Russian Classical Music

feylya · 06-10-2003 5:20pm #1

OK, I hope someone can help me out here. I've been trying to find a song/songs for years but I've no idea of the name. Basically, it sounds like a male choir singing in Russian, very dark sounding, almost Carmina Furana-esque. Does anyone know the name of the composer or the song?

dod · 06-10-2003 5:36pm

Where to start?

There are six really recognised russian opera composers who would have choral pieces that would be known in the popular music repetoire. The two mainstream ones are Mussorgsky (Boris Godunov) and Tchaikovsky (Eugene Onegin & Queen of Spades), the other four are Balakirev, Borodin, Cui, Musorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov.

Although, if it is just deep bass voices that marks it out as 'Russian', it's possible that it could be a chorus from one of the Wagner operas?

feylya · 06-10-2003 5:56pm

It's very prominent in films, especially in submarine films like The Hunt for Red October (I think)

dod · 06-10-2003 10:47pm

OK excuse my ignorance because I know absolutely nothing about films. I did see The Hunt for Red October, but I don't know it well. Is it from the Poledouris (link to a 30 sec. excerpt from the Hunt for.. Hymn theme) soundtrack, in which case it is his original work, or is it from another composer?

(I've just seen that you can sample most of the soundtrack from this film here )

feylya · 06-10-2003 11:24pm

It's kinda like Poledouris but it's deeper, darker than that clip. It's very hard to explain but like I've said I've wanted it for years. My house mate had it but doesn't know the name of it and can't get it back.

beardedchicken · 07-10-2003 8:07pm

i actually think i know the one you're trying to describe, but i don't actually know the title. is there a sequence of tightly harmonied humming in the one you're looking for? if it's the one i'm thinking of, i'll try and figure out what it is....
this is going to bug me now!!

feylya · 07-10-2003 8:08pm

beardedchicken, I think there is some humming alright. Now you know how it's been driving me mad!

sceptre · 24-10-2003 2:09am

Originally posted by feylya
It's very prominent in films, especially in submarine films like The Hunt for Red October (I think)

I'm going to bet it's the old Soviet National anthem. I don't know if it's in Hunt for Red October but it probably is in there somewhere. Dunno if the Russians kept it on (they should have, it's a wonderful piece of music).

I've a version if it on mp3 somewhere that has the male choir, fairly dark sounding (but pretty rousing all the same). I wouldn't say it's like Oh Fortuna from Carmina burana myself but they're not totally different. Have a poke for "soviet national anthem" and "russian red army choir" (who didn the best version I've heard) on any filesharing yokemibob (or on the web in general) and see if it's what you're looking for. Should be relatively easy to get on CD if it is. Music was written by A.V. Aleksandrov. If it's not that track, I'm pretty sure Naxos released a Red Army choir album at some point so I'll find details if it's something else (if it's something sung by submariners that wasn't specifically written for the movie it's bound to be on that album).

Éomer of Rohan · 01-11-2003 9:28pm

The Soviet National Anthem is not very dark believe me - actually it is even more uplifting than the Hunt for Red October theme (and I know both very well, being able to sing the old Soviet National Anthem and having the OST of Red October.

sceptre · 07-11-2003 12:37am

Originally posted by Éomer of Rohan
The Soviet National Anthem is not very dark believe me - actually it is even more uplifting than the Hunt for Red October theme

yeah, you're right - I went and found my copy the other night. I felt like banging cymbals after. Obviously in the same way I've always thought Lou Reed's Perfect Day was sarcastic (a topic for another forum), I just remembered it as being dark (and uplifting at the same time:)) in my own imagination.

Éomer of Rohan · 07-11-2003 9:42am

I actually have the Red Army Choir Album that you were mentioning earlier - and I have to say that Kalinka is also an excellent piece - a Red Army folk song.

Mantella · 21-12-2004 2:35am

At least two songs in Hunt for Red October were performed by none other than the Red Army Chorus. One of these is Soyuz Nyerushimy [the soviet anthem], the other is the Russian Navy Hymn, one of my favorite songs. 'm not sure of the composers, but many of the songs performed by the RAC are traditional, with soviet political lyrics. Kalinka is very much traditional. Uy Ukhnem is another good one [song of the volga boatmen/barge haulers, etc]. Some of these songs were obviously influenced by the russian great classical composers, or vice versa, as similarities are obvious in Tchaikovsky, and I'd be very surprised if John Williams [Star Wars] wasn't also highly influenced by these. I should have many of these in wav or mp3 format.

feylya · 21-12-2004 11:28am

Even though this thread is over a year old.... I found out it's Mozart's Requiem.

An Fear Aniar · 24-12-2004 4:46pm

feylya wrote:

Even though this thread is over a year old.... I found out it's Mozart's Requiem.

You can listen to snatches of it here:

http://www.iclassics.com/productDetail?selectionId=1276

or here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00004Z1AI/102-1531828-9976917?v=glance&vi=samples

The bit you have in mind is probably right at the beginning, the Introitus.

michaelknight · 11-01-2005 8:22pm

Or possibly the Confutatis?

emilita · 19-03-2009 8:29pm

when I was younger, I would play the original Russian Tetis (the Soviet Challenge) This is about 1990...on a mac. Anyway, each level had a different Russian folk song or classical music, one of which was Korobeiniki (the famous tetris theme) but it's the others that interest me. Anyone know where I can find out the others? The one I've had stuck in my head for 18 years starts out very dark and foreboding...

nick12345 · 31-07-2010 12:46pm

i think the tune u are thinking of is by Vangelis... the theme to "conquest of paradise".. sounds a bit like a red army hymn but i think is probably latin

larchtree · 23-02-2011 9:58pm

The name of the song is Conquest of paradise.

Happy listening

The Mad Hatter · 24-02-2011 1:05pm

Has this thread got a one-post-a-year minimum quota or something?

btw, welcome to the forum, larchtree.

Sinfonia · 24-02-2011 3:22pm

Well let's keep it going then!

Recently heard Stravinsky's L'Oiseau de Feu (The Firebird) for the first time. I was familiar with the two other ballets that he wrote around the same time, Petrushka and The Rite of Spring, as well as some other pieces, but for some reason had never got around to the Firebird. It's basically the ballet that launched him into international acclaim, and it's wonderful.. Recommended listening for anyone currently looking for something

Russian Classical Music

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