Yuxin Ding Posted July 9, 2022 Share Posted July 9, 2022 (edited) 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Barnert Posted July 10, 2022 Share Posted July 10, 2022 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. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Wooff Posted July 10, 2022 Share Posted July 10, 2022 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' . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Barnert Posted July 10, 2022 Share Posted July 10, 2022 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yuxin Ding Posted July 10, 2022 Author Share Posted July 10, 2022 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yuxin Ding Posted July 10, 2022 Author Share Posted July 10, 2022 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrP Posted July 10, 2022 Share Posted July 10, 2022 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 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrP Posted July 10, 2022 Share Posted July 10, 2022 Correction to my sloppy typing "back to the 1870s" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jody Kruskal Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 What a cool genre I've never heard of. I like this example very much. Translation please? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fanie Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 (edited) 😏 Edited July 11, 2022 by Fanie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken_Coles Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 Please, let's stick to music and concertinas. Thanks. Ken 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malcolm clapp Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 (edited) 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.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yuxin Ding Posted July 11, 2022 Author Share Posted July 11, 2022 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jody Kruskal Posted July 11, 2022 Share Posted July 11, 2022 (edited) 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregor Markič Posted July 12, 2022 Share Posted July 12, 2022 (edited) 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Barnert Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 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). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wunks Posted July 13, 2022 Share Posted July 13, 2022 "Bang Bang LuLu" and some versions of "Cindy"come to mind. Play party and skip rope songs as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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