Farewell of Slavianka

History

The melody gained popularity in Russia and adjoining countries during World War I, when the Russian soldiers left their homes and were accompanied by the music of the march. It was also performed during the parade of 7 November 1941 on the Red Square, after which soldiers went straight to fight in the Battle of Moscow as part of World War II. This march was also used as an unofficial anthem of Admiral Kolchak's White Army.

Sources alleged that the song was banned prior to its use in the award-winning 1957 film The Cranes Are Flying, because of its lyrics about supposedly banned subjects. However, there are multiple documentations of the song being performed prior to this, many conducted by Agapkin himself. The earliest recorded publication of Farewell to Slavianka in the Soviet era was in 1929, and its earliest known performance by communist troops was in 1918. Most famously, it was one of four marching tunes performed during the 1941 October Revolution Parade on the Red Square. The song was originally published by Zimmerman Production Association around 1912. The march was published in an official collection of music for Red Army orchestras, and it was recorded in the early 1940s by a military orchestra under the conductor Ivan Petrov (1906–1975), but different lyrics were then used. Other lyrics are now usually sung by the Red Army Choir.

Subsequently, several composers have written lyrics for the music in various languages. During the Finnish Civil War the Red Guards adapted the song into Vapaa Venäjä, a working class marching song. During World War II in German-occupied Poland, an adapted "underground" version of the song, Rozszumiały się wierzby płaczące ("Weeping Willows Began to Hum"), became popular in the Polish resistance and was based on lyrics by Roman Ślęzak.

In the 1990s, the liberal political party Yabloko lobbied unsuccessfully for the march to be adopted as the Russian national anthem.

"Farewell of Slavianka" was used in movies like The Cranes Are Flying and Charlie Wilson's War, which is about the Soviet–Afghan War, and in the Russian movies 72 Meters and Prisoner of the Mountains. An instrumental version of the song was also featured in the 1974 Soviet film At Home Among Strangers, and the 1990 Ukrainian film Raspad during the Pripyat evacuation scene.

A Hebrew version was written in 1945 by the singer-songwriter Haim Hefer for the Palmach. In his version of the song, ("Between Borders"), Hefer coined the phrase (We are here a defensive wall), which was used by Israel Defense Forces to call Operation Defensive Shield (literally "Operation Defensive Wall") in 2002.

Lyrics

1967 version

"Farewell of Slavianka" first received official lyrics under the Soviet leadership that were appropriate for the time's political climate, but references to Russian culture, religion and patriotism were changed. The new version by A. Fedotov.

The first version under the Soviet Union (1941) did not mention the Battle of Berlin, unlike the later version (1967).

1984 version

Another version of the lyrics was written by Vladimir Lazarev in 1984 and has gained the popularity since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 because of the slower tempo and the added human fragility factor.

1993 version

This version of the lyrics was performed in 1993, around the time of the constitutional crisis in Russia.

1997 version

A White Army version of the march, written by Andrei Mingalyov, was created after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Tambov Oblast anthem

The melody of "Farewell of Slavianka" was used for the regional anthem of Tambov Oblast, whose lyrics were written on 22 May 2002 by A. Mitrofanov.

''My Comrade in Death Throes''

The melody of the song is also used for the poem My Comrade in Death Throes. It was written in December 1944 by Ion Degen, a Second World War tank ace.

Ты не плачь, не стони, ты не маленький, Ты не ранен, ты просто убит. Дай на память сниму с тебя валенки, Нам еще наступать предстоит. :Cry not, moan not, you're not little. :You're not wounded, you're simply killed. :Let me take off your valenki for memory, :We've yet to delve into attack.

''Vapaa Venäjä''

Another version of the song is Vapaa Venäjä, which was composed by the Finnish Red Guards to serve as a march for them.

Charts

[[Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of Russia]] version

Notes

References

References

1. [http://moskvam.ru/publications/publication_414.html Василий Агапкин и его марш «Прощание славянки»].
2. Владимир Соколов. "Прощание славянки", Москва, изд. "Советский композитор", 1987.
3. "Агапкин Василий Иванович (1884 - 1964) Композитор, дирижер ( 7/12 )".
4. "ЗДРАВСТВУЙ, ПРОЩАНИЕ СЛАВЯНКИ".
5. "Василий Агапкин и его марш "Прощание славянки". Публикации. Литературный журнал Москва.".
6. ''Official ceremonial repertoire for orchestras of the Red Army'' ({{langx. ru. Служебно-строевой репертуар для оркестров Красной Армии – Sluzhebno-stroevoy repertuar dlya orkestrov Krasnoy Armii), Moscow, [[Voenizdat]], 1945. The editor of this collection was the great Russian march composer Semyon Aleksandrovich Chernetskiy (1881–1950), who was from 1925 to 1949 the Head of Military Music Service of the [[People's Commissariat of Defense of the Soviet Union. People's Commissariat of Defense]], later Ministry of Armed Forces of the Soviet Union.
7. "Rozszumiały się wierzby płaczące – Śpiewajmy Polskę!".
8. "Прощание Славянки".
9. http://www.zemer.co.il/song.asp?id=119 (Hebrew)
10. "Прощание славянки - Этот марш не смолкал на перонах текст песни, слова".
11. "SovMusic.ru - Прощание славянки".
12. "Прощание славянки / Slavic Woman's Farewell - Russia and The Other: A Cultural Approach". [[Stanford University]].
13. "Прощание славянки / Slavic Woman's Farewell - Patriotic Version Russia and The Other: A Cultural Approach". Stanford University.
14. [https://www.tambov.gov.ru/gmspk/ugsknr/ogng/symbol/gimn.text.html Текст гимна Тамбовской области] {{Webarchive. link. (16 July 2021 , ''tambov.gov.ru''.)
15. (28 June 1976). "Ты не ранен, ты просто убит".
16. "У ПОБЕДЫ ЛИЦО НАСТРАДАВШЕЕСЯ".
17. (29 June 2025). "Top Internet Hits Russia Weekly Chart: May 15, 2025". [[TopHit]].