JINGLE BELLS. Russian romance БУБЕНЦЫ. .

This is an old russian romance ( - ). The vinill record from the concert in 1981. The pictures are not mine except of 4 ones. Old Russian romances born in the end of the 18 th & the beginning of the 19 th centuries still adorn the concert programmes of the singers of today. They are appreciated for their melodiousness, emotionality & sincerity which always find their way to people’s hearts. A great in the development & formation of old Russian romances was played by Russian folk songs & gipsy romances, which were very popular in the beginning of the 19 th century. Many Russian composers have greatly contributed to this vocal form. Teplov, Kozlovsky, Zhilin - were the first composers in this genre, among the later ones - Alabiev, Varlamov, Gurilev, Bulachov & others can be named. The subject & theme of old romances - written mostly by classical poets - determined the originality of this musical form. Romances-elegies & romances-monologues are prevalent here. Shtokolov’s love for russian songs led him to establishing artistic contacts with the Andreyev Russian Folk Orchestra of the Leningrad TV & Radio, called by its founder . “...a kind of representative of the Russian folk art“. Painstaking artistic search resulted in their joint concert programmes, which include such an affectionate, beautiful and pure song as “Maiden’s room“, “Evening Bells“, full of philosiphical pondering, or buojant and cheeful “Ah, Nastasia“, “My Sweetheart Lives in a Tower“, “Down the Peterskaya Street“, “Peddlars“. And it becomes clear that only Russian music could inspire Shtokolov’s original talent. Folk songs helped the artist to discover his possibilities, to find his own eloquent intonations, appealing to the heart of the listeners, to understand his artistic disposition. The power of his genuine talent, his efforts to achieve pure & noble goals & proclaim real beauty of human emotions have levelled these musical miniatures with poetic eloquence, brought them closer to lyric folk songs. In this synthesis of an old romance & a folk song one feels spirituality of music, it’s sincerity & warmhartedness which appeal to the most delicate feelings of the russian soul. When Shtokolov sings such old romances as “Only ones“, “Coachman, Spare the Horses“, “The Sleigh-Bells“ (the Bells), “Listen, if You Like“, “Black Eyes“ or romances by Sheremetiev, Varlamov, Abaza, Shishkin, Prozorovsky, &, of course, “Burn, My Star“, now identifited with the singer’s name we feel the intantion, as hi himself put it “to get rid of everything non-refind & somewhat vulgar and thus elevate each romance and make it beautiful, realy truthful, noble and poetic“ This album contains also several recordings of the old russian romances which Shtokolov sings to the accompaniment of (piano) & (cello), with whom the singer had been working for about a decade. Russian songs & romances performed by the singer with the orchestra, were recorded live in Moscow on September, 18, 1981. At that concert Shtokolov presented one of the programmes, for which he has been awarded the USSR State Prize. The heart is seemed to awake in fright I felt sorry for my experience Let the horses with the flowing mane Whirl me away by the sounds of bells Chorus: I hear the ringing of bells from afar I know somebody is driving in the coach-and-three Sparkling snow spread widely around And we have had white blanket of snow Let the coachman start singing The wind will sing along with him What has passed – will never come again So why, why should you grieve! Jingle bells can bring back the memory of What was forgotten My Russian soul is worried My Russian laziness is shaken up