Traditional Music From Russia

by Russkaya Muzyka

Overview

There's not a lot of Russian folk music available, especially CDs that feature polyphonic singing on peasant and Cossack songs from the country's southern regions. That alone would make this valuable. The fact that it's also very good is a bonus. With six voices -- three male and three female -- Russkaya Muzyka create a glorious sound that's pretty much all vocals, although "Zavidochka" is aptly called "couplets accompanied by music." They have not only songs, but dances, too, such as "Sukhotushka-Sukhota," but it's really the songs that catch the ear. They can mix things up a bit: for instance, just having a pair of male voices on the moving "Tumanushki" or the full-on, stirring opener; while the plaintive "Zarya" is positively an invitation to start on the vodka. The singing is superb throughout, full-blooded when needed but also capable of restraint and delicacy. The polyphony itself is spot-on and glorious, and the music is completely folky, with no concession to the mainstream (just listen to the drinking song "Oy, Toy Zily, Kto Pye Gorilku," with its very basic hurdy-gurdy and percussion accompaniment, for an example). But it stands tall on its own terms, a powerful testament of a tradition, a region, and a style. ~ Chris Nickson

Product Details

Release Date:	03/24/2009
Label:	Arc Music
UPC:	0743037220026
Rank:	152947

Tracks

1. Skuchnoye Vremya, Proydi Poskorey
2. Naigrysh Na Kaliukakh
3. Sukhotushka-Sukhota
4. Stchastlivaya Put-Dorozhka
5. Zhil Da Byl Malchonka
6. Muzhik Pashenku Pakhal
7. Mozhno Li, Mozhno
8. Shol Ya Yarom, Shol Ya Nizom
9. Proshai Zhizn, Radost Moya
10. Derevenka
11. Zavidochka
12. Vdol Po Piterskoy Dorozhke
13. Po Luzhochku Zelionomu
14. Tumanushki
15. Pozalyvala, Bratsy, Voda
16. Zarya
17. Oy, Toy Zliy, Kto Pye Gorilku
18. Po-Nad Lugom Shlyakh-Dorozhenka
19. Yablonka

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Russkaya Muzyka   Primary Artist
Vladimir Ivanov   Tambourine,Vocals,Hurdygurdy
Yulia Bovina   Vocals
Alexander Pereslegin   Vocals,Accordion,Tambourine
Ekaterina Dorokhova   Vocals
Vladimir Alekseev   Vocals
Tatiana Zimenkova   Vocals

Technical Credits

Vladimir Ivanov   Group Member
Diz Heller   Mastering,Liner Notes
Denis Bashlaev   Cover Photo
Rocio Garcia   Translation
Russkaya Muzyka   Liner Notes
Jeannine Blanpain   Translation
Alex Stokes   Cover Design
Ute Entwistle   Typesetting,Translation
Yulia Bovina   Group Member
Alexander Pereslegin   Group Member
Ekaterina Dorokhova   Group Member
Vladimir Alekseev   Group Member
Tatiana Zimenkova   Group Member