You Fell Victim to a Fateful Struggle

"You Fell Victim" (Russian: Вы жертвою пали, romanized: Vy žértvoju páli, IPA: [vɨ ˈʐɛrtvəjʊ ˈpalʲɪ]), also "You Fell Victim to a Fateful Struggle",^[1] is a Russian Marxist and revolutionary funeral march. It acted as the funeral dirge of the Russian revolutionary movement, among them the Bolsheviks.^[1]

The song was written in 1878; the lyrics were written by Anton Arkhangelsky, and the musical arrangements were made by Nikolay Ikonikov.^[2]

During the funeral of the Bolshevik Nikolay Bauman, a student orchestra joined the procession near the St. Petersburg Conservatory, playing "You Fell Victim to a Fateful Struggle" repeatedly.^[1]

The melody of "You Fell A Victim" was used by Dmitri Shostakovich in the third part of his Symphony No. 11; it had since the end of the 19th century often been the funeral march of Russian revolutionaries.^[3][4] The same melody was used in Edmund Meisel's score for Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin, in the scene of the funeral of Grigory Vakulinchuk.^[5]

The melody also forms the basis of the 1936 composition "Russian Funeral" by Benjamin Britten, scored for brass and percussion.