The treasury of Russian musical culture was always based itself on folk culture, which preserved the richness and originality of traditions, increasing the unique specimens of the instrumental, vocal and poetic artistic heritage, passing on from generation to generation the enduring permanent values. Today the peasant culture is disappearing, giving way to city culture. With the implementation of radio and television, the individuality of local musical style is becoming lost, entire traditions of song are disappearing into the past, and we are able to judge them only by indirect sources. At the same time access to audio recordings, made during the period of flourishing and full-blooded life of folk art frequently turns out to be difficult – most of them are presently located either in private collections or in closed archives. Many of the materials have still not been published up to the present day. Against the background of an arising interest towards Russian folklore, the release of an edition which is able to fill part of this gap could be viewed as very timely. This was the particular goal which the editors of the present anthology tried to achieve, preparing it for publication.
The anthology consists of two compact discs and includes specimens of song and instrumental musical numbers, recorded in various regions of Russia. This edition features a compilation of works of various genres, featuring both solo and ensemble performance: from the earliest peasant calendar songs to the products of late city culture. Widely represented are dance and round (“khorovod”) songs and instrumental tunes from all throughout Russia («The Crescent Moon Shines», «Sufferings», etc), and also rare recordings are presented of musical compositions from traditions of particular regions of the country («The Jackdaw Flew», tunes played on a Shepherd's Barabanka Pipe, brelka pipe and so on).
Special attention is deserved by the ensembles and solo singers in whose performance the songs and tunes are sounded out. Some of them are represented by authentic ensembles which gather together dwellers of the villages in which the song and instrumental culture of a particular region is concentrated. Their vocal manner is characterized, as a rule, by a bright individuality of timbre, recognizability and stylistic originality. Such are the vocal ensembles from villages of the Belgorod («Oh, Once It Was Near Our Hut», «Ho, Rise, Bright Sun»), Krasnodar region («The Road Over the Meadow»), the Trans-Baikal and the Southern Trans-Ural regions («Get Tired, Dunya», «Vanya was Combing His Curls»), buglers from Vladimir, and many others.
Of no less value are the recordings of professional and semi-professional folk music ensembles which work with authentic folk music material. Among the most well-known of these is the Ural State Folk Chorus, the Voronezh State Academic Folk Chorus and the Ensemble of Siberian Folk Song affiliated with the Novosibirsk Regional Center for Research and Methodology («I am Rolling and Marking Golden Rings», «Kamarinskaya», «Young Girl, Young Girl», «Liman Sufferings» etc).
The Ural Folk Chorus is an ensemble with a history exceeding 60 years, founded in 1943 by musicologist and collector of Russian folk songs, L.L Christiansen. A year prior to that People’s Artist of the USSR, composer K.I. Massalitinov founded the famous Voronezh Russian Folk Chorus, the recordings of which are also presented in the Anthology. The ensembles are active up to the present day in holding concerts and going on tours not only in Russia but also abroad. In addition to singing the folk music from their particular regions, the choruses also have an esteemed position in their repertoire for music of other vocal traditions, the experience of work with which deserves the most meticulous attention.
A high level of mastery characterizes the Ensemble of Siberian Folk Songs, founded in 1981 by folklorist and composer V.V. Asanov on the wave of the youth folklore movement. The ensemble focuses its artistic activities on materials from folk traditions from Western and Southern Siberia. The present edition includes songs from various regions of Russia sung by these two ensembles.
The greater part of musical compositions presented in this edition has long gone from the everyday life of villages, and is departing from the memories of bearers of these traditions. The Anthology presents a broad range of listeners to become familiar with the disappearing stratum of folk culture. This edition may be of interest to professional researchers and directors of folk ensembles, as well as all those who value Russian folk music and admire authentic performance.
