Table of contents:
- "Farewell of a Slav" was under an unspoken ban in the USSR
- Why was the popularly beloved march in disgrace for a long time?
Video: "Farewell of a Slav": Why the legendary march was banned in the USSR
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
For many, the melody of the song "Farewell to a Slav" is associated with Soviet times, since it sounds in almost every film about the Great Patriotic War. Not a single parade dedicated to the Great Victory is complete without it either … However, few people know that this was not always the case.
"Farewell of a Slav" was under an unspoken ban in the USSR
War films often show touching scenes of farewell to soldiers who go to war in echelons to the accompaniment of this song. The soul aches, tears welling up in my eyes and now you feel the full depth of the tragedy of what is happening, as if you yourself are standing on this platform. However, in any 1941, no soldiers were escorted to the front to the "Farewell of the Slav".
All this is nothing more than a beautiful and well-made myth. In fact, the march was banned in the USSR until the 1950s. The exact date when he returned to the masses is difficult to name. Some associate this event with the release of the film "The Cranes Are Flying" in 1957, in which they play a march while bidding farewell to the volunteers on the platform.
However, it is reliably known that already since 1955, trains to Moscow were sent from the Simferopol railway station for the "Slavic". So how and when was the ban on this work lifted? Of course, there were no official papers prohibiting the play of the march.
However, while Stalin was alive, every step of any Soviet citizen was under control. Of course, for mentioning or using a disgraced piece of music, punishment would be threatened. Therefore, they could dare to play and listen to him publicly only after the death of the leader during the Khrushchev thaw.
Why was the popularly beloved march in disgrace for a long time?
The highest Soviet leadership perceived the "Farewell of a Slav" woman as a White Guard march. And not unreasonably … During the Civil War, it was the song of the student battalion of the Volunteer Army and sounded like a march of the Siberian People's Army (since 1919 - Kolchak's army).
Could Soviet citizens then treat the work with adoration and reverence in the opinion of the party elite? Of course not, because ideological enemies used it as a musical banner. That is why for a long time the melody "Farewell of a Slav" fell silent in the minds, but not in the hearts of the common people.
The history of the creation of the masterpiece: why is it considered popular, who is the author of the music and words? The march "Farewell to the Slav" was written in October 1912 by the headquarters trumpeter of the 7th reserve cavalry regiment Vasily Agapkin, who studied at the Tambov School of Music without interrupting his service.
In the world of music, he will remain the author of "one piece", but what …! The success of the work, which is rather primitive in composition, can be explained by its patriotic and sensual melody, which turned out to be very appropriate in the light of the current events.
The fact is that there was an unprecedented patriotic upsurge in society at that time, caused by the liberation of the Balkans from the 500-year-old Ottoman yoke. The Slavic peoples were finally liberated by the Muslim conquerors and the alien religion they had imposed. Also this year the victory in the Patriotic War of 1812 was magnificently celebrated.
All this was reflected in the soul of the young trumpeter and poured into notes. First of all, Agapkin showed the music to his conductor, Milov. He marked the places that needed improvement and recommended that they be shown to Yakov Bogorad. He was a conductor and composer, quite well-known at that time, to whom Agapov went from Tambov to Simferopol.
It's hard to imagine what would have happened if he hadn't liked the march … But he liked it! Agapov's trumpet performance delighted the experienced musician. He helped to complete the composition compositionally, came up with a name for it and even released the first copies of notes in a circulation of 100 pieces in Simferopol.
Due to the simplicity and melodiousness of the march, words soon began to be imposed on it. This happened chaotically and on a massive scale, so it is no longer possible to reliably find out who owns the most popular variations. Because of this, the march is often referred to as a "people's march".
Initially, the most popular lyrics with which he was performed were "You helped us and fed us …", "On the uneven roads of Galicia." In modern processing, the text of Vladimir Lazarev “A moment of silence comes” is already recognized as a “canon version”.
For the first time, the march sounded on the parade ground in the fall of 1912, when the regiment of Vasily Agapov was inspected. In a matter of months, he gained unprecedented popularity. It was even performed in France, Germany, Austria, etc. When the First World War broke out, “The Farewell of a Slav” became a kind of anthem, personifying the farewell to the war of a Russian soldier.
The march was performed everywhere, and since 1915 the first gramophone records with its recording began to appear. Then, as already mentioned, the immortal march survived the revolution, was "tainted" by the love of the White Guards, but with the advent of the Khrushchev thaw, it was "rehabilitated" and deservedly ranked among a number of musical masterpieces. Now in Russia it is called the "Millennium March".
Interest today is aroused and debunking the legends about one of the most famous romances "Burn, burn, my star".
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