RED ARMY CHOIR - Chandos Records

RED ARMY CHOIR

Volga Boatmen's Song Farewell of Slavianka

Troika Moscow Nights Dark Eyes

and other favourite

Russian songs

Red Army Choir and Band

Victor Fedorov, Conductor

Red Army Choir

Russian Favourites

Farewell of Slavianka

0 field, my field

We are the red cavalry

There, far away, beyond the river

The Sacred War

There march the soldiers

In the forest by the combat-line

The sun set beyond the river

Soldiers' Chorus from The Decembrists

Song of the Volga Boatmen (Ey ukhnem)

Troika

The Cliff

Hey, there's the village

The Volga Burlacks' Song

Dark Eyes (Ochi chernye)

The Brave Lads of the Don

On the Road (A Soldier's Song)

Moscow Nights

The sonas recorded bv the Red Armv Choir for this compact disc fall into four grouos.

~,.

The f~rstio;;~istsof old sold~crs'songs (~.ir,~:ot~ll

fS1.i ,r.lrrkl, ?I, l:i.r;i h.1, .,it/,,. L).~rr,J:l.ii. r:'

(Oli~I.1.

iir.lrr~;tl.mn the opera IIrt71)~~:irrrbrr.-fin.

Ihc second in;ludtl., iollxs{)fthe CI\ il

myfield, Weare theAredcavalry andThere,faraway, beyond the river) &d the third songs of what

is known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War, the struggle against Nazi Germany (The

Sacred War, There marched the soldiers,In theforest by thecombnt-line, Thesun set beyond the river

and O n the road). The fourth group is of popular Russian folk-songs (Song ofthe Volga

Bontrnen, Troika, The CliffandDark Eyes).

Fnrewell ofSlavianka was composed in 1912by V. Agapkin, a cavalry-manand student of

trumpet and composition at the Tambov Music College. The music is based onevents in

the Balkan wars of liberation from the five-hundred-year-long power of the Ottoman

Empire and was dedicated to all Slav women and various texts have been written to

change the work into a song. The present recording uses words by A. Fedotov. The work

has enjoyed enormous popularity and was heard in Red Square on 7th November 1941,

when it was played by massed bands as a prelude to the march of the troops to the front

line. The same music was used by Polish patriots and in Bulgaria it has served as a

standard item in military parades in Sofia and in the graduation ceremonies of army

schools.

Ofield, myfield is a choral episode from a symphony by L. Knipper, described by the

writer as a poem about a Comsomol warrior. The first line of the text was writtenby the

composer and the rest in 1924 by the poet Victor Gusev. The song has become widely

popular athome and abroad and was described by the conductor Leopold Stokowsky as

the best song of the twentieth century.

In 1919 the authors of TheMarch o f ~ u d ~ o n rD.z ~Pokrass

,

and A. d'Actile (Frenkel),lived

in Rostov-on-Don, a city at the time occupied bv White Russian forces, workina in the local

r n~anuary

~.

i920 the city was taken by the ~ G scavalry

t

show-group The ~ n e - ~ ~ e d f i m1n

and the song commemorates that event, later taken into the repertory of the Red Army.

Pokrass subsequently joined the Red Army and was composer to the First Cavalry. The

song won immediate popularity and was soon known throughout the country.

1924 brought the first Comsomol song, something that had long beenneeded by the

young people of the organization. The words were writtenby a Comsomolpoet, N. Kool,

who found a melody for it in his favourite Russian folk-songAsun has risen in Siberia. When

Kool was serving in the army in Moscow, his comrades often complained of the lack of

new songs, and he wrote for them There, far away, beyond the river, a song that soon won

wider popularity, as soldiers returned from service to their own parts of the country,

becoming itself a folk-song inits ownright.

The Sacred War is amusical symbol of the Great P

a War The words were written

by V. Lebedev-Kumachand were published in Izvestia on 24th June 1941. The music was

written by A. Alexandrov on the same day and was immediately sung by the Red Army

Choir, who performed it on 27th June at the Belorusky railway station, as the soldiers left

for the front. The song, like a call to arms, was heard all over the country. In his memoirs

Major-General A. Kronik describes one of the concerts at the front line: When we heard the

sounds of The Sacred War, which had become a genuine folk-song, the hearts of officers and men

trembled within them, raw recruits and hardened soldiers, with their scars and moustaches, felt the

same. Eve yone clutched his rye. I looked at the soldiers and offers, m y brother-warriors, and with all

m y heart lfelt their readinessforaction. The song moved soldiers and also those left at home.

Theremarched thesoldiers is a settingby B. Alexandrov of the 1949poem of A. Dostal. The

soldiers marched out to defend the motherland and succeeded in their task.

In theforest by the combat-line was writtenin 1943by the composer M. Blanterand the poet

H. Isakovskv. The sound of the old waltz.Dream ofAutumn.is heard in the forestnear the

front line. f h e soldiers listenand remember their beloved, the peacefullife they led before

the war. They understand that only through

- war can they reach their aim.

The authors of The sun set beyond the mountain, M. Blanter and A.Kovalenkov, tell of the

return home of the soldiers, having defended their country against the enemy in a battle

where some of their comrades have given their lives.

The Soldiers' Chorus from V .Shaporin's operaTheDecembristsis sung by soldiers leaving

across the Danube for war with Turkey and celebrating their own courage.

The Song ofthe Volga Boatnzenis anoldRussian folk-song, here arranged by B. Alexandrov.

The boatmen are hauling a heavy barge and sing to make their toil the lighter. The song,

powerful and strong, suggests the character of Russia.

Troika has a text by F.Glinka and music arranged by V. Agarkov. As he journeys, the

coachman tells his fare of his troubles, his separation from his beloved, who has married a

rich old man that she cannot love.

The folk-song The Cliff tells us about a cliff overlooking the River Volga. Lofty and

majestic, it recalls the hero Stenka Razin, a leader of the poor against seventeenth century

Tsarist tyranny.

"

.

Hey, there's the village is a Ukrainian folk-song, arranged by A. Alexandrov. A brave

cossack rides back home from the war and dreams about his beloved.

The Volga Burlack'sSongwaswrittenby A. Alexandrov and the poet OKolychev. Itsstory

was inspired by Ilya Repin's pictureThe Volga Burlacks, representing the pain and toil of the

Russian people.

Dark Eyes is a gypsy romance and had gained currency by the end of the nineteenth

century. It is derived from a waltz by Waldteufel and has a text by E. Grebyonka:lmet you,

darkeyes,andfell in love with youforever: you have ruinedme, but lam happy to have controlled this

greatfeeling oflove.

The Brave Lads of the Don is a Russian folk-song, arranged by A. Mikhailov. It tells of

events in the war of 1812 against Napoleon, when the daring warriors from the Don

helped to defend Moscow, a symbol of the unity of the Russian people.

On theRoad was written in 1945, the work of the composer A. Novikov and the poet L.

Oshanin. On the road to war, one does not know one's fate: Shots sound, the raven flies

around. . . vour friend lies dead in the .

grass,

. but we must not forget

- this road.

Moscow Nights is one of the most popular of Russian songs. It was writtenin 1956by V.

Solowov-Sedo and the poet M. Matusovsky. A maninlove asks his beloved not to forget

these summer ~oscownights,where theirlove has been born

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download