This is the last hymn of the Pannykhida (Memorial Service for the Reposed). It has only two words, Vechnaya Pamyat (“Eternal Memory”). An Orthodox choir from Moscow under the direction of Viktor Popov sings it in the traditional Russian setting. It can make the stones weep.
It is presented against a background of Russian memorials. I dedicate this to all fallen Orthodox warriors. May the Lord grant them eternal repose. We thank and honour them.
Rodina Slyshit was a popular song of the Soviet period. This recording has an interesting wrinkle to it. It starts off with a home recording of Dmitri Khvorostovsky as a boy singing this song accompanied by his father Aleksandr on the piano. Then, it segues into a contemporary recording of Mr Khvorostovsky with full orchestra. The song has a backdrop of “mood landscape” paintings by Pavel Osinyn.
The Death of Pushkin (Dmitri Belyukin, no date (1990s-2000s?))
My cyber-friend Mimi has just made a post mentioning Aleksandr Pushkin (1799-1837). She wishes me to give some links to sites concerning this great Russian poet. No problem! But, let’s take a second to give an overview of the man that most consider the greatest poet in the Russian language.
Pushkin is considered the founder of modern Russian literature, and he published his first poem at fifteen. There is a famous painting by Ilya Repin depicting him reciting his verses in front of Derzhavin, a famous poet of the age preceding him (it is posted below). Pushkin was a political liberal, and was often in trouble with the authorities. He is the one person most responsible for the founding of modern literary Russian, and his poems (such as The Bronze Horseman) are known by most Russians by heart. He died two days after being wounded in a duel.
To get a more detailed view of Pushkin, here are some links:
1. Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Pushkin
2. http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/puskin.htm
3. Pushkin’s Poems http://www.pushkins-poems.com/
4. The Pushkin Page http://falcon.jmu.edu/~pleckesg/Pushkin/
5. Pushkin Memorial Museum http://www.museum.ru/pushkin/pushe1.htm
Pushkin Reciting Poetry Before Old Derzhavin (Ilya Repin, 1911)
Here is the work referred to in the above article.
Going Hunting (Nikolai Sverchkov, 1860)
These fellows are going out to hunt for birds, not small game. One of the men obviously has a cased shotgun slung across his back, and the dogs are retrievers, not borzois. Also, they are not mounted individually, but are going out in a wagon. Hmm… I’ll wager that they shall stop at the lodge for the usual activities, though… I guarantee!
This is a beautiful and moving song from the Soviet era in honour of fallen veterans. It is elegiac, and it is one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. Dmitri Khvorostovsky sings it with the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and The Style of Five accompany him.
This video has photographs of women who served in combat during the Second Great Patriotic War. It is my tribute to their courage and determination. Today, some 92,000 women serve in the Russian forces… a proud tradition continues!
A Russian soldiers’ song of the 18th century accompanied by Russian patriotic paintings depicting that period. It is performed a capella by the Valaam Ensemble.
Portrait of Tsar St Nikolai, Tsaritsa St Aleksandra, and Grand Princess St Yelizaveta (Dmitri Belyukin, 1993)
As we saw in White Russia in Exile, Dmitri Belyukin is very interested in the theme of the White Guards. This work is in that mould. Tsaritsa St Aleksandra and Grand Princess St Yelizaveta were sisters, born in the minor German state of Hesse-Darmstadt. This picture is obviously set in the period before 1905, as the Tsaritsa became prematurely aged after the birth of Tsarevich St Aleksei due to the stress that his haemophilia placed upon her. In addition, at around the same time, St Yelizaveta lost her husband, Grand Prince Sergei Aleksandrovich, who was killed by a revolutionist assassin. After the period of mourning, she became a nun and founded the Martha and Mary Convent in Moscow.
In short, this is a painting of the short summer of the early years of Tsar St Nikolai’s reign. That is well symbolised in the summer clothing and the fact that the tsar is sitting in a outdoor wicker chair. The winter was approaching, only they did not know it yet…
