What makes the FSU so interesting?

[SANDRO43]

I saw that video somewhere else

Here: http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=14538.msg292421#msg292421

[mendeleyev]

Today's edition of the Mendeleyev Journal explores culture, history, music, language and dance--what a combination!

In the Russian city of Сургут (Surgut), a town heavy in oil/gas exploration, it appeared that almost an entire apartment block had gathered for a celebration on 9 May (9 мая) the date for Victory Day celebrations across Eastern Europe.

They danced:




One of the enduring aspects of Russian and Eastern European culture is that kids don't seem to mind the generational gap in music or dance. It is not uncommon to find kids who can sing from memory many of the famous Russian folks songs dating back 100 years or more and old Soviet wartime songs.

When it comes to dance, Russian & Ukrainian kids can waltz or even jitterbug with the best of them. The video above of course is a Вальс as they pronounce it. There is no letter 'W' in the Cyrillic alphabet so a B (veh) is substituted and the word ends up being spoken as "Vahls" instead of Waltz.

One of the most popular wartime waltzes is Синий платочек (Blue Scarf) composed around 1939 by Jerzy Petersburskiy, a musician who had been born in Poland during the time that it was part of the Russian Empire. As for the lyrics, well, they seem to be all over the place. The war had not yet begun in 1939 but by 1942 the song was being performed to a popular poem that told the story of the initial Nazi bombing of Kyiv (Kiev) on 24 June 1941.

The lyrics have changed over the years but one of the most popular versions, if not the most popular, is the version performed in the next video by Сергей Лазарев и Юлия Савичева (Sergei Lazarev and Yulia Savicheva).




Синий платочек (Blue Scarf/Blue Kerchief)
 
 A plain blue kerchief was falling from drooping shoulders you promised me you won't forget to keep the blue kerchief.  One night we met, white nights, blue kerchief, sweet, dear and nice  The winter frost is over, The blue horizon is clear, The heart is warm, one can believe in summer, The spring caresses with its sunrays.  And again, in spring, under a green shady pine-tree The blue kerchief will show up in the night, sweet, dear and nice.  Do you remember the day we parted? You brought to the river Your farewell tenderness and a bunch of forget-me-nots Wrapped in your blue silk kerchief.  And many times I dreamt of your curls under the kerchief, and the blue sparks of your tender eyes.  For these dearest, wonderful eyes, and for the blue kerchief on a girl's shoulders The machine-gunner is shooting on and on.

Footnote: this is one of several versions of lyrics sung to this tune.
             

[erikmagenta]

Here: http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=14538.msg292421#msg292421

No, if you read the comments which I got from youtube which I posted on my prv two posts upthread here, you can see that I was "surfing" youtube, one of my favorite past times, and came accross that video, prior to reading the commentary by Mr. M. here and learning the true nature of the video.  Previously I had mistakenly thought that it was a pre-choreographed flash mob for Mr. Putin.

[mendeleyev]

A new series from the Mendeleyev Journal: The Faces of Russia

Introducing the Mendeleyev Journal feature "The Faces of Russia." Written and edited by the publisher and staff, we'll explore the people and cultures making up the populace of the Russian Federation.

Spread over 49% of Europe and 51% of Asia, Russia is the largest country in the world and covers over 1/6th of the earth's surface. As you can imagine there are diverse people & ethnic groups, cultures, religions and languages given such a large area.

Over 100 distinct languages are actively spoken in Russia today; 27 are given official status in their regions but Russian is the primary language for legal, commerce and educational purposes in every corner of the country.





99% of Russian citizens are considered to be literate, one of the highest in the world.

Russia is home to the longest running railway route in the world, the Trans Siberian, totaling 9,298 kilometers from Moscow to Vladivostok. The route continues on into China.




The Russian name for grandmother/elderly lady is Babushka.

[ML]

What is the best guess on the future year in which China will effectively control all of  current Russia from the east up to the Ural mountains.

One and a half billion vs 100,000.

[Faux Pas]

What is the best guess on the future year in which China will effectively control all of  current Russia from the east up to the Ural mountains.

One and a half billion vs 100,000.

WTF? Is this a legitimate question ML?

[Gator]

Over 100 distinct languages are actively spoken in Russia today; 27 are given official status in their regions but Russian is the primary language for legal, commerce and educational purposes in every corner of the country.

This is what surprised me as I spent more time in Russia.  Even though I am a world traveler, and have worked two yeras as a consultant with the UN, I had no idea about Russia's diversity.  It was even moreso as the monolith of the USSR. 
 
When visiting Moscow for the first time in 1987, I saw many different people.  Asian people, Caucasian people, etc.  You go to a sushi restaurant in Moscow and most of the staff is Asian and you think how can management afford to pay so many Asians to come to Moscow to give the restaurant an authentic look.  Then you learn that they are from eastern Russia.   Then you study this and realize that the Asian looking Russians are themselves divided into many disparate groups.
 
You date a woman with a Cossack father and you get to know their fascinating history.  You spend some time chatting with a Gypsy (cigan) man without getting your pocket picked and instead having your mind filled with new information of their long history.  You go for a Sunday drive in a car and stop in a Tatar village to buy a duck to cook.
 

[mendeleyev]

The Mendeleyev Journal's presentation of The Faces of Russia continues, part 2.


Russia's large geographical territory gives her a diverse climate and a broad mix of ethnic groups. The northern coastline borders on the Arctic Ocean bringing severe and long winters while the south of Russia is characterized by hot desert areas.

The southwest is rich in farm land growing wheat, barley, oats, potatoes and sunflowers. Many beautiful faces grow in Russia's southwest as well.


(The white birch is the national tree of Russia.)

According to the 2010 census, Russia is mostly an urban country and 74% of Russians live in urban areas – either towns or cities.  Moscow, the sixth largest city in the world with almost 12 million population is Russia's capital and largest city. Saint Petersburg, considered Russia's "northern Capital" is the second largest with over 4 million. There are ten other Russian cities with populations of more than a million people.

[SANDRO43]

The Russia's large geographical territory

Late last night I saw on our TV the 1948 Soviet film Michurin, directed by Alexander Dovzhenko, about the life of Russian agriculturalist Иван Владимирович Мичурин (1855-1935), who devoted most of his life to the hybridisation of fruit trees - apple trees in particular - in order to obtain varieties better adaptable to cold climates.

Michurin's bust in front of Moscow University

Do you know if his hybrids are still grown in Russia nowadays?

[ghost of moon goddess]

....
Do you know if his hybrids are still grown in Russia nowadays?

Sandro, the link below is not related to your question, sorry.
But I think it's worth a look for inquiring minds, (if you haven't been there already  )

http://lysvav.narod.ru/Files/Cook.pdf

(My granny - God rest her soul - grew  hybrid  lilies known as Fialkovaya Lilia in her garden, the hybrid lily's name (Violet Lily, in English) was chosen by Michurin because of the flowers' fragrance  resembling  that of violets.  Fialkovaya Lilia is mentioned in the article)

[SANDRO43]

http://lysvav.narod.ru/Files/Cook.pdf(My granny - God rest her soul - grew  hybrid  lilies known as Fialkovaya Lilia in her garden, the hybrid lily's name (Violet Lily, in English) was chosen by Michurin because of the flowers' fragrance  resembling  that of violets.  Fialkovaya Lilia is mentioned in the article)

GoMG, I could not find any mention of a Violet Lily or a Fialkovaya Lilia in that PDF. Anyway IINM, Michurin held Lysenko in very low esteem, if any at all .
 

[noelscot]

One of the things I find interesting about Russia is that there is a sort of atavistic resurgence going on with old folk music and pre-Christian traditions.
 
For instance, here the Moskva group, Arkona, plays a Siberian folk song, Zimushka:
 

 
Here are the lyrics in Russian from Arkona's web page:
 

Зимушка

Зимушка-Зима
Зима морозлива
Ох, не морози-ка Зима
Да-ли добра молодца

Не морозь Зима
Да добра молодца
Ой, как с мужом и-то жона
Да-ли не в ладу жила

Как с мужом жона
Да не в ладу жила
Ох, не в ладу она жила
Да-ли мужа извела

Не в ладу жила
Да мужа извела
Ох, извела она мужа
Да-ли в зелен сад свела

Извела мужа
Да в зелен сад свела
Ох, в зеленом, да во саду
Мужа, да повесила

Повесила мужа
Сама домой пошла
Ой, ко двору она пришла
Да-ли на скамью села

Ко двору пришла
Да на скамью села
Ой, на скамью она села
Да-ли горько заплакала

На скамью села
Горько заплакала
Ой, проклинала свою жизнь
Да-ли все за мужем жить

Проклинала жизнь
Да все за мужем жить
Ой, как с мужом и-то жона
Да ли в доме госпожа

Как с мужом жена
Да в доме госпожа
Ох, без мужа-ли то жона
Да-ли горька-сирота

Пойду в зелен сад
Да стану мужа звать
Ох, муж ты, муже ты мой муж
Да-ли ты голубчик мой

Уж-ты муж мой муж
Да, ты голубчик мой
Ох, ты голубчик мой
Да-ли мы пойдем домой

This is another version of the song, without instruments. Masha "Scream" Archipova is accompanied by other Slavic folk musicians from a band Vedan Kolod:
 

 
Vedan Kolod is part of this same resurgence of Russian culture and folk music. Here is their song, She-Wolf, and you can see the beauty of the landscape:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=RA7-vn6fMSk&NR=1
 
 
I saw Arkona perform in Atlanta, and I met the group. They are very talented and it was one of the best concerts that I've ever attended. Some of their music is probably not for everyone, but tastes differ. In the main, they are creating some great Russian music. I'll close the post with one of their best songs:
 

 
Lyrics:
 

Небо хмурое, тучи мрачные…
Небо хмурое, тучи мрачные
Что плывете вы надо мной?
Не терзайте душу девичью
Под холодною под луной
Что ж вы ветры шумите буйные
Тяжки думы навеяв мне?
Да поведайте о суженом
Что во чуждой во стороне
С ветром ставни мои открылись
Душу вмиг опалил огонь
Длань Стрибога всколыхнулась
Лист кровавый лег на ладонь
Ты прости меня, жизнь родимая
Ухожу я, кланяясь тебе
Вижу в небе образ я милого
Утопая в быстрой реке

 
 
 

[SANDRO43]

Vedan Kolod is part of this same resurgence of Russian culture and folk music. Here is their song, She-Wolf, and you can see the beauty of the landscape:

And a strange instrument, apparently called Scythian Horn, that sounds much like an Abo didgeridoo.

[noelscot]

I wrote of this atavistic resurgence of ancient Russian traditions in the post about the bands, Arkona and Vedan Kolod.

Many of the pre-Christian festivals and Russian culture underwent a pseudomorphosis during the Christianization of eastern Europe, but their true roots were never destroyed. (Pseudomorphosis is a term Oswald Spengler borrowed from geology to describe a culture that is stifled by a foreign one. An example would be Judeo-Christian morality being forced on many Europeans by Charlemagne, et al. You could read The Decline of the West for further detail. I actually read the unabridged version if you can believe it!) The festivals' true origins are being explored by artists such as Arkona. Below I have listed some of the seasonal festivals. You will note that the Orthodox church had little success erasing the true nature of these festivals.

These are some Slavic holidays:

(Spring) Maslenitsa- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslenitsa

(Summer) Kupala - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kupala

Eve of Kupala - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kupala_Night


Yarilo is prominently associated with Kupala, which you can read about here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jarilo


And if this song does not make you want to drink and dance, then nothing will:




(Winter) Kolyada - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koleda[/size]




Anyway, I find this stuff highly interesting.

[ghost of moon goddess]

GoMG, I could not find any mention of a Violet Lily or a Fialkovaya Lilia in that PDF.

Quoted from that PDF file:

"During the late spring and early summer of 1949 a full-length Russian technicolor film, "Love in Bloom,'' was shown In New York City, at the Stanley Theatre on 42d street, and later at neighborhood cinemas featuring foreign films. This incredible "documentary" gives the "life-history of Michurin," and is required seeing by all biologists...
It starts off with a stirring scene in Michurin's garden around 1890. Two pot-bellied capitalist American professors appear to tempt him with bags of gold and promises of great glory in the capitalist paradise across the seas. Michurin is almost seduced by this bait, but suddenly recovers his aplomb, waves a violet-scented lily before the startled Americans' noses, and spurns their nefarious temptings. He tells them his horticultural miracle is the product of a hybrid between a violet and a lily... "

Incidentally  , the right "documentary's" title is "Life in Bloom" and not "Love in Bloom" (error overlooked by the article's author  ?). Also, the movie has another,  well-known title - "Michurin" – just that "Michurin"  you, Sandro, watched the other day/night 

At the 7:01 minute mark Michurin starts to "introduce" his Violet Lily to the "two pot-bellied capitalist American professors" 

[mendeleyev]

Noelscott, thanks for sharing.

Many of these traditions I've seen observed over the years, primarily in the "Golden Ring" of Russia which makes sense as those towns and villages are among some of Russia's oldest settlements.

[mendeleyev]

Sunday was the 200th anniversary of Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812. He entered Russia with half a million soldiers and left after defeat with only a few thousand stragglers. Russians literally chased him out, killing his troops as what was left of his Grand Armee retreated.



(Battle of Borodino)

A family friend has a dacha in the small village where several Russian generals were buried from that time period. One of the graves is a stone coffin set off to the side on the floor of the village church. It is unmarked inside although signs outside the church identify the burials inside. One year we were there for the weekend and during the Sunday liturgy our eldest daughter was tired of standing and thought it a good idea to go sit and rest for a moment on the unmarked concrete / stone "box" on the floor in a corner.
 
Well you can imagine our chagrin when locals immediately rushed over and lifted her off the grave of Lieutenant-General Illarion Matveevich Kutuzov, father of the victorious General Mikhail Kutuzov from the war of 1812. The elder Kutuzov had served under Peter the Great and there was our gal resting quietly on top of his tomb.



The Triumphal Arch records the victory over the French as it stands on Victory Square, not far from the Poklonnaya Gora (Hill of Greeting), forming a united historical-memorial complex with the panorama museum "Battle of Borodino", the "Kutuzovskaya Izba" (Kutuzov's Hut) and the other monuments nearby.

Moscow's Victory Park is dedicated to a dual purpose: remembering the victory of 1812 and to stand forever as a memorial over the 1941-1945 Western European aggression from fascist Germany.



This is the hill where Napoleon sent messengers in to demand the key to the city. The Russians responded that if the key was that important, he should come and get it himself--and bring his best soldiers along because they weren't giving up the city without a fight. Their response so embarrassed the proud and proper Western European Napoleon that it fueled his desire to dynamite and burn Moscow later when he was forced to retreat.

Perhaps no language has impacted the Russian language as much as French. Many cognates are from the French language. One that comes to mind is "bistro" (быстро) the word for "quick/fast" in Russian. Legend has it that French soldiers during the occupation would sit in Russian cafes and yell "bistro" as in back home in France a fast/quick meal could be served at a Bistro versus a slower restaurant. Supposedly this is the origin for the meaning of "bistro" making it a "false cognate" because it doesn't mean cafe/bistro in Russian.
           

[Boethius]

I heard it the opposite way, that Russian soldiers in Paris used to yell "быстро, быстро, быстро" at French restaurateurs and civilians.

That seems to be discounted in an online dictionary of etymology:

bistro 1906, from Fr. bistro (1884), originally Parisian slang for "little wineshop or restaurant," of unknown origin. Commonly said to be from Russian bee-stra "quickly," picked up during the Allied occupation of Paris in 1815 after the defeat of Napoleon; but this, however quaint, is unlikely. Another guess is that it is from bistraud "a little shepherd," a word of the Poitou dialect, from biste "goat."


http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=bistro

 

[Eduard]

Glad to see you post about ethnic diversity of Russia, Jim. I remember starting a thread on this subject about 4 or 5 years ago when I first joined this forum, I wonder if it still exists?

[mendeleyev]

Boethius, thanks and you may be right. I listed it as legend because that is what I've heard repeated but could never confirm it as fact.


Ed, join in and please add (or correct) as I post about it. 

[mendeleyev]

Sandro, in regards to Иван Владимирович Мичурин, and it appears that his work is still taught as part of the standard studies in Russian schools: http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/ruwiki/71407

Thanks for mentioning him as his work on making apricots, plums and other fruit grow in Russia is still heralded. Here is a link to an old photo of his home and it appears that he lived and worked in the midst of nature. He learned much from his father and grandparents about growing plants.

According to Wikipedia, in 1913 he turned down an offer from the US Dept of Agriculture to move to America, however as Russia, America and most of Europe were allies then, he did share much of his work with scientists all over the world.

He was born on October 15 and 27 in 1855 and died on June 7, 1935.

More:

http://www.russia-ic.com/people/education_science/m/86/


   

[mendeleyev]

The Faces of Russia, part 3: The Mendeleyev Journal

Part 3 of the series "The Faces of Russia" comes compliments of the Moscow Times.

Ysyakh festivities celebrate nature's rebirth with dancing, sports and drinking of fermented mare's milk. More than 15,000 Sakha residents entered the Guinness Book of Records on Saturday, joining hands in the largest round dance ever recorded while celebrating the Yakut New Year.



In an event to open the Ysyakh national holiday in the Us Khatyn district of the Sakha republic, participants formed 36 circles and sang folks songs under the watchful eyes of Guinness Book of Records representative Jack Brockbank, Interfax reported.

Taking part in the osuokhai is meant to symbolize the unity of people and the orbit of the sun, while Ysyakh celebrates nature's rebirth with dancing, sports and drinking of fermented mare's milk.

[erikmagenta]

Mr. M,
this is definitely imo the best part of the forum right now--great stuff, and very interesting commentary by you.  do you mind saying which cities you have visited, and which would be your faves, for example you might recommend to me who has never been to Russia??  I am considering St. Petersburg, maybe Moscow.  The former Stalingrad I would like to see the war memorials there.

It's hard for me to imagine that Napoleon went there with 500,000 troops, and most of them perished.  Even harder to imagine that the Germans thought they would have any better luck.

[Hammer2722]

Just as an aside, Napoleon wasn't the one who burned Moscow. That deed was performed by the Russian incendiaries left behind in the city by Moscow's mayor with instructions to burn the city with the French still within. The French soldiers tried to contain the fires. Many of the firestarters were  later  caught and shot by the French.

[Boethius]

It was Kutuzov, a general, who gave the order.  The French walked into Moscow five days later.