I was listening to "Standing Room Only" on WERS and heard the Prologue to "Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812." I wrote it down as soon as the announcer said the name, because I knew I wouldn't remember it. It was on Broadway in 2017. I missed hearing about it, I guess.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pEuttWI_J8M
"It's a complicated Russian novel. Every character has nine names." I told Arthur that I have never read a Russian novel. He was skeptical, but I said I didn't think "The Nose" would count (too short). Or "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" (also fairly short, and gulag-y). The longest famous literature I ever read in Russian was a poem by Lermontov, I think, and an essay about the death of Pushkin.
I can call that Slavic, but really, of all the agglutinative songs that come to mind (Who knows One? Green grow the rushes oh, etc.), I am most reminded of a very folky American song, written to be a parody, but endearing.
Old Joe's Place from "A Mighty Wind." (Start at about 0:40)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_JhLuVu-Cho
After ringing,![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sorcyress and Austin told me that the What Cheer Brigade was playing across from the Nashua Street jail as part of a geographically distributed Honk festival. I am internally conflicted about prison abolitionism (a book by Mariame Kabe is on my shelf, but I also kind of want the January 6th insurrectionists locked up), so I sat on a bench and read during the speeches. When it started, the music was fabulous. I was sitting there just letting the music wash over me at one point and realized they were playing Jovano Jovanke. What?
This is them playing it some other time
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B0_qvPYqghE
This is closer to the the way I hear it in my head. I learned it singing in an a cappella Balkan group (late 1970s and onward)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AHKVLko9SXQ
We found this while rummaging through dozens of versions online. We stared. We watched it again. Is it some sort of Eastern European Verzuz in a museum?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xVgUKgORUnc
Arthur said something about how much we miss hearing that music. I said we could sing duets. He sang a line, then we let it drop.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pEuttWI_J8M
"It's a complicated Russian novel. Every character has nine names." I told Arthur that I have never read a Russian novel. He was skeptical, but I said I didn't think "The Nose" would count (too short). Or "A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" (also fairly short, and gulag-y). The longest famous literature I ever read in Russian was a poem by Lermontov, I think, and an essay about the death of Pushkin.
I can call that Slavic, but really, of all the agglutinative songs that come to mind (Who knows One? Green grow the rushes oh, etc.), I am most reminded of a very folky American song, written to be a parody, but endearing.
Old Joe's Place from "A Mighty Wind." (Start at about 0:40)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_JhLuVu-Cho
After ringing,
sorcyress and Austin told me that the What Cheer Brigade was playing across from the Nashua Street jail as part of a geographically distributed Honk festival. I am internally conflicted about prison abolitionism (a book by Mariame Kabe is on my shelf, but I also kind of want the January 6th insurrectionists locked up), so I sat on a bench and read during the speeches. When it started, the music was fabulous. I was sitting there just letting the music wash over me at one point and realized they were playing Jovano Jovanke. What?This is them playing it some other time
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B0_qvPYqghE
This is closer to the the way I hear it in my head. I learned it singing in an a cappella Balkan group (late 1970s and onward)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AHKVLko9SXQ
We found this while rummaging through dozens of versions online. We stared. We watched it again. Is it some sort of Eastern European Verzuz in a museum?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xVgUKgORUnc
Arthur said something about how much we miss hearing that music. I said we could sing duets. He sang a line, then we let it drop.
