"Choral Folk Music"

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Here's a great little ditty sung by a choir who regularly sing at Sretensky Monastery - It is a ballad about the Horse:


www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOneK7tJWEc


And the sheet music:


www.horisty.narod.ru/notes2/kon.pdf


The words are somewhat as follows - Translations are notoriously difficult:


Go out at night in a field with a horse,
Dark night will go quietly.
We'll go with the horse on the field together.

Night in a field of stars grace ...
In the field no one in sight.
Once we have a horse in the field are going.

I'll sit astride a horse,
You carry it on the field I was.
According to my boundless field.

Let me look it once -
Generates a field where the dawn.
Ah, cranberry color, scarlet yes dawn,
Ali is the place, Ali is not.

Polyushko mine, springs,
Lights of distant villages,
Golden Rye yes Kinky linen -
I'm in love with you, Russia, in love.

Be a good year-Khleborodov,
There were all, every pass,
Sing a golden rye, sing Kinky flax
Sing about how I love Russia!
Sing a golden rye, flax sing Kinky ...

We go with the horse on the field together.


And in Russian:


Выйду ночью в поле с конем,
Ночкой темной тихо пойдем.
Мы пойдем с конем по полю вдвоем.

Ночью в поле звезд благодать...
В поле никого не видать.
Только мы с конем по полю идем.

Сяду я верхом на коня,
Ты неси по полю меня.
По бескрайнему полю моему.

Дай-ка я разок посмотрю -
Где рождает поле зарю.
Ай, брусничный цвет, алый да рассвет,
Али есть то место, али его нет.

Полюшко мое, родники,
Дальних деревень огоньки,
Золотая рожь да кудрявый лен -
Я влюблен в тебя, Россия, влюблен.

Будет добрым год-хлебород,
Было всяко, всяко пройдет,
Пой златая рожь, пой кудрявый лен,
Пой о том, как я в Россию влюблен!
Пой златая рожь, пой кудрявый лен...

Мы идем с конем по полю вдвоем.
 
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JHC

Chief assistant to the assistant chief
You just can't beat a male voice choir, and Russian Basses are so strong, do you remember the "Red Army Choir" I have a LP of them.
Thank you CD
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Yep, they are quite unbeatable...

Do ponder about that Russian choirs have not only baritones and basses but also Octavists who descend to F - Below the range of the cello!!! In the contrabass range.
 

JHC

Chief assistant to the assistant chief
Do ponder about that Russian choirs have not only baritones and basses but also Octavists who descend to F - Below the range of the cello!!! In the contrabass range.
I learn something new each day:) just checked on wiki and it seem they can get a full oct lower than a bass, Thanks CD. You would think they could come up with a better name?
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
As I am now very carefully and studiously reading Pavel Chesnokov's book "The Choir: How to manage it" the author who was the Director Musices at Christ the Saviour Cathedral where I am doing research and performance, mandates that the bass section shall be larger than the other sections - e.g. in a choir of 54 singers there are 18 in the whole bass section(baritone, bass, and octavists) and 12 in every other section, in a group of 27 there are 9 in the bass and 6 in the other sections, in a group of 13 there are 4 basses and 3 in other sections. Compare that to the equal in number or less in every section in Western Choirs.
 

wafer hero

New member
Corno Dolce, it's not a russian folk song. This song written by Igor' Motvienko (russian composer and producer).
 

GoneBaroque

New member
As I am now very carefully and studiously reading Pavel Chesnokov's book "The Choir: How to manage it" the author who was the Director Musices at Christ the Saviour Cathedral where I am doing research and performance, mandates that the bass section shall be larger than the other sections - e.g. in a choir of 54 singers there are 18 in the whole bass section(baritone, bass, and octavists) and 12 in every other section, in a group of 27 there are 9 in the bass and 6 in the other sections, in a group of 13 there are 4 basses and 3 in other sections. Compare that to the equal in number or less in every section in Western Choirs.

CD, Thank you very much for the information on the make up of Russian Choirs. That must be a fascinating book. In many of the church choirs in the U.S. you will probably find about 12 female singers (often with Altos singing Tenor and if you are lucky 3 men.
 

JHC

Chief assistant to the assistant chief
CD, do you have many Counter Tenors in your choirs?
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Well, there are three(and those tenors sing ionospherically high to boot!) in the Cathedral Choir.
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Hi GoneBaroque,

I was born and grew up in the US and lived for 17 years in Hawaii before moving to Moscow with my wife. The Russian Choral tradition is just so fascinating!!! Plus, it gives people a chance for employment if they can't find another job. Of course, they'll have to pass muster during the audition but you can live on a choristers salary in Russia. Yes, you'll be singing on the average of about two services a day Monday through Sunday.
 

GoneBaroque

New member
Hi GoneBaroque,

I was born and grew up in the US and lived for 17 years in Hawaii before moving to Moscow with my wife. The Russian Choral tradition is just so fascinating!!! Plus, it gives people a chance for employment if they can't find another job. Of course, they'll have to pass muster during the audition but you can live on a choristers salary in Russia. Yes, you'll be singing on the average of about two services a day Monday through Sunday.

Hi C D,

Thank you for your informative reply. The Russian Choral tradition is a great national treasure. It is good to see it maintained. It must keep the choristers happily busy. I did not realize the churches were so active. I would assume that some government support is involved. It seems that the U.S. is about the only country which does not support the Arts in some fashion.

Rob
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Hi Rob,

Very minimal, at best, govt. support - The current Patriarch Kirill is doing alot of traveling now to visit many parishes. He has some interesting specialists who go with him and they quickly gather info about the churches history and physical condition. It all ends up then becoming a restoration project with local people guided by local district experts doing a "Labor of Love". Quite often they have almost nothing to go on since the Bolsheviks made very sure to eradicate the cultural history in re to the parishes. In many places I have visited and seen some very awe-inspiring restorative work by people who receive food and a place to sleep and facilities for personal hygiene - Thats it!

As to music, I believe I mentioned in another thread that the Moscow Patriarchate has a few specialists who travel to parishes all over Russia in order to find extant copies of music score that has escaped the Bolshevik scourge, identify it, and if it is unknown, will then make it a part of a musical collection that can then be accessed by everyone who works and performs choral literature.
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
I moved to Russia 24 Aug 2009 and I love it here and I have no compelling urge to move back to the States.
 

JHC

Chief assistant to the assistant chief
Gaspadeen Honkenwheezenpooferspieler, It must be quite an experience particularly the Winters lol
 

Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
I have already experienced two Moscow Winters and I don't find them as taxing as the winter's in Chicago or especially Minneapolis,Minnesota. However, Yakutsk(+1,500,000 citizens) regularly has -50C winters and Verhkhoyansk(less than 1000 citizens) which is north of Yakutsk gets -70C winters.

Back on topic: Kastalsky, Chesnokov, Arkhangelsk, Bortniansky, Degtiarov, Ippolitov-Ivanov have written so much consistently beautiful sacred choral music. Here's a tip, there's a sheet music store on Tverskaya Boulevard 9 which has the complete Choral Concertos by Bortniansky, edited by Chaikovsky for about 700 Rubles($25.00). The very great Music Publishing House of Jurgenson used to have two big stores, one in Moscow and the other in St. Petersburg. Now they are located in Helsinki, Finland!!!
 

sandal

New member
choral variations on a turkish folk song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL6EPRgUTlw

this is a performance by a turkish state choir, on a concert tour to south korea, of ‘variations on katibim folk song’, by ahmet adnan saygun.

a a saygun (1907-1991), a prolific composer, wrote in virtually all forms of chamber, orchestral and vocal music, including,,symphonies, concertos, operas, oratorios. He was well-versed in both western music and turkish modal music (turkish art (palace) music and folk music). Amöng his teachers were edouard souberbielle (organ) and amedee gastoue (gregorian chant).

being one of the vanguard in the cultural mobilization by the early republic, he worked extensively on the collection, compilation,transcription, etc of the local musical heritage, and meanwhile escorted and collaborated with b bartok during the latter’s mission in turkey for similar studies.

the ‘variations’ is one of the numerous works where he made use of local ‘material’. it is a stand-alone and rather insignificant part of his ‘opus’; but, still a choral work from some composer presumably not very familiar to you.

though the choir is not at its best, i hope you enjoy it.:)
 
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Corno Dolce

Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
Wow! Sandal - That was a great sounding choir - I really enjoyed that!!! Never heard of Ahmet Adnan Saygun - Thanx for opening my ears to such a treat.

Best always,

CD :tiphat:
 
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