 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-04-22 21:27
Here's a perspective I hadn't heard of, on the first of Stravinsky's 3 Pieces. It's from a well-known Russian player and teacher, Vladimir Sololov, quoted in Igor Shakhman, "An Overview of the Development of Clarinet Performance in the Moscow Conservatory: With a Discussion of Exemplary Players," The Clarinet 31:1 (12/03, p. 74, 77):
The foundation of the piece is an old Russian folk song, "Ha-ay Uhnem," which was sing by the barge haulers on the river Volga during their hard labor. Just imagine how hard were the lives of those people. Every day they had to get up with the daybreak to haul on their shoulders enormous barges upstream using just ropes. Study the famous painting "Volga Barge Haulers" by Ilya Repin. Look at those people on the painting: look at their faces, look at their eyes, feel their despair, hopelessness and sorrow and you will know how to play this piece. You have to really feel it in order for the listener to understand what you are trying to say.
The painting is at http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.eng.abdn.ac.uk/~eng580/RM/19-v_2h_Repin1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.eng.abdn.ac.uk/~eng580/RM/2h_19th.htm&h=392&w=802&sz=49&tbnid=bxS23U_xF6UJ:&tbnh=69&tbnw=141&start=12&prev=/images%3Fq%3Drepin%2Bvolga%2Bbarge%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D.
Perhaps some who speaks Russian can supply a source for the folksong.
Ken Shaw
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Author: GBK
Date: 2005-04-22 21:59
I clearly remember the article you cited in The Clarinet but had not seen the painting which was mentioned by Sokolov.
Thanks for finding it...GBK
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Author: John O'Janpa
Date: 2005-04-22 22:29
I'm not Russian, but I think this is the folk song. Stravinsky's music sounds like variations on it. Notice the phonetic similarity of the Russian version to title in Ken's post. http://www.sca.org.au/bardic/vocal/songs/volga_song.htm
AKA Song of the Volga Boatmen. Originally very slow, low, and sad sounding.
Glen Miller had a much Jazzier version.
Post Edited (2005-04-22 22:38)
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Author: clarinetist04
Date: 2005-04-23 02:12
It's spelled (the translation was not done very well phonetically) "Ey Ukhnem" in English or "The Volga Boatmen's Song". I knew that Russian would come in handy one of these days!
It is VERY VERY similar to the Stravinsky. It is recorded on the "Red Army Chorus" CD on the NAXOS label. I would share, but that would be highly illegal.
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Author: William
Date: 2005-04-23 14:43
I can imagine all those men being clarinetists..................
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Author: Ken Shaw ★2017
Date: 2005-04-25 14:12
Ah, of course, the good old Vulgar Boatman. The first notes of the two pieces definitely match.
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