Romance “White Acacia”: a song that has become both the unofficial anthem of the “whites” and the “reds.” White acacia clusters of fragrant "White acacia flowers of emigration"

White acacia fragrant clusters
First published in 1902 in the series “Gypsy Nights” without indicating the name of the author of words and music. Later it was published as a “famous gypsy romance”, edited by Varia Panina and musically arranged by A. M. Zorin, but also unnamed. Nevertheless, it is believed that the text is based on a reworking of Pugachev’s poem. But in some sources the author of the text is called Volin-Volsky (his romance to the music of M. Sharov “A tear clouds my vision” is known), and the author of the music is M. Sharov or A. Lutsenko.
The most stable version remains the authorship of Pugachev, who owns more than three dozen romances to the music of M. K. Steinberg, J. de Botari and other romance composers.
Many of these romances entered the repertoire of the most famous pop singers as "gypsies". The romance “White Acacia Fragrant Clusters” gained the greatest popularity when performed by Yuri Morfessi. The tune was used in the revolutionary song “We will boldly go into battle.” Folklore variants were recorded in the 20th century.
From here

Nadezhda Obukhova


Alla Bayanova

Boris Shtokolov

Evgeny Shalya and Andrey Shilov (guitar)

Modern variation-stylization
Music by Venimanin Basner, lyrics by Mikhail Matusovsky
Lyudmila Senchina

Oleg Pogudin

From the film "Days of the Turbins"

White acacia. Sung in different versions

White acacia fragrant clusters
Full of aroma again
The nightingale's song resounds again
In the quiet radiance, the radiance of the moon.

Do you remember, in the summer under the white acacia
Have you heard the nightingale's song?
The wonderful, bright one quietly whispered to me:
“Darling, forever, forever yours!”

The years have long passed, the passions have cooled,
The youth of life has passed...
White acacia with a delicate scent
I will not forget, I will never forget!..

Arranged by Yuri Morfessi

White acacia
Fragrant branches
The delight of spring blows,
Quietly spreading
The Nightingale's Song
In a pale sparkle,
Sparkling moon.

Do you remember at night
Among the white acacias
The nightingale trilled,
Gently clinging,
You whispered to me, languid:
"Believe, forever,
I'm yours forever"?

Time has flown by
And old age is merciless
They sent us years
But the aroma
Scented acacias
I won't forget
Never forget.

Mikhail Matusovsky

The nightingale whistled to us all night
The city was silent and the houses were silent
White acacia fragrant clusters

White acacia fragrant clusters
They drove us crazy all night long
The garden was all washed by spring showers
There was water in the dark ravines
God how naive we were
How young we were then
The years have flown by making us gray
Where is the purity of these living branches

Reminds me of them today
Only winter and this white snowstorm
Reminds me of them today
At the hour when the wind is raging furiously
WITH with new strength I feel
White acacia fragrant clusters
Irreversible like my youth
White acacia fragrant clusters
Unique like my youth

The history of the famous Russian romance “White Acacia” can be called absolutely fantastic. It was never possible to establish its authors, but the romance has been alive for more than 100 years. It seems incredible, but during the Civil War this romance was at the same time the unofficial anthem of the warring parties.

Full of aroma again
The nightingale's song resounds again
In the quiet glow of the wonderful moon!

This is the first version of the romance text, it has been known since 1902. The romance was republished annually under the title “Famous Gypsy Romance,” and each time its words changed slightly. Only the music remained unchanged. The first editions indicated that the arrangement of the romance belonged to M. Steinberg, but the author of the music and words remained unknown.

Maximilian Oseevich Steinberg - Russian composer, teacher, son-in-law of N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov - born in Vilna on July 4, 1883. IN Soviet era he successfully worked at the Leningrad Conservatory, he was engaged in processing famous romance. There were versions about possible authors of music and poetry, but the question remained open.

From the moment the romance appeared, it immediately gained enormous popularity, and was performed by the most famous performers: N. Seversky, V. Panina and others. The romance immediately spread across the country on gramophone records.

The “red” verses of “White Acacia” sounded slightly different:

Listen, worker, the war has begun:
Stop what you're doing and get ready for a hike!
And as one we will die in the fight for this...
White chains appeared
We will fight them to the death.
We will boldly go into battle for the power of the Soviets
And as one we will die fighting for it.

What can I say - war, schism, bloody mess, but there is one song for everyone. The lyrical romance simultaneously became the march of the Red and White armies. In those dashing years they sang this song in every way: there were variations on the topic of the day and other alterations. The ideas are different - the people have the same soul.

"White acacia flowers of emigration"

The USSR remembered romance in the 1950s. Alla Bayanova and Boris Shtokolov brought the song back to life, and then other famous and not so famous performers began singing it. In 1976, V. Basov filmed feature film"Days of the Turbins". It was impossible to do without “White Acacia,” but the song had already been “cut” in two - it rightfully belonged to both the “whites” and the “reds.” Two songs appeared in the film - about an armored train and a new romance. The music for the film was written by V. Basner, the lyrics to the songs were written by M. Matusovsky. The romance for the film was based on the pre-revolutionary "White Acacia".

The nightingale whistled to us all night long,
The city was silent and the houses were silent.
White acacia fragrant clusters
They drove us crazy all night long...
The years have flown by, turning us gray,
Where is the purity of these living branches?
Only winter and this white snowstorm
They are reminded of them today.
At an hour when the wind is raging furiously,
With new strength I feel:
White acacia fragrant clusters
Irreversible, like my youth.

So, the old romance received a second life. More precisely, today there are two romances: “White Acacia” from the beginning of the 20th century and the romance “White Acacia” from the film “Days of the Turbins”. But two romances and peace are better than one and war.

“A Christmas Tree Was Born in the Forest” is also of great interest today.

Illustration from the Internet. Collage by Vladimir PASTUKHOV

You can listen to the romance performed by a chamber vocal ensemble of teachers on the page in the list concert numbers, located after the "favorites" list.

There is still controversy surrounding the history of the creation of this romance. Are the poems by Mikhail Matusovsky, the author of the music, Veniamin Basner, or someone else? Whose acacia is glorified in the romance: Odessa, Moscow, Kyiv? There are many versions, but none stand up to criticism.

When starting filming the television film "Days of the Turbins", Vladimir Basov turned to his favorite poet and songwriter Mikhail Matusovsky with a request to write memorable words of a romance especially for this film. Moreover, such that they emphasize the leitmotif of the mood of the heroes of Mikhail Bulgakov’s play “Days of the Turbins” and in places of his novel “ White Guard"so that the viewer is immediately mentally transported to the events civil war and to the long-suffering city of Kyiv, tormented by endless changes of authorities...

Matusovsky offered Basov one of their most beloved romances, “The Fragrant Clusters of White Acacia,” which, born back in 1902, successfully survived several alterations of the text, and lived to see October Revolution. The words of the original source were most likely written by the poet A. A. Pugachev and set to music by the composer A. Zorin ( real name- A. M. Tsymbal).

The words of this romance were first published in 1902 in the collection “Gypsy Nights” without indicating the names of the authors of the words and music, and therefore disputes about the authorship of this work still continue. In the summer of 1903, the St. Petersburg Music Printing House of V. Bessel and Co., in the series “Gypsy Songs of N. P. Lyutsenko,” already published the score of the romance “with vocal parts for tenor and soprano” accompanied by piano.

Romance became increasingly popular. Its text and notes were published with the subtitle “a famous gypsy romance as edited by Varia Panina and musically arranged by Zorin,” but still remained anonymous.

During the First World War, the people used the melody of the famous romance, creating and completely replacing the text, a soldier's patriotic song, which began with these words:

Grandfathers, have you heard that there is war?
started
Stop what you're doing and go on a hike
get ready.
We will boldly go into battle for
Holy Rus'
And as one we will shed blood
young

The volunteers of the army of Tsarist General A.I. Denikin, reworking and adding verses of this song, made it the anthem of their Volunteer Army, which in 1919 they sang in Kyiv, which they captured.

Its text with different words was sung by different sides barricades, both white and red. And, of course, each in his own way.

Grandfathers heard - the war has begun,
Stop what you're doing and go on a hike
get ready.
We will boldly go into battle
for the power of the Soviets
And we will die as one
In the fight for it.

A lot of time has passed... the Great Patriotic War. And only in the mid-70s did the authorities allow the film adaptation of this “ideologically harmful” work. Vladimir Basov also carefully read Bulgakov’s work “The White Guard”. The director was imbued with his mood and the unique atmosphere of the City. Then he turned to the poet M. Matusovsky.

When starting filming, V. Basov remembered that at the time when the action in the film takes place; The romance “The fragrant bunches of white acacia” was popular. The melody has changed beyond recognition over all these years. The rhythm of the romance, which formed the basis of the revolutionary song “Boldly we will go into battle,” also became a marching rhythm.

The director wanted the themes of these two songs to sound in the film as a response, an echo, as a distant memory of those years. The next birth of the new-old romance began immediately after the premiere of the television film.

One day Lyudmila Senchina came to Veniamin Basner’s dacha with a request to write the melodies of several new songs for her. The composer offered her a new one full version"White acacia". Here are the first and fourth verses of the romance.

All night nightingale to us
whistled
The city was silent and the houses were silent.

They drove us crazy all night long.

At the hour when the wind is raging
frantically
With new strength I feel:

Irreversible, like my youth.

Since then, the triumphant procession of the romance “Fragrant bunches of white acacia” began throughout the country. In any corner of our fatherland at that time one could hear the sad and heartfelt lines of the romance about youth and love, about the blooming acacia and the great City... This romance has already outlived all its creators and has become truly popular.

The romance is set in the key of E-minor, which is favorable for singing. Its melody is very conveniently sung in two voices: it can be performed in a duet women's voices- soprano, alto, and also sounds beautiful when performed by soprano and tenor. The special harmonic beauty of the melody is given by the thirds in the second voice in the chorus, almost intuitively adjusted during singing, and the wide and beautiful sounding sixths in the chorus.

Reviews

Thank you very much for your feedback, Pavel. You can listen to this romance
there, on my page, performed by an ensemble of teachers
our Children's Art School (CHILDREN'S SCHOOL OF ARTS). This concert took place in the Hall
Union of Artists on Okhta (St. Petersburg). Not only this one sounded there
romance. And not only in this St. Petersburg hall... We were very active
concert activities. Your review brought back memories...
that my gratitude and appreciation to you -

THE NIGHTINGA WHISTLED TO US ALL NIGHT
Romance from the film "Days of the Turbins", 1976

Music by V. Basner
Words by M. Matusovsky

The nightingale whistled to us all night long,
The city was silent and the houses were silent...
They drove us crazy all night long.

The garden was all washed by spring showers,
There was water in the dark ravines.
God, how naive we were
How young we were then!

The years have flown by, turning us gray...
Where is the purity of these living branches?
Only winter and this white snowstorm
They are reminded of them today.

At an hour when the wind is raging furiously,
With new strength I feel:
White acacia fragrant clusters
Irreversible, like my youth!
White acacia fragrant clusters
Unique, like my youth...

From the 1990s songbook

Created under the influence of the popular romance of the early 20th century "The fragrant bunches of white acacia"<1902> Whole night NIGHTINGALE U.S. whistling
Romance of k/f "Days of Turbin", 1976

Music V. Basner
Words M. Matusovsky

The whole night we Nightingale whistled
City silent and silent house...
Acacia clusters of fragrant
Night long we demented.

The garden was full Umyt spring rains,
In dark ravines standing water.
God, as we were naive,
As we were young then!

Years have flown, gray us making...
Where the purity of these branches of the living?
Yes only winter snowstorm this white
Today resemble them.

In the hour when the wind is raging furiously
With renewed power, I feel:
Acacia clusters of fragrant
Unrecoverable, as my youth!
Acacia clusters of fragrant
Unique, as my youth...

Songwriter of the 1990s

Created under the influence of popular romances of the early 20th century "White acacia clusters of fragrant"