Ivan Dzerzhinsky, ‘От края и до края’ [From region to region], a Chorus from the Opera Тихий Дон [Quiet flows the Don] (1935), sung by the Bol’shoy Theatre Chorus
Sergey Prokofiev, October (Cantata) Op. 74 (1936-7)
Dmitri Shostakovich, Symphony Number 5 Op. 47 (1937)
Nikolai Myaskovsky, Symphony No 12 (Collective Farm Symphony) OP. 35 (1932)
Vadim Kozin, ‘Druzhba’ (1938)
Leonid Utesov, ‘Suliko’ (1933)
Alla Bayanova, ‘Ochen’ khorosho’ (1930s?)
See also here
‘Svabenaia’, performed by the Jewish vocal ensemble of the Belorussian SSR [Evokans], Shalom Comrade: Yiddish Music in the Soviet Union 1928-1961 (Schott Wergo SM 1627-2)
‘The wind from the field’, performed by the Ukrainian Male Chorus, Folk Songs of the Soviet Union (Eden Creek 2013)
‘Balalaika tunes’, Pianitsky Chorus, Folk Songs of the Soviet Union (Eden Creek 2013)
Lithuanian Lullaby, sung by Veronika Pvolioniene, Musics of the Soviet Union (Smithsonian, Folkways CD SF 40002, 1989)
‘Kele kele’, performed by the Armenian State Dance and Song Ensemble, Armenian Folk Music in the USSR (Smithsonian, Folkways, 1960)
Aleksandr Mosolov: 2 Preludes, Op. 15 (1925-6)
Nikolai Rolavets, String Quartet No. 3 (1920)
Gavril Popov, Sympohony No. 1 (1935)
Alexander Skryabin, “Towards the flame” Op.72 (1914).
Alexander Skryabin, Symphony no 4, Poem of Ecstasy, Op. 54 (written between 1905 and 1908).
Nikolai Medtner, Piano Concerto No. 1 in C minor, Op. 33, Movt. I (1914–18).
Sergei Rachmaninoff, Etudes tableux, No. 1 in F-sharp minor Op.33 (1911).
Please try to listen to as many of the following items as you are able. This is a short overview list and is designed to give you a fast of the kinds of materials we will be looking at on this module.
‘Polyushko, polye’, sung by the Red Army Choir, music by Lev Knipper, with lyrics by Viktor Gusev in 1933
Lev Knipper, Symphony No. 4 ”Poem of the Komsomol Fighter” in D Major, Op. 41, I. Andante maestoso – Allegro
Vadim Kozin, ‘Druzhba’, available on Russian Light Songs Volume 1 (Black Round Records, 2010)
Dmitri Shostakovich, Symphony No. 7 “The Leningrad”, Op. 60, I. Allegretto [
Sergei Prokofiev, Violin Concerto No. 2, Op. 63, II. Andante
Pokrovskiy Ensemble, ‘Porushka’, The Wild Field (Real World Records 1991)
Aleksandr Mosolov, ‘Factory: machine-music’ [also known as ‘The Iron Foundry’] from the ballet Stal, Op. 19 (1926-7)
[From Electronic Beats blog]
The Moscow-based techno-punk outfit Interchain (comprised of Andrew Lee and Jenya Gorbunov, pictured above) already has an impressive discography. But their most recent release, Plenum—which just came out on the Hivern Discs sublabel HVNX this past March—is a particularly fiery addition to their original take on frenetic, punk rock-indebted electronic sounds. They sat down with us to shed some insight onto their wide range of influences from the Soviet era’s industrial music scene. Listen to their eight selections—from the ’20s to the ’90s—below.
Arseny Avraamov, “Symphony Of Factory Sirens” (Public Event, Baku 1922)
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[From Global Voices website]
“Vesyolye Rebiata” (The Jolly Fellows), “Krasnye Maki” (The Red Poppies), and “Siniaia Ptitsa” (Blue Bird)—these are just a few of the bands that dominated Soviet mainstream music from the 1960s to the 1980s. While the West twisted, discoed, and boogied, the people of the Soviet Union were treated to a bland but charming, state-censored version of Western music: the so-called vocal-instrumental ensembles (VIAs).
During the post-war era, Western pop poured across Soviet borders via European radio airwaves and record smuggling. Despite expensive jamming efforts, the government was unable to prevent unsanctioned, bourgeois music from garnering a widespread audience inside the USSR. The Soviet leadership was alarmed by the music’s popularity not only because of its promotion of “decadent” Western values, but also because its popularity seemed to undermine Soviet culture’s supposed superiority.
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