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Tchaikovsky's Children's Album is one of the most popular works in the world. Every pianist on the planet has probably played at least some pieces from this album. The album consists of 24 pieces, most of which are known, loved and, of course, played in every corner of the earth. However, among these beauties there is one ugly Cinderella that no one wants to play or listen to. This is "Russian Song" - №11. Even famous pianists avoid it and sometimes just "forget to play" it, performing only 23 pieces in concerts instead of 24.
However, it is impossible to avoid performing this piece if you are recording a record. If there are 24 songs on the cover, there should also be 24 songs on the disc.
At the St. Petersburg Conservatory in Russia, I was a student of the wonderful musician V. Nielsen And one day my teacher had to record on the record Tchaikovsky's Children's Album. He rented a house in the village, brought a grand piano there and began to prepare for the recording. It was a hot summer and the windows were always wide open. Therefore, the whole village heard the sounds of the children's album for many hours every day.
And, of course, my teacher worked a lot on "Russian Song". He still wanted to find a way of performing in which this song would not be so ugly. And his efforts resulted in the fact that the villagers once gathered near his house. At first they stood in silence, then they began to make noise, and then very offensive cries were heard. "How can you, professor, teach others when you yourself cannot play even our simple song?"
I must say that my teacher was very fond of talking with the common audience about music. And he often gave us examples of how a cloakroom attendant, a cleaning lady, a firefighter on stage, etc. made very apt, precise observations that can be very useful to any performer. And in that case, of course, he did not fail to take the opportunity to talk to the people. And he learned something very interesting from the villagers.
But before I tell you about it, I ask you to listen to my recording of this "Russian song". I play it exactly as my teacher taught me to play it. It is only a few seconds long. So I play it three times: slow, medium and fast. And I very much ask you to try to guess: what exactly in the performance of this song could have caused the anger and mass protest of the villagers?
I hope that you listened carefully to my recording, but did not find anything wrong with either the song or its performance. I think that many generations have sung and loved this song exactly as it sounds in my fast version. This is a typical dance folk song. No worse and no less beautiful than any other. So why is it that everyone, including the villagers, can not stand this song?
The trouble is that neither my teacher played it like that, nor all other pianists in the world play it like that. Instead, everyone plays the piece the way Tchaikovsky wrote it. He shifted the bar line in this piece one step earlier. And the song immediately turned into musical nonsense. If you strictly follow the notes exactly as they are written, then the Russian song sounds something like this:
No wonder that the villagers hated this disgusting music so much and could not stand it. It is absolutely normal for everyone who really loves music.
I can assume that Tchaikovsky made this vivisection for the sake of a completely false idea in my opinion that music should be as similar as possible to the spoken language. "I want the music to express the word directly," - composer Dargomyzhsky wrote.
But good singers don't sing colloquially, they sing music. And the stress in musical words is just as different from the stress in colloquial speech as our movements when swimming differ from movements when walking. A different environment requires a different kind of movements, different actions, a different way of pronouncing musical or colloquial words.
I want to urge all pianists, all musicians in the world to stop mocking this absolutely normal, beautiful, lovely folk song and play it the way our listeners used to sing it and to love it.
So you basically say that in this russian song all bar lines should be moved 1 beat, to the middle of the measures ? Or alternatively, that we should put the accent on the 2nd beat of each measure rather than the first?
Or do you want to shift the accent only in part of the measures? For instance not in the last 2? In some places, there are slurs from the first to the 2nd beat. Do you want to split these when "moving the bar line"?
Why do you take such a large break before the last 2 measures?
In the final version, at around 8:30, there is no pause before the final two measures.
However, after listening to all versions in Mr. Dounin's video, I don't see or hear why the first three versions (apart from difference in tempo) when compared with the last version, "this disgusting music," caused such "anger and mass protest."
Indeed, even the final version is so similar to the previously recorded versions in the video that I can't hear what all the fuss is about nor what the difference is that should make me appreciate more this "beautiful, lovely folk song."
I hope that eventually someone else will enlighten me.
It's not unlikely that Tchaikovsky "stylized" the piece. Moving the measures might be part of that. Changing harmonies also. Do you have a generally accepted "folk" version of this song, maybe multivocal or with other instruments to give some harmonies? That would help understand how russians like to think of this russian song.
>I hope that you listened carefully to my recording, but did not find anything wrong with either the song or its performance.
Well, you have the notes but imho it does not sing at all. You put accents where I would not put them nor see them in the notation. Yes it might match the "folk" version but I'd like to hear that version first.
However, after listening to all versions in Mr. Dounin's video, I don't see or hear why the first three versions (apart from difference in tempo) when compared with the last version, "this disgusting music," caused such "anger and mass protest."
I hope that eventually someone else will enlighten me.
Regards,
I cant enlighten you, but i think it is a nice and naive little story to present the topic. I doubt there was a mass of villagers gathering in front the window to protest against something so innocuous.
However, after listening to all versions in Mr. Dounin's video, I don't see or hear why the first three versions (apart from difference in tempo) when compared with the last version, "this disgusting music," caused such "anger and mass protest."
I hope that eventually someone else will enlighten me.
Regards,
I cant enlighten you, but i think it is a nice and naive little story to present the topic. I doubt there was a mass of villagers gathering in front the window to protest against something so innocuous.
I’m certain there wasn’t a mass of villagers, as well, based on the OPs history in posting other topics.
However, after listening to all versions in Mr. Dounin's video, I don't see or hear why the first three versions (apart from difference in tempo) when compared with the last version, "this disgusting music," caused such "anger and mass protest."
I hope that eventually someone else will enlighten me.
Regards,
My teacher was absolutely convinced by the villagers after they sang for him this song with the words: "Праздник на дворE завтра пЯтницА, голубЯтницА". It is possible to hear these words with the correct stresses on Google Translate (Unfortunately its lady speaks too fast). "Prazdnik na dvorE, zavtra pYAtnitsA, golubYAtnitsA". These stresses show clearly that the bar line is moved in a wrong way for the sake of the single word "prAzdnik". All the rest words are badly affected (probably, Tchaikovsky did not know the words and wrote down just the melody).
For everyone, who knows and sings this song, it is the same unbearable nonsense, like if somebody plays "O Sole Mio" with the stresses "osolE miO". Or "santA luciA" instead of "SAnta lucIa".
And if you are doomed to listen this bullshit for several hours every day, you will definitely join the protesters against this musical torture.
You are absolutely right: "we should put the accent on the 2nd beat of each measure rather than the first". Because only in this case all the stresses for the words:"Prazdnik na dvorE zavtra pYAtnitsA golubYAtnitsa" will be appropriate.
I do not believe any slurs (my teacher did not as well) because you never know: who exactly brought them here? For example, you will not find a single slur in the manuscript of Chopin's: Fantaisie-Impromptu In C-Sharp Minor, Op. 66. Chopin never put them there. However, you will not find an edition without 2 - 3!!! layers of absolutely unnecessary slurs. And if you will try to play a real legato in this piece then your audience will not hear your notes, they will be drown.
My large break before the last two bars is, of course, illegal. It is an obvious voluntarism. However, it is musically necessary to compensate the mentioned unfortunate shift in timing done by Tchaikovsky.
It's not unlikely that Tchaikovsky "stylized" the piece. Moving the measures might be part of that. Changing harmonies also. Do you have a generally accepted "folk" version of this song, maybe multivocal or with other instruments to give some harmonies? That would help understand how russians like to think of this russian song.
>I hope that you listened carefully to my recording, but did not find anything wrong with either the song or its performance.
Well, you have the notes but imho it does not sing at all. You put accents where I would not put them nor see them in the notation. Yes it might match the "folk" version but I'd like to hear that version first.
Yes, I agree with you that this song should be multivocal. This is a typical mass, choir song. I even tried to play an extension (repeat) of each line more close to females' voices after more energetic males at the beginning of each line. This song is a dance song, therefore legato would be not appropriate for this "music for heels". A clear rhythmical structure is much more important.
In the final version, at around 8:30, there is no pause before the final two measures.
However, after listening to all versions in Mr. Dounin's video, I don't see or hear why the first three versions (apart from difference in tempo) when compared with the last version, "this disgusting music," caused such "anger and mass protest."
Indeed, even the final version is so similar to the previously recorded versions in the video that I can't hear what all the fuss is about nor what the difference is that should make me appreciate more this "beautiful, lovely folk song."
I hope that eventually someone else will enlighten me.
Regards,
Imagine, please, that I am playing in the centre of Tallinn your anthem "Mu isamaa, mu õnn ja rõõm" with the stresses: "mU isAmaa, mU onn jA room". And I do it every day for many hours. How long I will wait for a mass protest of the Estonians, who are doomed to listen to this musical bullshit all days? Exactly the same happened to the villagers and they could not stand it.
In the final version the pause is not necessary because I play the original version of Tchaikovsky. However, this pause is necessary for a smooth ending when I modified Tchaikovsky version and played Folk version.
I cant enlighten you, but i think it is a nice and naive little story to present the topic. I doubt there was a mass of villagers gathering in front the window to protest against something so innocuous.[/quote]
Do you really think that singing or playing "god blEss americA" instead of "GOd bless amErica", or "don't cry fOr me argentinA" instead of "DOn't cry for mE argentIna" is innocuous and the audience will not protest against this musical atrocity?
For example, you will not find a single slur in the manuscript of Chopin's: Fantaisie-Impromptu In C-Sharp Minor, Op. 66. Chopin never put them there. However, you will not find an edition without 2 - 3!!! layers of absolutely unnecessary slurs. And if you will try to play a real legato in this piece then your audience will not hear your notes, they will be drown.
You should cross check this point; the slurs in Chopin are coming from his own autograph as you can see by yourself in any facsimile. There are plenty of phrasing slurs everywhere.
Regarding Tchaïkowsky, the slurs are also based on his own writing in his autograph, as any good modern edition will explain. You can also cross check by looking at the fac simile.
I cant enlighten you, but i think it is a nice and naive little story to present the topic. I doubt there was a mass of villagers gathering in front the window to protest against something so innocuous.
Do you really think that singing or playing "god blEss americA" instead of "GOd bless amErica", or "don't cry fOr me argentinA" instead of "DOn't cry for mE argentIna" is innocuous and the audience will not protest against this musical atrocity?[/quote]
I doubt you can produce any document that relates that tune to a particular actual folk song. In addition if you knew something about folk music, you would also know that similar melodic tunes were used for multiple songs with various words.
And there are tons of examples where the beat and the words accents dont fall together, so assuming that the musical accent should fall on the second beat just because there is a supposed song that would impose that is maybe true but there are so many unverified assumptions in there that no scholar would buy that as is.
As usual, all of that is not very serious. A nice story for kids. But if you believe that and want to play that song the way you like it, nothing wrong with me.
I cant enlighten you, but i think it is a nice and naive little story to present the topic. I doubt there was a mass of villagers gathering in front the window to protest against something so innocuous.
Do you really think that singing or playing "god blEss americA" instead of "GOd bless amErica", or "don't cry fOr me argentinA" instead of "DOn't cry for mE argentIna" is innocuous and the audience will not protest against this musical atrocity?
And there are tons of examples where the beat and the words accents dont fall together, so assuming that the musical accent should fall on the second beat just because there is a supposed song that would impose that is maybe true but there are so many unverified assumptions in there that no scholar would buy that as is.
As usual, all of that is not very serious. A nice story for kids. But if you believe that and want to play that song the way you like it, nothing wrong with me.[/quote]
You just repeated ( and confirmed in this way) my words on my Video that the stresses in musical words are different from the stresses in spoken (colloquial) languages. Therefore I disagree with Tchaikovsky's stresses.
I do not know your reasons to feel you yourself so great that a real story of my teacher who was highly respected by Richter, Sofronitsky, Golubovskaya, and many other great musicians is just "a nice story for kids"?
This is a link to my teacher's recording of the "Children Album". You can hear that he changed his way to play the "Russian Song" after this meeting with the villagers.
This is a link to my teacher's recording of the "Children Album". You can hear that he changed his way to play the "Russian Song" after this meeting with the villagers.