Musicology Annotation << Back From «International» to the anthem of the USSR Aleksey A. Karabanov In article continuing the fi rst the main tendencies in the course of ideological fi ght in the pre-war USSR which have caused development and formation of a genre of a national anthem against a political turn from ideology of proletarian internationalism to ideology of the state patriotism and the state ideological order which has followed it are traced. Circumstances of emergence of “The song about party” of A.V. Alexandrov on words of V.I. Lebedev-Kumach who has become at fi rst a party, and then and national anthem of the USSR and also competitive works of the leading Soviet composers D.D. Shostakovich, S.S. Prokofiev, R.M. Gliere, I.O. Dunayevsky and other authors presented to the state commission in 1943 are considered by the author. Historical circumstances, allowed the song of Alexandrov to express features of national consciousness and self-identifi cation of the Soviet people and to rise up to the heights of a national anthem are shown. In the course of the historical and cultural analysis both archival materials, and modern researches, and also the numerous materials published on the Internet are attracted. On the basis of the considered data the conclusion about the predefi niteness of the choice of the government commission and circumstances accompanying him is drawn. Keywords: National anthem, song of praise, national identity, national symbols. Contacts: E-mail: karabanov@centralnavyband.com Pp. 03-08.