Imagine 13 musicians on a stage, each carrying a metal horn ranging from a few centimeters to two odd meters long, each playing only a single note of an entire composition, counting his time to step in and step out.
This is the Russian horn cappella from Saint Petersburg bringing back to life a long lost art of so called huntsmen (or Jäger) music – an 18th century invention making its way from forests to palaces on a propitious occasion.
Once dedicated field music primarily used by hunters has found favour with Queen Elizabeth, the fact inevitably has led to its high-society recognition in Russia. Horn music was often played on boats, making the solemn sound hovering far over the water in an idyllic way.
In the mid 19th century horn music become largely replaced with orchestral music and was nearly forgotten. Russian horn cappella appeared at the Preobrazheniye festival in Yaroslavl in Summer 2009. Some audible hiss comes from the stage PA system. All rights belong to their respective owners.
Recorded August 23rd, 2009
Published February 23rd, 2010 (3.7 mb).
An old gramophone at the local history museum suddenly syncing with a modern band rehearsing in the adjacent room. This gramophone part is Lisa and Polina duet from the Queen of Spades opera (1890) by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. No editing, mixing, etc. – they were just playing together. Recorded with built-in mics, headphones are not required.
Recorded December 28th, 2008
Published January 17th, 2010 (2 mb).
The song is making its way through heavy traffic. A dull night in Sergiyev Posad, and as the roads are getting damp the sound of cars passing by becomes even stronger. Two men are standing on the pavement, a stone wall next to the ATM machine serves as a table, a few bottles and some food are on. One of them is playing a guitar. The words are somewhat strange – the song recounts the process of making a shirt out of nettles. After some research that proved to be a 1983 Soviet film soundtrack.
Recorded November 11th, 2009.
Published December 20th, 2009 (3,8 mb).
One of largest jukeboxes from the glorious collection at the Music And Time museum in Yaroslavl. Owing to its relatively loud tone this German machine has been widely used at the public places such as hotel foyers, restaurants, etc.
Recorded August 28th, 2009.
Published December 16th, 2009 (1.1 mb).
Jazz lovers are invited to a tribute gig to Sergey Kozhukhar at the San Marino café this Thursday. The line up includes Andrey Kanunov (saxophone), Igor Ostrovsky (piano), Vitaly Bazelevsky (bass), Andrey Troyanovsky (double-bass) and – the chances are good – the guests. SK who has passed away in the 90s, played double-bass and was a well-known figure in the local jazz scene at the time. Here’s the recording made last year – two Andreys, Igor and Vitaly but sorry none of them featured in this photo – and this is the only picture I got from the 2008 SK tribute show (photo by Alexander Ghirlin). If you live in Sergiyev Posad or might happen to be here by any chance, a very warm welcome to you – Thurday, December the 17th, 7pm, San-Marino café (Karla Marksa ulitsa/street, 138/2).
Recorded December 18th, 2008
Published December 11th, 2009 (9.4 mb).
The first and yet the only politician in Sergiyev Posad to perform in public with an orchestra onstage. On that December night at the Gagarin Concert Hall Lord Mayor Anatoly Upyrev unexpectedly did a medley of a few Soviet-era tunes.
Recorded December 4th, 2008 with built-in mics, headphones are not required.
Published December 6th, 2009 (6 mb).
Three guys, one girl, a bucket and a pan – that’s what it takes to get the cracking band together! Street musicians are extremely rare in Sergiyev Posad, so I got twice as lucky coming across them and recording them at the spot called Blinnaya Gora (ahem… that’s Pancake Mountain in Russian).
Recorded May 10th, 2009 with built-in mics.
Published December 6th, 2009 (2.4 mb).
