revolution of 1917, after which "Worker's Marseillaise" was adopted as the new national anthem until the overthrow of the Russian Provisional Government.

Many composers made use of the theme in their compositions, most notably Tchaikovsky, who quoted it in the 1812 Overture, the Marche Slave and his overture on the Danish national anthem. During the Soviet era, authorities altered Tchaikovsky's music (such as the 1812 Overture and Marche Slave), substituting other patriotic melodies for "God Save the Tsar." Charles Gounod uses the theme in his Fantaisie sur l'Hymne National Russe (Fantasy on the Russian National Hymn). William Walton's score for the 1970 film Three Sisters, based on Chekhov's play, is dominated by the theme.

In 1842, English author Henry F. Chorley wrote God, the Omnipotent! set to Lvov's tune and published in 19th and 20th century hymnals as the Russian Hymn. The Russian Hymn tune continues to appear in various modern English language hymnals, such as those of the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Lutheran Book of Worship of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, or as Russia in The Hymnal 1982 of the U.S. Episcopal Church.

The same melody is also used with different lyrics for various institutional songs: Hail, Pennsylvania! (alma mater of the University of Pennsylvania), Dear Old Macalester (alma mater of Macalester College), Hail, Delta Upsilon (Delta Upsilon Fraternity), Firm Bound in Brotherhood (official song of the Order of the Arrow), the UST High School Hymn of the University of Santo Tomas High School in Manila, and the alma mater of Tabor Academy in Marion, Massachusetts and Grant High School (Portland, Oregon).

Maurice Jarre's score for the film 1965 film Doctor Zhivago uses this song in several tracks, most notably in the Overture.

In 1998, singer-songwriter Alexander Gradsky, one of the best-known rock artists during the Soviet period, proposed using the song again as the Russian national anthem, but with substantially different lyrics from those originally written by Zhukovsky.

The anthem was in the RSDG band repertoire because Tsar Nicholas II was the colonel-in-chief of the Royal Scots Greys (merged with another unit in 1971 to form the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards), and the anthem was played as the opening for formal affairs in his honor.