An aerial view of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in St Petersburg, where Herbert Bury met Metropolitan Piritim in June 1916. The monastery is named after one of Russia’s great heroes, Prince Alexander Nevsky (1221-1263), a contemporary of King Henry III of England (r. 1216-1272). See Lucy Cazalet’s short summary of Alexander’s life in The Trials of Alexander Nevsky.
Introduction
On his visits to Russia in his capacity as the Church of England’s Bishop for North and Central Europe, Herbert Bury had been impressed by Emperor Nicholas II and his wife Alix (Queen Victoria’s granddaughter) and by the worship of the Russian Orthodox Church. Looking back after the unhappy revolution of 1917, one visit to St Petersburg remained with him vividly.
EVEN so late as June, 1916, the old still lingered on. One evening in that month I had gone to call upon the newly appointed Archbishop* in Petrograd,* in his lodging at the famous Nevsky Monastery. He received me in the beautiful robes of a Metropolitan, wearing his orders and a white mitre and veil,* with a blazing cross of diamonds in its front, and with a number of magnificently costumed officials attending him, and at once took me into a large inner hall. There the eighty members of his Metropolitical choir from Saint Isaac’s, with their beautiful blue and silver robes, burst out into song, “Rule, Britannia,”* in Russian,* which stirred me to the very depths of my heart, for it was far and away the most beautiful rendering, not only that I had ever heard, of that stirring patriotic song of ours, but more beautiful in Russia and with Russian voices than anyone could possibly think it could ever be. At that time no Russian would ever sing “God save the King,” because it had a German tune.*
* Metropolitan Pitirim (Oknov) (1858-1920) was appointed in 1915, and was very close to the royal family. He was also a friend of Gregory Rasputin, and tarred by association. After the Tsar’s abdication in 1917, Pitirim was forced to resign; but his retirement was broken when he was dragged from his home by a mob on the grounds of being a ‘Rasputin follower,’ and driven around the city while a crowd hurled abuse at him. He fled to the Assumption Monastery (Vtoroafonsky) near Pyatigorsk: delicate, sensitive and fastidious, Pitirim was not cut out for this sort of thing. He was on the move again, ahead of the advancing Red Army, when he died on February 21, 1920 (OS) at Yekatarinodar (Krasnodar).
* Petrograd is an alternative Russian name for St Petersburg, used since 1914 at the decree of Emperor Nicholas II because of the German-sounding St Petersburg — much as George of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (King George V) renamed himself George Windsor in 1917.
* That is, a long cloth hanging down his back. For a portrait photo, see Традиция (Traditsya).
* For the historical background, see Rule, Britannia!. Contrary to popular prejudice, ‘Rule, Britannia!’ is not about global conquest or colonisation, but about the defence of the realm in the spirit of King Alfred holding off the Vikings in the 9th century. Following the second part of this post, there is a video of a Russian choir singing the song (in English) from 2016.
* For downloadable sheet music of the song in Russian, published in 1914, visit Antique ‘Golden Age’ Russian Piano Music Collection. Below there is a recording from 1914, though it was for instruments only.
* ‘God Save the King!’ originated in England, and was popularised through a setting for Drury Lane composed by the very same Englishman, Thomas Arne, who composed ‘Rule, Britannia!’. It was also used for the anthem of Imperial Russia, God Save the Tsar [King], until 1833 when Alexander Lvov’s magnificent setting won a competition to replace it: see the last part of Britain and the Tsars for a video of Lvov’s masterpiece. However, as if to prove that imitation is indeed the sincerest form of flattery, the English melody was adopted by the German Empire for its national anthem ‘Heil dir im Siegerkranz’ from 1871 to 1918, which explains why Russians would not sing it in the Great War: Tsar Nicholas II was our ally against Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Related Video
‘Rule, Britannia!’, 1914.
Rule, Britannia!, performed in 1914 by the Orchestra of the Russian Joint Stock Company of Gramophones, conducted by Mikhail Vladimirovich Vladimirov (1870-1932).
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Précis
In June 1916, Church of England bishop Herbert Bury visited St Petersburg, and was welcomed at the Alexander Nevsky monastery by the newly-appointed Metropolitan in full regalia. As if the occasion was not already splendid enough, Bury was then treated to a spirited rendition of ‘Rule, Britannia!’ sung in Russian by an eighty-strong choir, which moved him profoundly. (58 / 60 words)
In June 1916, Church of England bishop Herbert Bury visited St Petersburg, and was welcomed at the Alexander Nevsky monastery by the newly-appointed Metropolitan in full regalia. As if the occasion was not already splendid enough, Bury was then treated to a spirited rendition of ‘Rule, Britannia!’ sung in Russian by an eighty-strong choir, which moved him profoundly.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: besides, just, must, otherwise, since, unless, whether, who.
Word Games
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Post Box : Ask Nicholas
Grok : Ask Grok
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