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Mahutny Boa (Almighty God)
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Wikipedia article
'"Mahutny Boa"' (, translated as 'Almighty God') is a famous Belarusian hymn, based on a poem by Natallia Arsiennieva and music by Mikola Ravienski. It was translated into English by Vera Rich.
The hymn has given its name to a festival of ecclesiastical music in Mahilio and has also become one of the protest songs during the 2020-21 Belarusian protests.
History
's grave in Leuven (Belgium) with the notes of "Mahutny Boa" engraved
In 1947 composer Mikola Ravienski wrote music for the poem Prayer created by poetess Natallia Arsiennieva four years earlier. Soon it became widely used by Belarusian communities in the UK, US, Canada and Australia.
Since the late 1980s the hymn has gained popularity in post-Soviet Belarus. In 1993 the Catholic Church in Belarus initiated a festival of ecclesiastical music in Mahilio which was named after the hymn.
In 1995 the hymn was proposed as one of the candidates for the national anthem of Belarus. However, the government of Alexander Lukashenka instead adopted the old anthem of Soviet Belarus with some variation to the lyrics.
In 2005 Mahutny Boa was translated into English by Vera Rich.
During the 2020-21 Belarusian protests the hymn became one of the protest songs and its performance was banned within the Belarusian parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In spring 2021, the hymn was recognised as one of the most popular Belarusian music pieces.
Lyrics
References
Further reading
* . . [Belarusian Catholic music. Church hymns. For mixed choir] / . . : , 1992 (in Belarusian)
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