It was composed by violinist Alexei Lvov, with lyrics written by the court poet Vasily Zhukovsky.

William Walton's score for the 1970 film Three Sisters, based on Chekhov's play, is dominated by the theme.

Maurice Jarre's score for the 1965 film Doctor Zhivago uses this melody in several tracks, most notably in the Overture.

[8] The anthem, played by the Band of the Welsh Guards, was used as the theme music for the epic BBC television adaptation of War and Peace in 1972.

[9] The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards continue to play "God Save the Tsar!"

at formal events as a tribute to Nicholas II as the former colonel-in-chief of their predecessor, the Scots Greys.

[10] In 1998, singer-songwriter Alexander Gradsky, one of the best-known rock artists during the Soviet period, proposed using the theme again as the Russian national anthem, but with substantially different lyrics from those originally written by Zhukovsky.