Lev Leshchenko singing Den Pobedy.

"Den' Pobedy" (Russian: День Победы, English: Victory Day) ranks among the most popular in the large corpus of Russian songs dedicated to World War II. The song differs from most of these by its cheerful intonations of a marching song and by the fact that it was composed some thirty years after the war. In the words of Vladimir Shainsky, a veteran composer, "the song seemed to have turned back the time. Although written three decades after the war, it now seems that it was this song that helped us to gain the victory". The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Victory Day is the name of a public holiday in various countries to commemorate the victory in an important battle or war in the countrys history. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... This article is about music. ... Vladimir Yakovlevich Shainsky (Russian: Владимир Яковлевич Шаинский) (born on December 12, 1925) is a Russian composer. ...

History

In order to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the WWII, the Soviet government announced a competition for the best song about the war. In March 1975, poet Vladimir Kharitonov, who had taken part in the war, approached his traditional co-author, the young composer David Tukhmanov with a proposal to write a new song for the occasion. This effort was to differ strikingly from their previous collaborations, which had been disco-influenced chartbusters. Several days before the deadline, Kharitonov brought his lyrics to Tukhmanov and the latter composed a song just in time to be recorded by his wife and to be submitted to the jury. May 9, Soviet poster based on the famous photo of the Soviet flag being raised over the Reichstag in 1945. ... CCCP redirects here. ... Year 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

However, the jury, composed primarily of elderly songwriters whose tastes had been formed during Stalin's era, was exceedingly displeased with the result. The lyrics appeared to them lightsome and frivolous, while the melody was alleged to abuse the "rhythms of tango and foxtrot", two "bourgeois" dances which had been banned in the Soviet Union. Josef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (Georgian: , Ioseb Besarionis Dze Jughashvili; Russian: , Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili) (December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878[1] – March 5, 1953), better known by his adopted name, Joseph Stalin (alternatively transliterated Josef Stalin), was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Unions Central Committee from... Tango is a style of music that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay. ... This article is about the comic strip; for other uses, see Foxtrot (disambiguation). ...

Although the performance of the song was strongly discouraged, Lev Leshchenko, one of the most popular Soviet singers, dared to premiere it during his concert in Alma-Ata in late April. Then the song was performed in the Little Blue Light TV show on 9 May by another singer, but his interpretation was rather lackluster and failed to attract attention. Thereupon the song was not performed until 10 November when Leshchenko revived it for a grand concert in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses on the Militsiya Day. His performance astounded the censors but proved to be a runaway success with the audience, who clamored for an encore. Almaty (Алматы; formerly known as Alma-Ata, also Verny, Vyernyi (Верный) in Imperial Russia) is a city in Kazakhstan, with a population of 1,168,000. ... Little Blue Light (Russian: , Goluboy Ogonyok) was a musical TV show in the Soviet Union since 1960s aired during various holidays. ... is the 129th day of the year (130th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Kremlin Congressional Palace (Дворец съездов/Кремлёвский Дворец съездов) is the largest public building of the Moscow Kremlin. ... A member of a Russian special purpose police team (OMSN), equipped with a 9A91 submachine gun. ...

Since then, the song has been invariably performed during every Victory Day celebrations in the Soviet Union and Russia, often concluding a program of festivities, with the last stanza drowned in sounds of fireworks over the Red Square. According to Komsomolskaya Pravda, the Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev liked this song greatly, especially when performed by Joseph Kobzon, and predicted to Kharitonov that "folks would sing this tune for many years after you and I are gone". For other uses, see Red Square (disambiguation). ... Komsomolskaya Pravda (in Russian Комсомольская правда, meaning Komsomols Truth) is an all-Russian newspaper and is the product of the long-lived but now extinct Komsomol organization. ... Brezhnev redirects here. ... Kobzon at a recent social event Iosif (Joseph) Davydovich Kobzon (Russian: ) (born September 11, 1937) is an iconic Soviet crooner, who has been acclaimed as the official voice of the Soviet Union. Kobzon was born to Jewish parents in the mining town of Chasiv Yar, Ukraine. ...

Brezhnev's expectation did not fail to materialize, in part because, as the American researcher David MacFadyen explains, "this powerful song draws not upon the bravery of youthful soldiers but the private memories of ageing, greying veterans. Its poignant combination of joy at a stunning victory and sadness at great loss sounds just as relevant today, when the war itself is something about which many young Russians neither know nor care".^[1]

Lyrics

Notes

1. ^ David MacFadyen. Red Stars: Personality and the Soviet Popular Song, 1955–1991. McGill-Queens Univ Press, 2001. ISBN 0-7735-2106-2. Page 180.
2. ^ Actually versts, not leagues. The verst is a defunct Russian unit of length and equals 1.067 km.

A verst (Russian versta, верста) is an obsolete Russian unit of length. ...

Online references

• (Russian) Download the song, performed by Leshchenko.
• (Russian) Article in the Komsomolskaya Pravda
• (Russian) Article in the Nezavisimaya Gazeta
• (Russian) History of the song on Tukhmanov's website
• Lev Leshchenko singing 'Den Pobedy' in russian TV