Farewell of Slavianka

"Farewell of Slavianka" is a Russian patriotic march, written by the composer Vasily Agapkin in honour of Slavic women accompanying their husbands in the First Balkan War. The march was written and premiered in Tambov in late 1912. In the summer of 1915, it was released as a gramophone single in Kiev. Slavianka translates to 'Slavic woman'.

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, (), 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 such as 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, "" (; ), Hefer coined the phrase "" (; ), which was used by the Israel Defense Forces to call Operation Defensive Shield (literally "Operation Defensive Wall") in 2002.

As the march was first published in 1912, the original musical composition has entered the public domain in the United States and many other jurisdictions. Under U.S. copyright law, all works published before 1 January 1929, are in the public domain regardless of the author's date of death.

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).

{| class="wikitable"

!Russian original!!Anglo-Russian Romanization!!English translation

|- style="vertical-align:top; white-space:nowrap;"

|<poem></poem>

|<poem>This march was not silent on the platforms,

When the foe clouded the horizon.

With it, our fathers, in smoking railcars,

Were brought to the front by trains.

In '41 he preserved Moscow,

In '45 he marched on Berlin.

He accompanied the soldiers to victory,

Along the roads of tough years.

And if the country,

Calls us to campaign.

For our native land,

We'll all march to sacred war!

Wheat rustles in the fields,

My fatherland marches!

Toward the heights of joy,

Through all misfortunes,

On the path of peace and labor!</poem>

|}</div>

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.

{| class="wikitable"

!Russian original

{| class="wikitable"

!Russian original, author of an alternative Russian anthem, subsequently wrote a new set of lyrics for the melody of the march.

{| class="wikitable"

!Russian original

{| class="wikitable"

!Russian original

<poem>

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.

</poem>

<poem>

: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.

</poem>

Charts

Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of Russia version

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 2025 weekly chart performance for ""

! scope="col"| Chart (2025)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

! scope="row"| Russia Streaming (TopHit)

| 88

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+ 2026 weekly chart performance for ""

! scope="col"| Chart (2026)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

! scope="row"| Russia Streaming (TopHit)

| 65

Notes

References

External links

A Chinese rendition with translated (Red Army Choir) lyrics performed by the Male Choir of the People's Armed Police
A version from 1990s
Original record on August 1915 (Марш Прощание славянки, 1915 год - Марш Русской Императорской армии, уникальная кинохроника)