a r t i s t : Yury Shcherbakov
t i t l e : A Guy in a Cap (Cruel Romance series)
d a t e : 2009
l a b e l : Izba Records
g e n r e : Folklore
r l s. d a t e : 2009-11-21
t r a c k s : 16
b i t r a t e : VBR, 44.1Khz, Joint Stereo
s i z e : 97.19MB
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ôCruel Romanceö is the title of a famous feature film made in Russia in
1980-ies. The name of the genre itself usually implies strong feelings,
tragic love, insidious faithlessness, often û the death of the hero who is
opposed by the whole world, cruel and indifferentà The genre has urban
origin and is closely related with the written culture. Its roots, on one
hand, go down to folk ballads with their passions in their extreme form,
with deep moral conflicts resulting in the death of the hero. On the other
hand, the ôcruel romanceö continued the traditions of the ôrobbersö songs
dating back to the times of peoplesÆ uprisings. Another source of the
ôcruel romanceö was the literature: authors wrote sentimental romances
adored by young ladies at the end of the XVIIIth û beginning of the XIXth
centuries. Several decades later those stories were widespread in city
suburbs and in villages. This was the time when a new singing style
appeared: solo singing accompanied by musical instrument playing; in towns
it was a seven-string guitar, while in villages - all kinds of the Russian
accordion. Another name given to ôcruel romancesö by the people, is ôlife
songsö. In the XXth century, alongside with ôchastoushkiö, it became one of
the most topical layer of the Russian folklore. It continues to live even
in the situations where other genres of traditional music ceased to exist.
Dramatic events of contemporary history offer a lot of material for
creating new ôcruel romancesö: various social cataclisms, wars and
revolutions û all that ruins the course of everyday life. Stalin
repressions brought to life the so called ôjailö folklore. In the middle of
the XXth century a new genre appeared û ôinvalidö songs, sung by paupers in
trains. One of the consequences of the 1917 October Revolution and World
War II in Russia was a big number of ôorphantö songs describing the tragic
fates of children who had lost their parents. In the villages of todayÆs
Russia ôcruel romancesö occupy the same niche as soap operas û melodrama TV
serials. When examining their topics, one can find a lot of interesting
things, disclosing the peculiarities of the Russian national character. As
well as the traditional ballad, the ôcruel romanceö upholds moral norms and
rules of behaviour in the traditional community, doing it however ôfrom the
contraryö. In these texts love is regarded as the greatest misfortune, the
destructive force which breaks the manÆs fate, bringing him either to jail
or into the grave. Love is always a sin, it can never be happy, moreover,
it is dead dangerous, says the ôcruel romanceö. The antipode of the
insidious lover is ôthe old motherö û the model of truthfulness, loyalty,
forgiveness, the symbol of another love û high and eternal. So why do
Russian peasants and Cossacks keep on singing romances about the sailor who
brought a young girl to his ship, seduced and left her with a baby; about a
young prisoner who dies dreaming about his unfaithful sweetheart; about the
poor maiden who drowned herself because of her unhappy love? Maybe because
in the heart of every Russian there is insuperable and inexplicable fear of
passionate love, which cannot be resisted? In any case, if the Russian
people continue to defend and maintain traditional moral values, even in
such an unusual way, it means that these values are still meaningful even
in this complicated and not very moral epoch.
Ekaterina Dorokhova, Ethnomusicologist
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1. Deep in Taiga 3:23
2. Once There Lived a Couple in a Village 3:33
3. Sailors 4:43
4. Falling in Love with Katya 2:58
5. Winds over the Grove 3:57
6. Cornflowers 3:39
7. Nizhnechersk Big Jail 4:08
8. DonÆt Fall in Love with the Youth, Fellows 6:53
9. Alexandrov Central Jail 6:07
10. Poor Maiden 4:55
11. How Good that Night Was! 3:31
12. A Guy in a Cap with a Golden Tooth 3:10
13. I used to Have Big Money 2:08
14. Once in Early Spring 5:10
15. Not for Me 5:06
16. Marusya Boot-Legger 3:36