Last Concert

I prefer "Katyusha." 

https://youtu.be/ae833ktGAdA

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Katyusha+Song+YouTube&&view=detail&mid=A2A32559D8A0CC58E61EA2A32559D8A0CC58E61E&FORM=VRDGAR

pl

Comments

[ToivoS]

What a great tribute.

[jld]

Definitely a "Putin bot" Colonel!
:-D

[Jov]

May their souls rest in peace.

I can't find on youtube the Alexandrov Ensemble singing my favourite ''Ljubo, bratci ljubo...'' so I'll post this song as sang by Pelagea, a Russian singer with a divine voice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vSjrAsn1Io

and another with subtitles in English (but another singer)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4gg6AflKiw

[turcopolier]

jld

A "Putin bot?" You mean the bear? IMO the bear is really a Sasquatch in a bear suit. pl

[mike allen]

Russia's Jackie Evancho, Valeria Kurnushkina, sang a dynamite performance of Katushha along with the Red Army Choir back a few years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzCleIHK2lU

[Pundita]

Speaking of song, I stumbled across a rendering of an old Iranian love song by the Iranian Balochi singer Rostam Mirlashari ("the prince of Balochi music") that melds eastern and western musical styles and instruments including Irish fiddling(!) and somehow comes out perfect.

"Laila O Laila"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAwJynFW64U

Click on the "CC" (subtitles/closed captions) button on the YouTube screen for the English translation of the charmingly old-fashioned lyrics. ("The parting of your hair is so clear and exquisite that my heart just melts to see it")

Mirlashari's 2013 performance was for the Coke Studio Pakistan television series (yes, Coca-Cola), which has been facilitating an incredibly syncretic musical revolution that's very much on display in "Laila O Laila."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rostam_Mirlashari
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coke_Studio_(Pakistan)

[FourthAndLong]

Two of my favorites:

March of Stalin's Artillery

https://youtu.be/ADcQKDjb0_o

Farewell to Slavianka

https://youtu.be/mwAGw92RHQc

Traditionally the second piece is played at the end of the Victory Day march in May on Red Square.

[FourthAndLong]

Can't leave off without including these;

Zhuravli, performed by Serebro

https://youtu.be/x8B3KKy0fQE

The Cliff, performed by Leonid Kharitonov and The Red Army Choir

https://youtu.be/0q2ijYcbuxc

[Clonal Antibody]

Colonel, This is slightly off-topic, but relevant to the way US engagements have been going since 2001. I wonder if you had come across the The Drone Papers and if so, what were your thoughts on those.

[Ishmael Zechariah]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mowe4ojo_iY

Ishmael Zechariah

[Ishmael Zechariah]

4th&long,
The original "Farewell to Slavianka" is a White Russian Song.
Ishmael Zechariah

[aleksandar]

This one is mine

Red Army Choir - A Partisan's song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LydK6FZTpPc

[Clonal Antibody]

Red Army Choir
The Red Army Choir MVD - FlashMob (Moscow Metro)
https://youtu.be/XoPzzAkGyLg

[FourthAndLong]

According to Wikipedia Kolchak indeed did make use of 'Farewell of Slavianka', but its origins were in the first Balkan War -- not even a Russian war per se, though many volunteered to fight against the Ottomans.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farewell_of_Slavianka

[Dubhaltach]

Juravli performed by St. Petersburg Boys Choir:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOz8H_RTevI

Chesnokov Op. 24-6 - "Let My Prayer Arise" (Psalm 141) "Ark" choir of Cathedral of the Redeemer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvHAqjODCcI

[Kerim]

Same for me

[Chris Chuba]

I'll add, "The Sacred War" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7JoOP3j83U

This was written in 1941 for obvious reasons. I found a rendition with english subtitles. It is very effective. I hunted it down after watching an Oliver North 'War Stories' episode.

If only the Germans knew what they were getting themselves into. They really thought that they would crush the Red Army on the border, mop them up in 8 weeks, and then drive into Moscow in a Mercedes and dictate terms. The Russians (and republics) were just getting warmed up. They were still calling up active reserves in the first 3 months.

Regarding "Laila O Laila. Rostam Mirlashari", I find it striking how Indian that sounds to me, I don't have exposure to Iranian music so either it is similar to Indian music or my ear is not trained to know the difference.

[Lev]

Though nearly forgotten in the West, "Coming In On A Wing And A Prayer" is still going strong in Russia. There are many versions, in many styles. Here are two of them, cleverly segued together. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifKowJbO0EE

[Babak Makkinejad]

They are being (Northern) Indian-ized; both in Afghanistan and in Pakistan.

This is more typical of popular music of Iran:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y8jbowd1ZE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5rsGfE3v_M&list=RD0y8jbowd1ZE&index=17

Good for parties...

[Paul Escobar]

Chris Chuba,

There is a significant middle-eastern influence on India's language & culture.

When Indians converse in Hindi, you will occasionally hear Arabic phrases & words interspersed. This is especially true in the sphere of religious conversation.

The influence is most obvious in popular Indian music. The Balochi song you cited, Laila O Laila, may sound "Indian" to you because evokes the "Qawwali" style of the popular South Asian singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was Pakistani by nationality, but his music was widely popular in India & appeared in countless Bollywood films.

Additionally, one of the great contemporary Indian musical composers, AR Rahman, has been personally influenced by Suffism. Consequently, he has done much to popularize that sound in the broader Indian culture.

Best,
Paul

[Babak Makkinejad]

That was the legacy of Mughals, they were enamored of the Persian Culture. There are many Indian poets who wrote thousands of lines of excellent Persian poetry who lived and died in India - speaking not Persian. Even today, in Punjab among the Sikhs, you can hear vestiges of that admiration for all things Persian; such as her cuisine.

When Iranians went into a prolonged state of what could only charitably be called slumber, their influence in the Sub-continent waned. I expect, for example, that Pashtuns will become indistinguishable from Punjabis in Pakistan.

The music is a good indicator of the extend to which Iranians' orientation - like that of Turks - is towards Europe and Pakistan's and India's inward. The Seljuk Lands are busy experimenting with foreign things and adopting them when they fit, while Arabs, Pakistanis, and Indians are largely inward bound - in my opinion.

[Paul Escobar]

Babak,

The Indians have been (and continue) doing the "experimenting, adopting, discarding" thing you describe in regards to Turkey.

I actually find the Turks & Indians to be very similar. They went through similar westernization processes under both Ataturk & Nehru. From which the neo-liberal & religious movements arose (and somewhat merged) in opposition.

In the end, the same irony will play out in both nations. They are coming to realize the dangers & limits of their reactionary fetishes. In their own ways, they will return to the sensible aspects of their pasts.

I believe a certain world leader has helped them in this process. But that is a discussion for another day.

Best,
Paul

[Norbert M Salamon]

an excellent version with English subtitles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7avPl6jB5w
I love it

[FourthAndLong]

Thank you. I remember that version fondly.

[FourthAndLong]

Yes. 'The Sacred War' is beyond awesome. 1941. Didn't take them much time.