Russian with English Concertina

[Yuxin Ding]

To me the Russian musics are not bundle with any kinds of concertina, and they seem to be keen on bigger squeezeboxes more. But I've seen some scenes in film and television where they play concertinas, they're all English concertina along with a guitar, and it looks like they're telling jokes with the rhythm they play. I don't know what this form of performance is called, and maybe some of the squeezers in this forum can shed some light on it. Check out the two videos below.

 

(From "Seventeen Moments of Spring," 1973 television, dubbed and subtitled into Chinese. Obviously it's not a sound of concertina but from a larger instrument.)

 

(From "Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears," 1980 movie.)

Edited July 9, 2022 by LazyNetter

[David Barnert]

In the first one, it’s clear the guy holding the concertina is not actually playing it (his fingers are not moving). It’s harder to tell in the second one, but his body language suggests he might be a real concertina player.

[Geoff Wooff]

The  sound on the first  video  comes  from an  accordion  for  sure  but  the  second  one  is  definately from a very  well played  English  Concertina.  There is  some  tradition  of  English  concertina  playing  in Russia , and  some  very  fine  players  too, with  some  links to  comedy  or  clowns.    In France  there are  examples  of  similar  performances  on  English  Concertina  by  comedians  /   clowns   and  quite  an  amount  of  French influence  on  the  arts  in Russia  especially  pre  revolution.

 

Look  for  videos  of    'Grock'  and    'Raymond  Devos' .

[David Barnert]

The dialogue in the first one doesn’t sound like Russian. Could it be dubbed into Chinese? In that case, the music in the original soundtrack would probably also have been replaced.

[Yuxin Ding]

2 hours ago, David Barnert said:

The dialogue in the first one doesn’t sound like Russian. Could it be dubbed into Chinese? In that case, the music in the original soundtrack would probably also have been replaced.

 

Yes David, it was dubbed into Chinese as I mentioned in my post. I'm not sure if the music has been replaces or not because I can't find the original Russian version of this show. But I don't think to do anything with the soundtracks other than the dialogues is what the importers usually do.

[Yuxin Ding]

3 hours ago, Geoff Wooff said:

The  sound on the first  video  comes  from an  accordion  for  sure  but  the  second  one  is  definately from a very  well played  English  Concertina.  There is  some  tradition  of  English  concertina  playing  in Russia , and  some  very  fine  players  too, with  some  links to  comedy  or  clowns.    In France  there are  examples  of  similar  performances  on  English  Concertina  by  comedians  /   clowns   and  quite  an  amount  of  French influence  on  the  arts  in Russia  especially  pre  revolution.

 

Look  for  videos  of    'Grock'  and    'Raymond  Devos' .

 

Thank you for your reply Geoff! I was troubled with this for a really long time and I finally know how to find more performances like these. Although there is a tradition of playing English in Russia, it seems that there has never been an English concertina produced in Russia.

[CrP]

There's a musico-comedic, kind of vaudevillian tradition called "chastushki" ( частушки -- in English might be rendered as "ditties" or humourous/satirical rhyming couplets, quadruplets, poems). I believe it's unique to Russian culture, both folk culture and variety-show, stage-act mass culture. It can involve a single performer with musical instrument -- accordion, balalaika, guitar or concertina -- or a duo. The 2nd URL video link with the guitarist & concertina plater is typical. If you want to watch videos with other performers, simply type >> частушки << into a serch engine. This ref. to a Russian Wikipedia article gives a brief overview, dating the tradition back to the 1970s at least: https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Частушка

[CrP]

Correction to my sloppy typing "back to the 1870s"

[Jody Kruskal]

What a cool genre I've never heard of. I like this example very much. Translation please?

 

[Fanie]

 

😏

Edited July 11, 2022 by Fanie

[Ken_Coles]

Please, let's stick to music and concertinas. Thanks.

 

Ken

[malcolm clapp]

A Russian speaking friend recently suggested checking out Nikolay Bandurin , a modern Russian singer and concertinist in similar style.  I'm told that some of his verses are a bit risque (maybe think Benny Hill), while others are comments on current affairs, but apparently nothing sufficiently controversial to get him a long engagement in Siberia ....
Quite a few YouTube clips and Google references; well worth a look.  I just wish that Google translate was a bit more helpful on the YouTube clips.

 

(Sorry about the font; my laptop seems to have gone psycho)

Edited July 11, 2022 by malcolm clapp
Font problems....

[Yuxin Ding]

26 minutes ago, malcolm clapp said:

A Russian speaking friend recently suggested checking out Nikolay Bandurin , a modern Russian singer and concertinist in similar style.  I'm told that some of his verses are a bit risque (maybe think Benny Hill), while others are comments on current affairs, but apparently nothing sufficiently controversial to get him a long engagement in Siberia ....
Quite a few YouTube clips and Google references; well worth a look.  I just wish that Google translate was a bit more helpful on the YouTube clips.

 

(Sorry about the font; my laptop seems to have gone psycho)

 

Thank you for your reply Malcom, and please say spasibo to your friend for me also. 

 

I noticed there is a universal melody that used in some of the similar performances (in my second movie clip, and some of Nikolay Bandurin's Youtube Shorts,) which is really an interesting fixed form of playing.

[Jody Kruskal]

 

No concertinas, but here are a few Chastushki, translated by google:

 

"Our Masha got sick,

wanted milk

didn't get hit by a cow

but got hit by a bull." 

 

And at the Kiev railway station

The ceiling is broken.

They say there the Omsk choir

Quietly sang.

 

I had a cute real crocodile,

How it opens its mouth I'm afraid to go there!

 

The money flew by. Autumn has come.

My darling got married and the ring broke.

 

I loved the Lieutenant

And then the political officer

And then higher, higher

Got to the shepherd.

 

Baba Manya and grandfather Vanya took a long bath in the bathhouse, 

the bathhouse was shaking, apparently they had not grown old.

CHASTUSHKI IN ENGLISH

 

Edited July 12, 2022 by Jody Kruskal
Edited to remove puerile content.

[Gregor Markič]

This reminds me a lot of the famous Slavonic BEČARAC (Unesco world heritage). Humorous verses, often sexual allusions.

 

Edited July 12, 2022 by Gregor Markič

[David Barnert]

This is not too different a tradition from what we used to sing in English when I was a kid in the 1960s in suburban New York. Hey, Lolly Lolly, Lo (they spell it differently in the video, but it’s the song I grew up with and I’m sticking to it).

[wunks]

"Bang Bang LuLu" and some versions of "Cindy"come to mind.  Play party and skip rope songs as well.