Red Army Chorus. Conductor: B. A. Aleksandrov. Music: Pierre Degeyter. Lyrics: Eugene Pottier
Description: Revolutionary songs provided workers and leftists with a sign of solidarity at times when public expression was proscribed. They could be sung at meetings, during funeral processions, and whenever large groups of people needed to be brought together. There was an international flavor to Russian favorites. The Internationale, anthem of the Second International, was composed by the Frenchman Felix Degeyter. Freely translated into many languages, it became a popular anthem around the world. It had a thoroughly Russian history of its own. Lenin s favorite anthem, it served as Soviet national anthem until 1943, and was even the tune played by the Kremlin Bell Tower.