Boris Alexandrovich Alexandrov Major General Boris Alexandrovich Alexandrov ( , August 4 , 1905 Bologoye – June 17 , 1994 Moscow ) was a Soviet Russian composer , and , from 1946 to 1986 , the second head of the Alexandrov Ensemble which was founded by his father , Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov . Alexandrov reached the rank of Major - General and was awarded the order of Hero of Socialist Labour , the Lenin Prize and the State Prize of the USSR , and named People ' s Artist of the USSR . Alexandrov is also the composer of the Anthem of Transnistria . Life . Early years . He began his musical career , aged 13 , as a viola player and in the children ' s choir at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow , performing alongside singers such as Feodor Chaliapin . Chaliapin was a great showman , as can be heard in his recording of " Dark Eyes " and Boris would later carry the same attitude into his choral arrangements for the Ensemble . From 1923 to 1929 he attended the Moscow Conservatory , taught by RM Glier . He grew up among leading performers , and later collaborated with the leading Soviet composers and poets . From 1929 to 1937 he ran the music department of the newly established Central Theatre of the Red Army and from 1933 to 1941 was associate professor of Moscow Conservatory . He was also a composer , writing in various genres of symphonic and chamber instrumental music In 1937 , he became the deputy artistic director of the Alexandrov Ensemble and some of his best compositions date from this era . As a conductor , Boris Alexandrov apparently worked from two principles : interpreting a composer ' s work correctly , and making sure that a mass audience would appreciate it World War II . During World War II , Boris Alexandrov , with his father , led the ensemble in All - Union radio concerts and over 1500 concerts at the Front , officially to actively promote Russian folk music and the songs of Soviet composers and folk music for the sake of patriotism and morale . During this time , Boris shouldered increasing responsibility , due to his father ' s heart condition . After Alexandrov ' s death in 1946 , Boris Alexandrov , his son , went on to succeed his father as musical director for the ensemble Leadership of the Ensemble . Boris Alexandrov was a composer , arranger , conductor , music critic , artist and teacher : an important 20th century figure in Russian military music . He saw to the training and promotion of many fine soloists . After World War II , the ensemble , led by Boris Alexandrov , travelled abroad sixty - eight times and was well received in many countries throughout Europe . He carried on the central idea which drove his father : that the choir was central to the ensemble , and that without the choir there would be no ensemble Close of a long career . In 1985 , his 80th birthday was publicly celebrated . Alexandrov finally retired in 1987 . He was succeeded by Igor Agafonnikov the same year , with Anatoly Maltsev as the ensemble chief . He retired as the principal conductor in 1994 ; he died that year and was buried in Moscow at the Novodevichy Cemetery . He was succeeded by Victor Fedorov , the chorus master since 1986 . Collaborations . The ensemble under Boris Alexandrov worked with the best musicians . The choir worked with People ' s Artist of Russia , laureate of Stalin Prize KP Vinogradov ; People ' s Artist of the USSR Y . Petrov the Principal Chorus Master ; VG Sokolov ( later People ' s Artist of the USSR and Professor of the Moscow Conservatory ) ; BI Kulikov ( later Rector of the Moscow Conservatory ) ; ES Tytyanko ( People ' s Artist of the USSR ) ; and VV Samsonenko , AP Kulygin and VI Chusei , all Honoured Artist of Russia . Dancers worked with People ' s Artist of the USSR PP Virsky , soloists of the Bolshoi Theatre , Honored Art Worker AI Radunsky and Honoured Artist of Russia KG Farmanyants and People ' s Artist of the USSR U . P . Khmelnitski . The orchestra worked with VA Aleksandrov , VV Samsonenko both Honoured Artist of Russia , and People ' s Artist of Russia VA Korobko Compositions and arrangements . He added over 150 new works to the repertoire , including works of composers local to the countries visited by the ensemble . He worked with living Soviet composers , enriching both works and performance . He wrote symphonic , chamber , instrumental , vocal - symphonic and theatrical music , and specialized in military music . He wrote a national anthem for which he received an award from the Ministry of Culture of the Soviet Union , and for which he was known by contemporaries as " the soldier - patriot " . In 1937 he wrote the operetta Wedding in Malinovka which contained patriotic themes : revolutionaries , soldiers , peasants and folk music . Other operettas include " The Girl from Barcelona " ( 1942 ) about Russian partisans and a female Spanish co - combatant ; " My Gyuzel " ( 1946 ) , " Near You " ( 1949 ) and " The One Hundred and First Wife " ( 1957 ) . Ballets include " Young Friendship " and " Southpaw " ( 1955 ) . He also wrote cantatas including " Cantata of the Party " ( 1955 ) , the oratorio " October Soldier Defending the World " ( 1967 ) , " Book of the Motherland " ( 1979 ) , plus the suite " Guarding " ( 1981 ) Alexandrov composed the song " Long Live our State " ( Да здравствует наша держава ) to be the anthem of the Soviet Union . It was rejected however , but the 1943 composition ( with different lyrics ) became the national anthem of Transnistria in the 1990s . The song was used in parades in the Soviet Union and continues to be used at the end of Victory Day parades in Moscow today , adapted as a military march . Another march composed by him is " March of Joint Armies " . Awards . Photographs and films of Alexandrovich show him wearing a large number of medals . Besides those mentioned above , he had a Labour medal ( 1939 ) for helping to form the Ensemble ; Honorary Artist of Russia ( 1944 ) ; rank of Lieutenant Colonel ( 1946 ) ; People ' s Artist of Russia ( 1948 ) ; rank of Colonel ( 1948 ) ; Order of Lenin ( 1949 ) ; for concert performances the Stalin Prize , First Class ( 1950 ) ; People ' s Artist of the USSR ( 1958 ) ; rank of Major General ( 1973 ) ; for outstanding contribution to the development of culture and art Hero of Socialist Labour ( 1975 ) ; Lenin Prize ( 1978 ) ; Order of the October Revolution ( 1985 ) . In all , he received the Order of Lenin three times and also the Order of the Red Banner of Labour , Order of the Patriotic War , First Class and a Stalin prize . For the oratorio " October Soldier Defending the World " and the poem " Lenin Immortal " , in 1971 a special award was set up by the Ministry of Culture of the USSR , the Union of Soviet Composers and the main political management of the Soviet Armed Forces : the Gold Medal of Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov was to be awarded annually to subsequent Soviet composers for composition of military - patriotic music . This medal would become a Russian military and civil decoration by the Russian Ministry of Defence in 2005 , on the occasion of his centennial year of birth ( with the addition of a special commemorative medal in honor of this occasion ) , awarded to all Russians who contribute to the growth and progress of Russian military music , its history and the important cultural legacy it has to the nation and the world .