National song creativity collects and crystallizes the main archetypical national traits. We can identify a certain culture by listening to music. Listening to the songs of various peoples, we get acquainted with their history, character, lifestyle, and mentality. In this issue, we will open the door to the world of the musical and song culture of Russia.
Apart from the fact that music can be considered a universal language of cross-cultural communication, songs can become a great language learning tool. Even for such a difficult language as Russian. Songs help memorize new vocabulary, develop listening and pronunciation skills, and get acquainted with the culture of the study language in a relaxed atmosphere. Songs motivate. Songs help. Songs encourage. The song that “sticks” in our head becomes a reason why we open a dictionary thinking, “What is it all about?” Besides, listening to music, we relax and have a good time while our subconscious mind is doing its work, helping us digest the information we get.
If you have just started getting acquainted with Russian, you should listen to meditative and melancholic folk songs hiding a key to a mysterious Russian soul and character. “Ptashechka” (“Little Bird”), “Zhuravli” (“The Cranes”), “Eh,uhnem!” (“Hey, heave-ho!”), “Step da step krugom” (“Steppe All Around”), which are old songs with a soul and a history, are catchy and remain in our hearts. Russian music and song culture is diverse and interesting. Here everyone can find something that will be to their taste irrespective of their preferences.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky (1962-2017)
opera/romance
The Soviet and Russian opera singer, beautiful baritone who has left a rich creative legacy. An outstanding man of art, a man with a big heart, Hvorostovsky was nominated for Grammy three times, performed at the best world venues, and cooperated with the outstanding contemporary conductors. Hvorostovsky’s singing and performing talent significantly exceeds the opera genre. He performed not only opera arias but also romances, Russian folk songs, spiritual music works, and patriotic songs. Hvorostovsky’s music is profound, full of sense and feelings, and it leaves indifferent very few people.
Kino
Punk rock
The Kino band and its leader, singer, and song writer Viktor Tsoi (1962–1990) are considered Russian rock pioneers. The band greatly influenced the development of Russian rock culture and was on a lot of tours to the former USSR countries and other foreign countries. Kino’s music is still popular and inspires many contemporary musicians. For Russian language learners, the songs of the Kino band are a real find. The texts of the songs are simple and understandable and strike a chord because they are about love, life, people, and feelings, e.g. sadness or lust for freedom. In Russia, you can hardly find someone who does not know such songs as “Kukushka” (“Cuckoo”), “Zvezda po imeni Solntse” (“A Star Called the Sun”), and “Pachka Sigaret” (“A Pack of Cigarettes”).
polnalubvi
Indie
The pseudonym, which literally means “full of love,” belongs to young singer, song writer, and composer Marina Demeschenko. Marina was born in the town of Anadyr in Chukotka (try to find it on the map)). Since she was a child, she had been doing music and learned three instruments – the violin, the piano, and the guitar. She wrote her first song in 2016 and experimented with the popular cover songs. Today the singer has five studio albums. The album “The Tales of a Wood Nymph” was characterized by the audience as “elf pop” that combines touching texts, melodious and clear voice, deep basses, and choral accompaniment. The hit “Comets” was one of the TikTok trends.
Petr Nalich
pop/rock/folk/author song
This Russian singer and composer writes songs and music for theatrical performances, movies, and cartoons. The clip for the funny song “Guitar” entered the top of the most viewed Russian clips and was viewed more than eight million times. The song “Lost and Forgotten” was performed at the Eurovision Song Contest 2010. Nalich is an outstanding singer, performing classical opera repertoire, romances, and author songs. Petr Nalich and his band have 13 studio albums mixing musical genres and styles in their tracks.
22.12.2023
