Alexander Alexandrov

Alexandrov studied at the St. Petersburg and Moscow Conservatories and later took a position as head of the choral conducting department at Moscow. He founded and composed many pieces for The Soviet Army Song And Dance Ensemble, and the group was later named for him. He wrote about sixty songs, including Svyashchennaya, a rallying song for the Soviet people during World War II, as well as the Soviet national anthem, which was eventually adopted -- with a new text -- as the Russian national anthem. © TiVo