Well done Herrarte for this great upload! I for one can never get enough Bortkiewicz.
Well, an 'orchestral' recording has turned up at last! I've got the synthesised version - originally on cassette but transferred to CD - by Bhagwan Thadani from many years ago. I would have bought more of his tapes at the time, as I thought his piano playing sounded very accomplished, but I couldn't get away with the synthesiser in lieu of a proper orchestra.
With hindsight, the man deserves a medal for being instrumental (no pun intended!) in helping to save such wonderful music as Bortkewiecz, Antonov, Cui et al from total obscurity.
Tks for the upload, which I hope to listen to with much pleasure shortly.
Best wishes
Richard
I would like to thank you Herrarte also for the upload. I am very fond of Bortkiewicz and like the Rhapsody a lot. I very much like the way he incorporates a quote from the Volga Boatmen into the rhapsody as the climax of the piece.
Thanks again.
Bhagwan Thadani was indeed a wonderful explorer of all things obscure but I'm not sure how accomplished a pianist he is. The recordings I heard (the concertos and rhapsodie and some Blumenfeld piano solos) were all midi recordings. Apart from the sound and the absolute rigid tempo (would you really play the octaves in Blumenfeld op17/12 like that?), there were mistakes in notes that notation programmes like Finale make unless you are very careful (in lots of pieces there are false relations where an accidental has been entered in one layer but not in another).
That said it was great to have a chance to hear these works at a time when no-one else was recording them.
Rob
Many thanks to you Herrarte! I have wanted to hear this "Borty" piece for years! Do you know if the Chernigiv ORchestra and Sukach have released other Borty works too again? In the past, they tended to come out in batches.... I can't find any kind of website for them...
I add my thanks, too, for this lovely download. Also thanks to Mathias and others for the other recent uploads. I just finished burning and cataloging about 50 CDs that I made this summer while in Colorado - most of them came from this site. Thank you, thank you, thank you 8) 8) 8)
I wish I were younger (who doesn't??) and had a little more energy. I have about 175 r2r tapes which contain things I'm sure would interest some here. If anyone is interested in seeing the list, I'd be happy to email a copy of the spreadsheet. But beware, there are over 1400 entries to plow through.
Jerry
There's that theme again! The initial theme of the Rhapsody is the same folk song used by Golovanov in the introduction of his Russian Overture and by Lalo as the rondo theme in the finale of his Concert Russe (3rd Violin Concerto). Does anybody know its name?
Quote from: JimL on Tuesday 06 November 2012, 14:31
There's that theme again! The initial theme of the Rhapsody is the same folk song used by Golovanov in the introduction of his Russian Overture and by Lalo as the rondo theme in the finale of his Concert Russe (3rd Violin Concerto). Does anybody know its name?
I think you must be referring to
The Song of the Volga Boatmen, which is used in many Russia-themed pieces. It's been recorded in various forms on many "Your Favourite Russian Music"-type compilations.
You can read about it here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_the_Volga_Boatmen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_of_the_Volga_Boatmen) - article says:
The "Song of the Volga Boatmen" (Russian: Эй, ухнем!) is a well-known traditional Russian song collected by Mily Balakirev, and published in his book of folk songs in 1866. It is a genuine shanty sung by burlaks, or barge-haulers, on the Volga River. Balakirev published it with only one verse (the first). The other two verses were added at a later date. The song inspired Ilya Repin's famous painting, Barge Haulers on the Volga, which depicts burlaks in Tsarist Russia.
The song was popularised by Feodor Chaliapin, and has been a favourite concert piece of bass singers ever since. Glenn Miller's jazz arrangement took the song to #1 in the US charts in 1941. Spanish composer Manuel De Falla wrote an arrangement of the song, which was published under the name Canto de los remeros del Volga (del cancionero musical ruso) in 1922.[2] He did so at the behest of diplomat Ricardo Baeza, who was working with the League of Nations to provide financial relief for the more than two million Russian refugees who had been displaced and imprisoned during World War I. All proceeds from the song's publication were donated to this effort.
Lyrics
Russian
Эй, ухнем!
Эй, ухнем!
Ещё разик, ещё да раз!
Эй, ухнем!
Эй, ухнем!
Ещё разик, ещё да раз!
Разовьём мы берёзу,
Разовьём мы кудряву!
Ай-да, да ай-да,
Aй-да, да ай-да,
Разовьём мы кудряву.
Мы по бережку идём,
Песню солнышку поём.
Ай-да, да ай-да,
Aй-да, да ай-да,
Песню солнышку поём.
Эй, эй, тяни канат сильней!
Песню солнышку поём.
Эй, ухнем!
Эй, ухнем!
Ещё разик, ещё да раз!
Эх ты, Волга, мать-река,
Широка и глубока,
Ай-да, да ай-да,
Aй-да, да ай-да,
Волга, Волга, мать-река
Эй, ухнем!
Эй, ухнем!
Ещё разик, ещё да раз!
Эй, ухнем!
Эй, ухнем!
Transliteration
Ey, ukhnem!
Ey, ukhnem!
Yeshcho razik, yeshcho da raz!
Ey, ukhnem!
Ey, ukhnem!
Yeshcho razik, yeshcho da raz!
Razovyom my beryozu,
Razovyom my kudryavu!
Ai-da, da ai-da,
Ai-da, da ai-da,
Razovyom my kudryavu.
My po berezhku idyom,
Pesnyu solnyshku poyom.
Ai-da, da ai-da,
Ai-da, da ai-da,
Pesnyu solnyshku poyom.
Ey, Ey, tyani kanat silney!
Pesnyu solnyshku poyom.
Ey, ukhnem!
Ey, ukhnem!
Yeshcho razik, yeshcho da raz!
Ekh, ty, Volga, mat'-reka,
Shiroka i gluboka,
Ai-da, da ai-da,
Ai-da, da ai-da,
Volga, Volga, mat'-reka
Ey, ukhnem!
Ey, ukhnem!
Yeshcho razik, yeshcho da raz!
Ey, ukhnem!
Ey, ukhnem!
(Poetic) English translation
Yo, heave ho!
Yo, heave ho!
Once more, once again, still once more
Yo, heave ho!
Yo, heave ho!
Once more, once again, still once more
Now we fell the stout birch tree,
Now we pull hard: one, two, three.
Ay-da, da, ay-da!
Ay-da, da, ay-da!
Now we pull hard: one, two, three.
As the barges float along,
To the sun we sing our song.
Ay-da, da, ay-da!
Ay-da, da, ay-da!
To the sun we sing our song.
Hey, hey, let's heave a-long the way
to the sun we sing our song
Yo, heave ho!
Yo, heave ho!
Once more, once again, still once more
Volga, Volga our pride,
Mighty stream so deep and wide.
Ay-da, da, ay-da!
Ay-da, da, ay-da!
Volga, Volga you're our pride.
Yo, heave ho!
Yo, heave ho!
Once more, once again, still once more
Yo, heave ho!
Yo, heave ho!
[edit]Modern popular culture
The catchy tune of The Song of the Volga Boatmen has led to its being used in many musical situations, particularly as background music, often with the theme of unremitting toil (or, alternatively, devotion to duty). Some uses, particularly those portending doom or despair, employ only the iconic four-note beginning; others go so far as to add new, often wryly humorous, lyrics, such as the "Birthday Dirge". Some of the uses acknowledge the tune's Russian heritage; very few use the original lyrics.
The song, or at least the tune, was popularized in the mid-20th Century through a jazz version played by the Glenn Miller Band. A translated vocal version was sung by Paul Robeson. The Boston Pops Orchestra conducted by Arthur Fiedler recorded the tune in New York City on June 30, 1937. The arranger was Glazounov. It was released by EMI on the HMV Records label as catalogue number B 9182.
It was recorded by jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal on his album Count 'Em 88 (Argo, 1956).
The tune was used as part of the theme song for the Fremantle Football Club Australian rules football team, albeit with different lyrics, until 2011.
The first three lines of the melody can be heard in the background of Billy Squier's 1981 song, The Stroke. They occur beginning at approximately 2:57 into the song as a synthesizer line.
It is often used in various classic cartoons (including Tom and Jerry and Bugs Bunny) whenever a character is hauling something from one place to another. The music normally goes from the main (usually the chase) theme which slows down as the character drags the weight, and then transforms into the Song of the Volga Boatmen, which stops as soon as the character gets rid of the weight, and then the music goes back to normal.[citation needed]
The song was also used in an episode of The Simpsons to punctuate a joke about Boris Yeltsin (specificially, his alcoholism).
An extract from the song was also used as part of Soda Popinski's fight introduction in the NES game Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!.
In The Three Stooges, Shemp sings this to the milkman when he is milking the cow when they are cavemen.
The Heavy, a large Russian man and one of the playable classes of the game Team Fortress 2, sometimes sings this song while pushing the bomb cart towards the objective, after winning a round, or after eating a Sandvich or Dalokohs Bar.
In the first Shrek movie, a group of gnome-like fairy tale creatures sings The Song of the Volga Boatmen with other lyrics as they are taken away in shackles.
On the SpongeBob episode "Employee of the Month", Squidward and SpongeBob try to upset each other with various traps and tricks as each races to the Krusty Krab to be early for work. The final "trap" the two lay on each other sees them both crawling while being tied to a massive boat and an anchor while a deeper, harsher instrumental of the chorus plays.
In the movie Lord of War starring Nicolas Cage, the song can be heard in the background in a scene featuring the vast Soviet arsenal of tanks, guns and helicopters.
The German band Scorpions sang it on the start of their DVD To Russia With Love And Other Savage Amusements.
In the Sid Meier's Civilization series, the song symbolizes the Russian civilization and two of its leaders: Peter the Great and Joseph Stalin.
Russian MMA Fighter Fedor Emelianenko uses a version of the song as his current walk out song.
The song was used in Shaun the Sheep animated series.
The song is featured in Mad Men episode 5.06 entitled Far Away Places. In the scene, Roger Sterling is hallucinating and imagines the song being played every time he uncorks a bottle of vodka.
The 1926 silent film THE VOLGA BOATMAN with Wm. Boyd, Elinor Fair and Julia Faye used the song as the theme in the accompanying music. How's that for trivia???
Jerry
That's not the tune I'm talking about. I'm talking about the beginning of the Rhapsody. I'll give an outline of it in A minor, so I don't have to spell out any flats: A-A-A-C--A-DED-C-A--. That theme. The tune rises, falls, rises then falls again. The Volga Boatmen's song, if I'm not mistaken was the one used by Napravnik in his Russian Fantasy. In A minor it would be: CAD-A---CAD--A---CAF-E-D-CAD-A---. If you have the Lalo Concert Russe, the folk song I'm referring to is the theme heard in the finale right after the slow introduction. While there may be some similarities in the shape of the two themes, why would both Golovanov and Bortkiewicz use Lalo's exact melody if it was just a variation on the Boatmen's song? The tune used by Lalo rises a third before falling back down to the tonic. I don't think it's a variation, I think it's an entirely different folk song. Any ideas?
Yes, Naprawnik used that theme in his Fantasie.
Bortkiewicz's Rhapsody recalled me also Caprice russe by Rubinstein. I have re-listened to it after years and still have impression that at the very beginning the second melody line of the Volga Boatmen song is echoed there.
Yes to all that, but the theme I'm talking about, I'm pretty sure, is another folk tune, and not the Volga Boatmen's Song!
Oh! Please don't rescue Cui, let him stay undisturbed where he is.
Giles,
I've now re-read my earlier post. I realise I shouldn't have lumped them all together under the same umbrella of wonderful music, as it was only the Bortkiewicz works that I had actually acquired. I only mentioned the others as 'lost' works because I'd read that Mr Thadani had researched and rescued them.
However, whether Cui et al deserved to be rescued/resurrected is surely a matter of personal taste. I'm not disputing your judgement about the quality (or lack of it) for Mr Cui et al. However, I would suggest that it is better to rescue 'bad' music than not to rescue 'good', since one man's quality judgements are another man's preferences. At least if a work is rescued, then we are free to make a choice about it. If it is lost (i.e. in score only) then only the privileged few can gain any sort of appreciation
Best wishes
Richard
PS I realise your own post might well have been with tongue in cheek - the above post was merely triggered by yours to suggest a line of thought in a slightly more serious vein
Meanwhile, back to Bortkiewicz...
Finally I downloaded the Rhapsody, op. 45 (see here (http://ingp0040.home.xs4all.nl/1828589.htm)). Just wonderful and 'very Bortkiewicz'. I'm very grateful to you, Herrarte. Many thanks!
I'm so glad to have finally heard this beautiful piece of music! If you haven't heard it, listen to his symphonic poem 'Othello' from the same orchestra. It's outstanding!
Quote from: cander49 on Friday 16 November 2012, 06:39
I'm so glad to have finally heard this beautiful piece of music! If you haven't heard it, listen to his symphonic poem 'Othello' from the same orchestra. It's outstanding!
Thought I should update this... I've listened to the rhapsody about 20 times now and it keeps getting better with each listen. This ought to be one of the "classics". How this, and his other works, aren't incredibly popular, is beyond me. I would say that this is among Bortkiewicz's best work, although in all fairness, I say that about almost everything I've heard from him. :)
I've asked this before, but no reply....but as Bortkiewicz is now a live topic again I will chance another go.
He wrote an opera, "The Acrobats" . This is always listed as lost or destroyed. My question is: is this known definitively to be the case, or is it a presumption. Has a serious in-depth search ever been made?
His music is so consistently wonderful, it would be great to hear his only opera...
After all those plaudits, I feel obliged to revisit my Bortkiewicz recordings! :)
I expect many people first encountered his music through the MCA CD of the marvellous first piano concerto, played by Marjorie Mitchell, coupled with the Britten piano concerto and the Indian Fantasy by Busoni. It was obviously assumed by MCA that the logic of this coupling would escape most buyers, as the sleeve note is careful to explain that (rather than simply sharing the initial letter B) Britten was "strongly influenced" by Busoni, while Bortkiewicz swore "allegiance to the musical tenets of Liszt and Busoni". I think that allegiance is plainly announced in the first movement of the Bortkiewicz, but I'm not sure about the Britten claim.
I wonder what comparing the concerto and the Rhapsody, written over 20 yeras later, says in terms of Bortkiewicz's musical development. Any thoughts?
Did his music develop much? And does it matter?
Quote from: Alan Howe on Tuesday 20 November 2012, 07:23
Did his music develop much? And does it matter?
Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter, it's just intellectual curiosity. But, I think it is interesting for several reasons.
It is instructive to see what effect, if any, his personal experiences during the intervening years had on his composing. The piano concerto appeared in 1913, at which time he was living in Berlin. With the outbreak of war he was initially under house arrest, being a 'Russian', and was obliged to leave Germany. He and his family travelled via Sweden and Finland and eventually settled in Kharkov. The war was not yet over, but now he faced the tribulations of the Russian revolution. It seems they moved to the family estate, but were quickly expelled by the communists; the communists were overrun by the White Army, and Bortkiewicz returned to find the estate devastated; no sooner had he returned than he was dispossessed once more, as the White Army was finally defeated by the communists. He watched his mother and brother-in-law died of typhus, but eventually escaped by steamer to Turkey, arriving – he says – with $20 to his name. Desperate to return to Europe, he and his arrived in Austria in 1922. There were numerous moves, and he eventually settled back in Berlin - but then came the economic collapse, deepening his poverty, and finally the rise of the Nazis. He was once again forced to leave Germany, settling in Vienna in 1935. The
Rhapsody was composed in that year. I think we can safely say that Bortkiewicz's outlook on life as a relatively young man in 1913 will have been seriously challenged by his experiences, and I can't imagine that this and his new circumstances are not reflected in his music.
I think it is also intriguing to consider the matter as part of a general attempt to understand the extent to which composers' compositional style changes during their lifetime. Clearly, there are many examples of dramatic change, especially for those
fin-de-siecle composers whom we tend to relish on UC, and whose lives bridged the old and new cultures. On the other hand, there are some composers whose style changed hardly at all, and who were largely unaffected by the iconoclasts and trendsetters of their day.
I am sure more expert listeners than myself will be able to say whether the
Rhapsody is, in any sense, a significant development/change from the
Concerto, or a reaffirmation of Bortkiewicz's musical preferences. My sense is that it is the latter, and that perhaps this accounts for the rhapsodic nature of the work, and the familiar theme to which the earlier posts alluded; they seem to me to be reaffirming his origins and his emotional and cultural links with his homeland – as if to say, "my identity is unchanged – I am who I am, despite all that has happened!"
I would be interested to know what others think! :)
I can see that I'm in the minority here but frankly, after listening to the Rhapsody several times, I find it rather monotonous. Perhaps its the nature of the folk type melodies that he employs. Maybe it's the quality of the recording. I'm just not in tune with this one.
Jerry
Nice work, but very influenced by Rachmaninov
Na, und? As the Germans would say....
QuoteHe wrote an opera, "The Acrobats" . This is always listed as lost or destroyed. My question is: is this known definitively to be the case, or is it a presumption. Has a serious in-depth search ever been made?
I think if you don't get an answer to this question you can safely assume that no-one on this forum knows the answer. I certainly don't, I'm afraid.
Quote from: giles.enders on Monday 12 November 2012, 11:16
Oh! Please don't rescue Cui, let him stay undisturbed where he is.
;D ;D ;D
Agreed, and this from a fan of his comrades, Borodin and Mussorgsky!
Undisturbed and Cui?
(http://s3.amazonaws.com/findagrave/photos/2001/222/cuicesar.jpg)
Just for you Giles... Cui's Grave in St Petersburg, Russia
BTW: Since the subject is Bortkiewicz, This might be useful:
Catalogue of Bortkiewicz Orchestral Compositions (http://gulabin.com/composers/pdf/SERGEI%20BORTKIEWICZ.pdf)
I quite disagree about Cui. The only two works of his I know, the Suite Concertante for violin and orchestra and the Overture to The Mandarin's Son, available right here on this forum, are delightful, if rather superficial works, that merit occasional outings, if not repertory status. And can anybody identify that folk-song that Borty uses right at the beginning of the Rhapsody? It is absolutely NOT the Volga Boatmen Song!
Can you tell us the time (minutes:seconds) when this tune starts and finishes? Then we will stop quoting the Volga Boatmen song at you!!
Re Cui - I only like his Orientale and it's only a couple of minutes long. But I still think recordings of his works should be encourages, who knows what may be found.... Was he actually popular in his own right in the 19th century or did he just ride on the coat-tails of Borodin, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov?
(Cui's Orientale is the 9th movement of his Kaleidoscope Suite Op.50, for violin and piano....and a great arrangement of it was made by Teicher and Ferrante for the movie Cleopatra (the Elizabeth Taylor one)
Just a quick reminder, please. Do pursue Cui's music, but start a new thread if you wish to do so. Thanks.
Quote from: Christopher on Friday 07 December 2012, 13:46
Can you tell us the time (minutes:seconds) when this tune starts and finishes? Then we will stop quoting the Volga Boatmen song at you!!
It's the first thing you hear! It was used as the rondo theme by Lalo in the finale of his
Concert Russe, and pops up in the slow introduction to Golovanov's
Russian Overture.
Also near the opening of Glazuonov's "Stenka Razin, Op 13"
Quote from: JimL on Friday 07 December 2012, 16:26
Quote from: Christopher on Friday 07 December 2012, 13:46
Can you tell us the time (minutes:seconds) when this tune starts and finishes? Then we will stop quoting the Volga Boatmen song at you!!
It's the first thing you hear! It was used as the rondo theme by Lalo in the finale of his Concert Russe, and pops up in the slow introduction to Golovanov's Russian Overture.
Um, the first thing one hears is a drum roll. You can't give a timing? Lalo also used the Volga Boatmen them, so we risk going round in circles....
The tune near the beginning of Stenka Razin is....the Volga Boatmen!
OK. The tune I'm talking about starts out @ :24. I don't know if there are two "Volga Boatmen's Songs", and that's one of them, but the only Volga Boatsmen's Song I know is the one heard right at the beginning of Napravnik's Fantasie Russe. There is no introduction in that, the orchestra just starts playing it, punctuated by piano chords. And it is definitely NOT the same tune as that used by Bortkiewicz (or Lalo). In fact, the Volga Boatsmen's Song isn't used by Lalo in his Concert Russe at all.
Hello Jim,
after your insisting in finding an answer to your quest, I've decided to join the search team
- this is what I could find so far based on your hint about Lalo's Concert Russe:
a citation from the booklet of its most recent recording from BIS
(http://www.eclassical.com/shop/17115/art4/4688204-a5a4e0-BIS-1890-SA_booklet.pdf (http://www.eclassical.com/shop/17115/art4/4688204-a5a4e0-BIS-1890-SA_booklet.pdf))
QuoteAn unusual feature of the second and fourth movements is that they use authentic
Russian melodies – two wedding songs from the collec tion One Hundred Russian Folk Songs, Op. 24,
by Nikolai Rimsky-Kor sakov, assembled in 1875–76 and published in 1877:
'The Bells of Novgorod' and 'The Bells Rang in the Village of Evlachevo'.
It is worth noting that some years later Igor Stravinsky, a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov's, also drew
upon this collection for a theme for his Firebird.
I hope this helps a little bit :-)
I'd be willing to bet the song is The Bells Rang in the Village of Evlachevo. Unfortunately, that's the only reference I can find. Let me see if I can look up something on Golovanov's Russian Overture.
Nope. There's more on Golovanov as a conductor than as a composer.
Dear all
Does anyone have the liner notes to the Marjorie Mitchell recording of Bortkiewicz Piano Concerto No 1 which they could let me have? Perhaps these are only back cover notes so it may not be a possibility - but anything on this recording (particularly on the Bortkiewicz) would be useful.
Best wishes
David
David, I have the Millennium Classics (re-mastered) CD of the Bortkiewicz piano concerto, coupled with Britten and Busoni. The liner notes are by Lothar Romer, in four languages. If this is what you are looking for, I am happy to e-mail a scan to you.
Dear Semloh
I would appreciate the liner notes very much - in English only if that makes things easier and it is not too much trouble for you. How do I go about it - do I send you my e-mail address or can you get it from this site?
Best wishes
David
I can e-mail it directly to you from here, David.... sometime tomorrow. It's no trouble at all. ;)
The folk song which opens the Russian Rhapsody and is used in the finale of Lalo's Concerto Russe is The Bells of Novogorod (Zvonili Zvovny v Novgorode).