Folk-Lore/Volume 23/Modern Russian Popular Songs
Former collectors of Russian folk-songs have already laid stress on the fact that the old songs are gradually losing their character, and indeed passing into oblivion. Recent observers have frequently dwelt on the general impoverishment, and indeed on the actual decline, of the ancient poetical creative faculty, of which the products have been ousted by poetry of the modern school.
The old poetry might have been expected to survive, if anywhere, in the northern districts of Russia, thanks to their special historical and cultural conditions, yet even there the ancient folk-songs which formed the delight of our ancestors are suffering decay and threaten to disappear. This is what an observer, Mr. Istomin, wrote in the preface to Songs of the Russian People collected in the Governments of Olonetz and Archangel in 1886:—"Judging partly by the materials we have collected, and more particularly by my personal impressions from the intercourse with the inhabitants of the countries which we have visited, we cannot but arrive at the depressing conclusion that in modern times, in nearly all the districts visited by us, popular songs are being forgotten. The modern youth among the peasantry, even in those remote districts, begin to look coldly on the old folk-songs, and this is particularly true of the younger generation." Similar evidence is given by a traveller, Mr. V. X., in his volume In the North: Impressions of the Road (1890):—"The youth of the country, when requested to sing, commonly respond by exhibiting their knowledge of the latest songs, such as you find in the collections offered for sale at the cheap bookstalls, and they can hardly be persuaded to sing the old songs." If then the remote North is thus gradually dismissing from its memory the ancient poetry, how can we expect this poetry to be preserved in Central Russia with all the distractions of its noisy and ebullient life? And indeed the evidence of the decay and disappearance of the old popular songs in the localities not far remote from the centres of culture is most complete and decisive; this evidence comes from several inquirers into the popular life, and sometimes from the people themselves, who are sadly conscious that the old poetry of Russia is dying out.
Nor is it merely in Great Russia that the weakening of the ancient poetical tradition is to be observed as manifested in the neglect of folk-songs. The poetical Little Russia, too, is forgetting her beautiful old songs, and is anxious to adopt those of more modern date. As to the growing distaste for Little Russian poetry, Prof. Sumtsov bears testimony:—"Pandura-players are a thing of the past; harpers are entirely disappearing; historical songs have passed out of memory; Christmas and New Year songs are degenerating into tedious and flabby liturgical verses; songs of springtime and weddings into improvisations on light love-themes."
In fact the ancient poetry, as civilisation develops, undergoes various transformations and corruptions decomposing its integrity, both in regard to subject-matter and to form. Under the pressure of new ideas and changes in the life of the people the themes of the songs change in details, and new poetical symbols and images replace the old.
On the other hand, besides "the general decline of popular poetry," says Professor Potebnia, "at the lower Modern Russian PopiLlar Songs. 429
stages of musical and poetical understanding the song is cut up and then sewn together from fragments ; is, as it were, crumpled. This is the result to a large extent of the absence of a strong idea of unity in the story, and the dividing up of the song into strophes and images. Some- times there is a unity of tune and metre which serves as the basis of association for the various parts ; sometimes the song is put together simply because of the similarity in the metre of the various parts." Thus the popular song in its internal development is passing through a series of processes tending to make it less of a single intact song, and leading to its decline and disintegration.
Attached to and moving with the changing history of the people, different forms of the poetical traditions of antiquity exhibit, however, a different measure of stability and power to survive and to develop further. Far different is the fate of the Epics and of the Ceremonial Songs. The singing of the Bylhiy (sagas) was long since discontinued among the people in general, though it was and still is maintained in remote places of the country, particularly in the Northern districts of Russia, owing to their special historical condi- tions, while the Ceremonial Songs are maintained up to the present time, thanks to the maintenance of the ceremonies themselves, the conservatism of which has found its expres- sion in the popular proverb, — "We established it not, nor shall we change it." However, even in this ceremonial poetry a certain decay of the old poetical talent is manifest. As popular life has become more varied, the ceremonial poetry has indeed survived, but not in its integrity and completeness. Many of these songs are divorced from the ceremonies to which they properly belong ; some are con- fused with others alien to them. Yet, generally speaking, the ceremonial poetry has not become completely obsolete, it has not entirely perished, and songs of spring, of Christmas- tide, of the harvest festivals, etc., still are to be found in localities where the ancient ceremonies are maintained and celebrated. It is also interesting to notice that some old Byliny and historical songs are adapted in several parts of the country to ceremonies and games. In wedding songs, connected with numerous ceremonies, the ancient poetical creative faculty exhibits great force and lucidity. In collections of folk-songs the section of wedding songs is one of the richest. Up to the present time the wedding ceremonial poetry supplies in itself a deep, clear, and fresh source of highly poetical images and lucid expressions of the people's tastes, emotions, and aspirations. So mutually supporting each other, ceremonies and songs connected with them found conditions strongly favourable to their survival in the people's conservatism, which jealously guards old ritual traditions.
The assertion of the decadence of the ancient poetry in Russia, made by several observers, is particularly true in regard to the lyrical songs about the moments and events of the daily life of the people. They are more sensitive to historical changes than the ritual songs, and suffer corruptions and die out with the decline of the old social environment, with the influx of new phenomena and impressions into the national life. As to the gradual disappearance of choruses and dancing songs, it is easily explained by the introduction of new plays and dances among the Russian peasantry. Lastly, historical songs are usually dismissed from memory with those historical events which have brought them forth. The historical events of recent times have found but little expression in song, which also points to the fact that the popular poetical genius is being exhausted.
From what has been said above, the present state of the popular repertory may be marked as that of transition: some sections of the old folk-songs are in a state of gradual decadence, while others have been forgotten and died out, but a pretty large store of the old songs has still survived and continues to live along with newer songs. The latter fact is also emphasised by the people who are engaged in Modern Russian Popular Songs. 431
collecting and studying Russian folklore. But the old poetry is more and more on the wane ; it is being super- seded by the new songs which give expression to the tendencies and moods of a new time.
The radical changes which have taken place during the past fifty years in the whole order of Russian life have had a powerful influence on the decay of the ancient poetry. The emancipation of the serfs brought Russia to a new stage of economic and industrial development, gave freedom to the individuality of the peasant, and promoted the growth of industrialism. With the abolition of compulsory labour the natural economical system of ancient Russia was ruined and the factory method of production encouraged, and at the same time the flow of the country population into the towns greatly increased ; the extension of the railways brought into connection with each other new districts and new circles of the population, enabling them to interchange trade and ideas. Town and country being thus brought into closer touch with one another, new wants began to make themselves felt in the peasants' life ; an entirely new world of interests and ideas was opened to the peasantry. All this, affecting the national life, thoughts, and feelings, could not but have an influence on the poetical creative genius of the people. Already N. Nekrasov (1821-1877), when drawing a picture of reformed Russia in his poem " Who has a happy life in Russia ", had observed with keen insight the birth of a new kind of poetry and pondered on the new paths along which the popular creative faculty would travel.
" O, new, new time !
Thou wilt express thyself in song :
But how ? " . . .
In our days these new songs are spreading widely, and re-echo from end to end of the vast empire. They have won their way into literature, and may even be heard in the creations of musical composers. This new tendency of the popular poetic genius is chiefly manifested in the chastushka. This form of popular song is especially widespread in the governments of Great Russia, although it is also known to Little Russia and White Russia. The chastushka, also known by many other names, is a rather short piece, sung to a gay, lively tune, and is contrasted in the popular mind with the long-drawn-out melodies of the ancient songs. The chastushki[1] are sung at the evening meetings and games of the country youth to the accompaniment of an accordion. These meetings and the accordion are sung about in a large number of the chastushki. The melodies of the chastushki are exceedingly uniform and monotonous, and cannot be compared for richness, variety, and beauty with the music of the ancient songs, in which the fulness and originality of the musical combinations arrest the attention of the hearer. The chastushki are sung in unison, whereas in the old chorus singing the several voices are given, and each voice enjoyed absolute freedom, so that the variations of the principal voice formed an independent melody of their own.
The music of the chastushka is improvised, as are also the words, and is characterised by extreme simplicity, being reduced to three or four notes of quick monotonous rhythm. At times the chastushka is merely spoken in the manner of "patter" on the music-hall stage, so that the connection between the tune and the text becomes very weak, and may even be entirely broken. The poverty of the music in the chastushka is explained, it seems to me, on the one hand by the very form of these songs, which in virtue of their brevity give no scope for complicated musical composition, and on the other by the influence of the accordion. The form of this instrument which is most extensively used by our people is one upon which only music in the open key may be played, and modulation is impossible. It is only in the expensive and complicated accordions that the musical scale is more or less complete and exact in its tones. In those accordions accessible to the people the scale is generally narrowed and cramped. The melodies of the chastushki are adapted to this poor music of the accordion.
Finally, the introduction and development of machinery have not been without an influence on the music of the newest songs. In the period preceding the introduction of machinery, a knowledge of popular songs was already widely diffused amongst the people. Working in their own houses, as was the custom of those times, the craftsmen were in the habit of enlivening their dull moments by singing. It is therefore natural that the Russian North has preserved for a longer time the epic tradition. The peasants of the North by the very character of their home industry, sitting long hours at their work, feel the strong need of singing, and shorten with songs their monotonous, dragging hours. Crowded together in vast factories, modern workers no longer indulge in this relaxation. The ceaseless rumble and clatter of the machines, the intensity of the labour, depress the worker so that he has no inclination for singing, and indeed what musical impressions can he derive from this monotonous buzzing? No wonder, therefore, that in the chastushka, which originated in the factory centres, the music is deprived of inspiration, and shows weakness of musical creation.
We have already mentioned that the chastushka is a short song of from four to eight lines, and sometimes more. But the chastushki of more than four lines are mostly made up of two or more songs. It must be acknowledged that the original form of the chastushka is that of the quatrain, which is widely spread also among other nations, and especially in primitive communities.
The cliastushka discloses to us the ver\' process by which popular lyrics originated. The original germ of the chastushka, — that is the quatrain, — is, in the majority of 434 Modern Riissiati Popular Songs.
cases, an image derived from nature ("nature-picture"), and as a parallel to it some fact of human life, or some emotion felt by the singer corresponding to this image.
" 'Tis not a mist, 'tis not the silvery dew Lies o'er the land and veils each leaf. No ! 'tis my eyes that fail to note the view, My eyes of grey grown dim with grief
As with the birch-tree, though the breeze be still, Yet through its curling twigs a rustling goes ; So through my restless heart, without a cause. Shoot throbs of pain, though it no sorrow knows."
Symbolical parallelism is also the basis of many old folk- songs.
Comparing the form of the cliastushka with that of the old verses, it may easily be remarked that it is distinguished from the latter by rhyme, which enters into all the dias- tus/iki, and by rhythm, which is founded on an artificial, literary, metrical system.
Distinguished by its metrical composition from the typical old poetical specimens, the cliastushka has at the same time many features which show its close relation to the ancient poetry. To begin with, some cJiasUishki are real products of the corruption and decay of the old songs, the fragments of which are revived in a new form approach- ing to that of short, literary verses. The intimate connec- tion of the chastnshka with the ancient poetical tradition is particularly traceable in the methods of producing poetry. The old songs became, as it were, a cradle for the newer ones. In fact, the poetical images and symbols which occur in the chastushki, being similar to those of the old poems, show a direct and close continuity between the modern and old productions. For example, in the old poetry the cuckoo is a symbol for a melancholy woman ; in the same sense
this symbol occurs in a cJiastiisJika: — "Do not cry, grey cuckoo,
In the dark pine-wood.
It foretells me much sorrow
For I'm leaving my own home."
In general the symbolic images of sorrow, love, death, etc. bring us back to the field of old poetry.
In regard to the subject-matter, the chastushki are as inexhaustible as the national life itself. The chastushka brings into its circle of observation various objects, touches different domains of popular thought and life. Thus, a railway was constructed in some distant part of the country, and the peasantry began to sing:—
"Tell us for the sake of God
Where is the railway,—here?" etc.
The chief theme of the chastushki is of course the love and wooing of the young people. The heroes of the amorous chastushka, who are called by numerous loving names, are described at times as being engaging and charming by their beauty or other qualities; at times they are sharply and sarcastically ridiculed for their traits and faults.
"Blue eyes are treacherous.
Those of grey are sly.
My pretty boy has dark eyes,
Which are most lively."
"I have a nice sweetheart.
Whom I'm ashamed to take with me,
For the horses get frightened.
And the cabbies swear."
In selecting the object of the affections, different determining factors are brought into play, such as disposition, good looks, family connections, wealth, etc. But the mutual sympathy and inclination of the young couples are most appreciated, while the question of wealth or poverty in most cases is of such small consideration as to be of no decisive importance:—
436 Modern Ricssian Popular Songs.
' Don't love, my dear, for wealth, Love only for sympathy. We need not have a palace. We may just live in a cottage."
" I used to say to my boy
I am not of a rich house.
He would say, — " My own darling,
I don't care anything about the house ". "
" I have a lot of wealth : One room is full of stones, Another full of bricks. I don't want to take up with A rich young man."
Very often the girl objects to the size of her lover's family, and in one song the young man tries to win her over by pointing out the smallness of his family : —
" I'll put on my new boots And I'll go to court my girl To whom I would say, — " Marry me, my darling, I have a very small family, Only father, mother, and a little sister"."
The family regime, as described in the old folk-songs,, made itself felt particularly strongly in the question of marriage. The severe rule of the parents, who made the whole family submit to their will in all questions of family life, did not recognise the right of the children to choose freely their husbands or wives, and establish their own lot independently of the parents. The children submitted to this control as to an inevitable fate. But at present the youth in the Russian village protest against this interference in their intimate life, and are not afraid to enter into con- flict with the parents, to stand out against their despotism and cruelty. In one song the son invites his father to discuss with him the question of the choice of a wife which Modern Russian Popzilar Songs. 437
he has made, and in the event of the father's refusal to agree with him in his choice threatens to refuse to work : — " Come now, father, father of mine, Let's sit down and talk it over : Arrange my marriage with the one I love, And, if you will not do this, I shall no longer do your ploughing, Nor help you stack the hay. Nor do the mowing in your meadow." The young girl who has been betrothed by her parents during her absence, protests emphatically against what they have done : —
" I was away paying a visit. And without my knowledge you betrothed me, When I came home I stamped my foot at mother Saying, what, mother, do you think you're doing, You are not marrying me to the one I love." In another song the young girl stands up for the choice of her heart in spite of the threats of the mother to beat her : — " My mother gave me a scolding, And even thought of beating me. But I had fallen in love with him, It will not be as mother planned." Now often the parents themselves give way to the child- ren, taking into account their choice and sympathies: — " My mother is really gold, Though she is half lead, She will not force me to marry. Tells me to choose whom I will."
Remembering her own girlhood, one mother says to her daughter : —
" Daughter, go and play till midnight,
I was once just such a girl,
I was once just such a girl.
And used to play till midnight." Nevertheless there are many diastiishki in which the parents 43^ Modern Russian Popular Songs.
are described as roughly and cruelly treading on the right of their children to follow their own wishes in the matter of marriage. With bitter irony the young girl speaks of her parents : —
- ' Yes, my mother is very fond of me,
And father is even twice as good,
Every evening he stands at the door
And watches over me with a club."
Frequently it is the interference of the parents which frus- trates the marriage arranged by the two young people : —
" To be sure it was not of his own accord
That my lover went and dropped me,
But he has a troublesome mother,
Who does not allow him to take me." The hardships resulting from the organisation of the famil)' life of the peasants are felt particularly by the women. The position of the Russian women under various con- ditions is described in many cJiastushki, in which one can feel the suppressed distress, the endless sorrow of the scolded and downtrodden woman.
During the lifetime of the parents, the young girl works at home, and on the farm of her father. She lives under the roof of her parents, though not always very happily, but more or less free from troubles. Her position in her own family becomes difficult and joyless in the event of the death of her parents, when she comes under the control of her brothers : —
" I certainly was born unfortunate,
I'm not the only girl in my brother's home,
My brothers are collecting finery,
But they keep it for their daughters."
In another little song the young girl complains that "how- ever much she works for her brothers she never earns any- thing for herself, and that it is quite useless for her to make any effort." The orphan girl is often forced to go into
service with strangers : — "When I had a father living
As other good people have,
He wouldn't allow me to work for others,
Even for a thousand roubles."
Torn away from her native village the young girl gets bitterly homesick:—
"All the rivers and all the lakes
I have filled up with my tears,
I'm sick and tired of this life
Wandering about amongst strangers."
When the young girl marries, her life is often spoiled by the father-in-law and mother-in-law, whose obduracy and cruelty are constantly complained of in the songs; the misery of the married woman is also one of the main topics of old poetry. The young woman is often made to suffer at the hands of all the members of her husband's family. So it is that in one chastushka the married woman warns young girls against marriage:—
"Girls, don't go and marry,
You will find it a very hard lot,
They will not even let you
Walk freely about the room."
One finds a very rich collection of satirical and humorous chastushki touching on very different subjects, but in these also it is the lovers that are the most frequently the butt of the satire or of the humour:—
"My pretty little Jimmy
Has a bristly beard.
Fetch me please the harrow.
And give his beard a combing."
Many songs ridicule dandiness and lavishness. It is particularly the factory worker who has come home to the village on a holiday who is made a laughing-stock of in these songs:—
"Little Mikey has an umbrella,
But at home there is nothing to eat,
He has a watch in his pocket.
But he has no seed for his fields."
"All the boys of Dubkov
Ordered some nice long overcoats;
They threw back the lappers of their coats
And there their knees were bare."
"The girls of Vologda are very stylish,
But they often sit without food for three days."
The interests and aspirations of the city workmen find expression in a great many chastushki, dealing with the town, the factory, the employers, and the conditions of life and work. In these factory-songs the workmen complain of the drudgery which is their lot:—
"Our boss is a regular rogue,
He has finally used us all up.
On work days we work hard enough.
And on holidays we get no rest."
The workman feels quite consciously that he has no chance of bettering his condition, or of freeing himself from the yoke of his hard work:—
"There is no road open to us,
There is no possible way to leave;
Our master knows this,
And orders us just as he likes."
"When I look at my son,
My heart is filled with sorrow.
For the same bitter fate
Is all that he can expect."
It is difficult to enumerate the content of the chastushki. Everything finds in them mention and notice, practical philosophy, attitude towards religion, and the authorities; the moral ideas of the people; a chronicle of everyday life; incidental subjects and events. The chastushki also touch on questions of contemporary literature, as in the very well-known chastushka in which Maxim Gorky is mentioned:—
"Do not blame us, you democrats,
Because we show our love,
For the writer, Maxim Gorky,
Ordered us always to love."
The chastushki are very important in that they acquaint us with the life and psychology of the Russian people, as was pointed out some time ago by G. Uspensky (1870-1902). "If we collect these chastushki," he says, "with the same care with which statistical material is collected about every small detail in the peasant's home, and if we work out their references to the various sides of the people's life which they touch, we shall have an exact representation of the manners and customs of the people."
The chastushki touch on every sort of subject, but touch these subjects only in passing, and superficially, not exhaustively, describe only two or three disconnected traits, illustrating them by short comparisons, and often using metaphorical expressions. This characteristic of the chastushka makes it possible for everyone to express in a short song his most intimate thoughts and feelings, with all possible individual differences. The stamp of individuality is clearly seen in the chastushka. As a product of individual creative genius the chastushki appear in great numbers. They survive and spread from place to place if they have expressed emotions and aspirations common to many people, if they have succeeded in interesting the popular mind in any particular subject, but die out and are lost if they point out only a special transitory incident. The majority of the chastushki are composed by young girls, as they have more opportunity of coming together. Further, in almost every village there is a man who considers it, as it were, his duty to express in poetic form all noteworthy events of the village life; in connection with any burning question of the day the village expects a song from him.
The chastushka is colourless and dry, and often there is little sense in the subject-matter which it treats. It is short, and not musical. In the chastushka we see a marked sign of decline in the poetical genius of the people. As a type of song the chastushka can hardly develop into an original and brilliant form of folk-song, although it is difficult to judge of the future of a form of song which is only in the process of creation, and marks a break in the people's creative faculty, which in turn is connected with a growth of new forms of national life. The advance or the further development of the chastushka may be in the direction of bringing together separate chastushki into a single complete, and longer, song. Such composite chastushki are often sung at dances, but until now they have been scarcely anything more than mechanical combinations, and the content of these composite chastushki very often has no sense at all. It is more probable that the chastushka will come under the influence of literary poetry, to which it is so similar in form, and then the distinction between the popular poetry and the poetry of the educated classes will be wiped out. The poems and songs of our national poets have already secured a strong hold upon the masses of the people. Mr. Th. Studitsky (born in 1814) remarked that in his time "the people were fascinated by the writings of the poets, especially by the songs of Koltsov, and were forgetting the creations of their forefathers." Literary productions have already to a considerable extent got into the old popular song-books, as in the case of a Russian song-book published in 1810. In a Russian song-book published in 1859 we find as many as ten poems of Koltsov, and verses of other Russian poets. With the material which we have, it is possible to state that already in the eighteenth century artificial ballads and literary poems occupied an important place in the repertoire of the Russian peasant. The spread of literacy, and of reading, among the Russian people will help them to assimilate more consciously, more completely, and more deeply the works of their national poets. M. Trophimoff.
- ↑ Chastushki is the plural form of the singular chastuslika, this name being derived from the adjective chasty, i.e. quick.