Get up, Russian people!

“Get up, Russian people!” - a choir from the Soviet film “ Alexander Nevsky ” ( 1938 ) directed by Sergei Eisenstein . The composer is Sergey Prokofiev , the author of the words is Vladimir Lugovskoy .

Movie frame

At the beginning of 1938, the largest Soviet film director Sergei Eisenstein conceived a large sound film about Alexander Nevsky. As the author of music, he decided to attract Prokofiev, with whom he was well acquainted since the 1920s. This creative community was based on the trust of artists to each other. Prokofiev was convinced that the illustrious director “turned out to be a very delicate musician,” but Eisenstein was struck by the ability of Prokofiev to instantly become infected with a visual impression and convey in music the essence of an artistic image captured on film. “Tomorrow he will send me music that ... with sound counterpoint will permeate my editing structure, the law of the structure of which he carries away in the rhythmic figure that his fingers tapped,” said the director, recalling how Prokofiev tapped some fingers with his fingers while watching the shots then complex rhythmic construction on the handle of the chair. The text for the vocal fragments was written partly by Prokofiev himself, partly by the poet Vladimir Lugovskoy ^[1] .

"Alexander Nevsky" was released on December 1, 1938 and immediately won success. This success prompted the composer to write a cantata on the material for the film music. He devoted the winter of 1938-1939 to this work. The task was very difficult. “Sometimes it’s easier to write a completely new play than to invent spikes,” he complained to his family. It was necessary to completely redirect all the music, since the previous orchestration was designed to use electronic means used to record film music, various effects associated with the approach and removal of a particular instrument from a microphone, etc. In addition, from disparate fragments that sound throughout the film, it was necessary to compose the harmonious sections of the vocal-symphonic cycle. Cantata , received op. 78, consists of seven parts - “Russia under the Mongol yoke”, “Song of Alexander Nevsky”, “Crusaders in Pskov”, “Get up, Russian people”, “Battle on the ice”, “Dead field” and “Alexander’s entry into Pskov ". On May 17, 1939, her premiere took place in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.

The victorious and patriotic finale is distinguished by a bright, festive orchestration, chime of bells, the sound of Russian themes that appeared earlier. The majestic sound of the chorus “In native Russia, there can never be an enemy in Russia” completes the cantata ^[1] .

In the patriotic theme “Get up, Russian people!” Prokofiev included Old Russian motifs and sounds of folk musical instruments ^[2] .

November 4, 2006 in the film, which was broadcast on the channel " Culture ", a fragment with a choir was cut out ^[3] .