As many will know the music to the OA Song is not original to our Order. It is found in many Protestant hymnals, often under the title "God The Omnipotent" .
Peter I. Tchaikovsky used most of the hymn in his famous 1812 Overture. He also used parts of it in March Slav.
The music predates even those usages. It was written by Alexis Lvov, a 19th century Russian composer in 1833 with the title "God Save the Tsar" (translated of course!) and was the Tsarist national anthem, until the Bolshevik Revolution changed all that.
Embedded in this page is an MP3 file of the song. You must have software on your computer configured to play MP3 files. The file is about 2MB in size, so please be patient while it loads. I regret that time will not allow me to help everyone in doing this... Sorry.
The file will only play for those using Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and if the browser is properly configured to play MP3 files. Users of other browsers, or those whose browser is not set up to play MP3 files can find this file at http://www.oaimages.com/god_save_the_tsar.mp3.
How many of your lodge meetings have the OA Song sung like that!?
(Thanks to The Internet Guide to Order of the Arrow Insignia for all of this trivia!!!)