The Role of Folk-Songs in the Russian Folk-Plays

The Role of Folk-Songs in the Russian Folk-PlaysAuthor(s): Lisa WarnerSource: Folklore, Vol. 84, No. 1 (Spring, 1973), pp. 38-50Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Folklore Enterprises, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1260435 .

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The Role of Folk-Songs in the Russian Folk-Plays

by LISA WARNER

THE folk-theatre is generally considered to be one of the less artistically successful genres of Russian folk-literature and, indeed, many aspects of the plays bear out such a view - the rudimentary plots, the roughly delineated characters, the simple dialogue and often crude nature of the humour. Nevertheless, an examination of certain techniques used by the folk-actors to elaborate the content and improve upon the dramatic impact of their plays shows a considerable degree of artistic awareness. This is certainly the case with the use made of borrowings from other types of literature, in particular the use of folk-songs and excerpts from poetry of non- folk origin widely known and popular among the ordinary people.

The Russian folk-plays, in general, abound in song and this is especially true of 'Tsar Maximillian',1 the most popular and most complex play in the repertoire. Here, in particular, the greater sophistication of the texts allows wide scope for imaginative embellishment.

Even within the comparatively narrow range of the folk-play repertoire the choice of songs is extremely varied. In most variants of the play 'Lodka' ('The Ship'),2 as might be expected, one finds many robber songs and songs connected with the various periods of peasant revolt. Such are: 'Vniz po matushke po Volge' ('Down the river Volga'); or 'Ty vzoidi, vzoidi solntse krasnoe' ('Rise up, rise up, thou crimson sun'); and 'Uzh zagorelas' v chistom pole

1 'Tsar Maximillian' was well-known throughout European Russia from the eighteenth to the early twentieth century. It consists of a number of loosely- connected episodes among which the most important are the martyrdom of the Christian Prince Adolf by his pagan father Tsar Maximillian and a series of duel-scenes between the Tsar's champion Anika and invading foreign warriors. These 'serious' parts of the play are interspersed with interlude-type comic scenes involving, principally, a quack doctor and a grave-digger.

2 A play about a band of freedom-seeking brigands who ply the river Volga in search of booty and adventure. It is closely connected with the folk-song 'Vniz po matushke po Volge' ('Down the river Volga') and the folk-tales, legends and historical songs about the Russian peasant leaders, Ermak, Razin and Pugachev.

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FOLK-SONGS IN RUSSIAN FOLK-PLAYS

trava kovyl"'' ('In the Steppe the feather-grass caught fire') both of which have been linked with the name of Stepan Razin. In 'Tsar Maximillian', on the other hand, the military nature of some parts of the text (the duel scenes in particular) combined with the dominant role of the soldiery in producing, performing and pop- ularising the play have led to the inclusion of many soldier and Cossack songs as, for example: 'Chernyi voron chto tyv'esh'sya...' ('Black raven why are you circling...'); 'Kak vo pole polyushke elochka stoit' ('In the meadow there stands a little fir-tree'); 'Pole chistoe turetskoe' ('A Turkish battle-field'); 'Vse tatary vsbuntov- alis'' ('The Tartars have risen in revolt'); etc.

An interesting feature of the songs to be found in 'Tsar Maxi- millian' is that many of them were originally the work of pro- fessional poets and song-writers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

These songs, which first became popular with the urban population whose tastes tended towards the sentimental, gradually penetrated to the country areas and were often assimilated into the folk-repertoire. Some were popular romances, such as the excerpt 'Pomerla nasha nadezhda' ('Our hope has died'), from the romance 'Vsyu Rossiyushku proekhal,/vse gubernii izoshel' ('I've travelled the whole of Russia, I've been to every Province'), which was usually sung after the death of Anika-the Warrior; or 'Ya v pustynyu udalyayus', ot prekrasnykh zdeshnykh mest' ('Into the wilderness I make my way, leaving behind these beautiful places'), sung when the Prince Adolf was being sent into exile. Others were derived from purely literary sources, from poems which had gained a widespread popularity among the ordinary people through the medium of the chapbooks. Such are: 'Noch' temna, lovi minuty' ('The night is dark, seize your chance'), from Ogarev's poem 'Arestant' ('The Prisoner') published in 1857 in 'Polyarnaya zvezda' ('The North Star'); 'Ne slyshno shuma gorodskogo, na Nevskoi bashne tishina' ('There is no sound from the city, all is silent on the Nevsky tower'), from a song by F. I. Glinka published in 1831 in the almanach 'Venera'; and 'Kak na lobnom meste, molodets stoyal' ('At the place of execution there stood a brave young lad'), based on a ballad by I. S. Turgenev. All three of these songs were regularly sung in 'Tsar Maximillian' during the course of Adolf's imprisonment or exile. Also to be

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found frequently is the song 'Gusar na sablyu opirayas' v glubokoi goresti stoyal' ('Full of sorrow, a Hussar stood leaning on his sabre'), from Batyushkov's poem 'Razluka' ('The Parting'). This song was usually, although not necessarily sung by the Hussar, a character who had entered the folk-plays under the influence of Pushkin's poem 'Gusar' ('The Hussar'), which was another literary source of inspiration for the folk-actors.

Apart from songs which constantly recur in specific situations within the framework of the folk-plays there are many others which, although found less frequently or only in isolated cases, nevertheless emphasise the influence upon 'Tsar Maximillian' of urban culture and non-folk literature. Such are: 'Otvorite mne temnitsu' ('Unlock my prison'),3 from Lermontov's poem 'Uznik' ('The Captive') (1837); or 'Khozhy ya, glyazhu ya bezmolvo na chernuyu shal'' ('As I walk, I silently gaze at the black shawl'),4 derived from Pushkin's 'Chernaya shal' ('The Black Shawl'); and 'Poekhal kazak na chuzhbinu daleko' ('A Cossack travelled to far-off-lands'),6 from E. P. Grebenka's 'Kazak na chuzhbine' ('A Cossack far from home').

Careful examination of the texts of the folk-plays shows that in the vast majority of cases the songs, whatever their origin, were chosen not at random but for some specific purpose. There are even examples where the words of the song have been deliberately altered to correspond to the situation in the play, as in 'Ataman Churkin' ('The Ataman Churkin'), a variant of 'Lodka'. Here, the brigands, bearing out the body of their dead leader or Ataman upon their crossed swords, sing a popular song about a robber- band, 'Sredi lesov dremuchikh' ('Deep in the forest'), into one line of which the name of their own Ataman has been appropriately inserted: 'Na nikh lezhal srazhennyi sam Churkin Ataman' ('Across them lay the body of Churkin the Ataman').A

The songs used for artistic effect in the folk-plays fall into two basic categories according to their function. There are on the one hand what one might call 'passive' songs, that is songs which

8 This appears in the variant of 'Tsar Maximillian' to be found in A. I. Myakutin, Pesni Orenburgskikh Kazakov, Vol. IV, SPb I9o10, pp. 267-8. * Appears in I. S. Abramov, 'Tsar' Maksimilian: Svyatochnaya Kumediya', SPb 1904, p. 17.

6 Ibid., pp. 7-8. 6 From 'Ataman Churkin' in V. Golovachev and B. Lashchilin (ed.) Narodnyi

teatr na Donu, Rostov-on-Don 1947.

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serve merely to emphasise a mood or heighten a moment of dramatic tension and on the other hand there are 'active' songs which are used to help on the development of the action by introducing new elements or new characters into the plot or by somehow altering the prevailing mood. I wish first of all to examine the role of the 'passive' songs.

The emotions aroused by the folk-plays were evidently keenly felt both by those directly involved in the performance and by the audience. Often the mood of the play was intensified by the insertion of a song, humorous, sad, heroic, depending upon the context. The content of such songs was sometimes quite un- related to the play itself. This is the case, for example, during the interlude scenes with the 'Jew' and 'an old man' in the Abramov variant of 'Tsar Maximillian' when several comic songs are sung by these two stock figures of south Russian folk-comedy. 7

Similarly, the pathos of Adolf's execution in the Volkov variant of 'Tsar Maximillian' is underlined by the singing of the hymn 'Oi ty Bozhe miloserdnyi/Bozhe sil'nyi i preshchedryi!' ('O thou mericful God, Thou strong and bountiful God!'),8 which is sung with Adolf, the executioner and the military guard all kneeling piously. In a variant of the same play published by A. E. Gruzinskii, the melancholy song 'Okh vy, lesy moi, lesy temnye/Okh vy, zveri moi, zveri lyutye' ('Oh, you woods, my dark woods, Oh, you beasts, my wild beasts'),9 again makes Adolf's grief more poignant. None of these songs is thematically related to the plot of the play although they correspond to certain moods in it. However, it is a tribute to the dramatic sensibilities of the collective authors of the folk-plays that the majority of songs used in this way have been carefully selected to fit in with the rest of the action. For example, in a variant of 'Lodka' (known under the title of 'Shlyupka' ('The Boat')) collected by N. E. Onchukov, the robbers, during a scene of merry-making, sing 'Ai da usy, ai da usy, razvesisty usy' ('Hey mustaches, hey mustaches, the long mustachios').'0 This humorous song, also about a band of robbers, corresponds both

SI. S. Abramov, op. cit., pp. 28-32. 8 R. M. Volkov, 'Tsar' Maksimil'yan', Russkii filologicheskii vestnik, Vol.

LXVIII, Warsaw 1912, p. 332. * A. E. Gruzinskii, k istorii narodnogo teatra: 'Tsar' Maksimilian', Etnografi- cheskoe Obozrenie, Vol. XXXIX, Moscow I898, p. I63.

10 N. E. Onchukov, Severnye narodnye dramy, SPb. 191 I, p. 71.

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to the mood and to the characters singing it. Similarly, several versions of 'Tsar Maximillian' include a song in praise of the Tsar which reflects the feelings of his warriors and his subjects and is at the same time, with its regal and military theme, appropriate to the occasion. Such are the songs: 'Slav'sya, gosudar' na trone' ('Hail to our monarch on his throne')," and 'Slav'sya, slav'sya, Rus' svyataya/Ty ne pobedima' ('Hail, hail holy Russia, thou art

invincible').l2 Occasionally one comes across a song in this group whose

appearance in the play is purely gratuitous or even in some cases quite inappropriate in the given situation. Such rare occurences are often due to the hazards of the oral tradition which can lead to a gradual corruption of the text. This in turn may lead to the omission of one part of a scene as a result of which the remaining part appears disconnected and incomprehensible. This is clearly the case with the song 'Gusar na sablyu opirayas' ('A Hussar stood, leaning on his sabre'), sung not by the Hussar as is usual but by the Arab in one of P. N. Berkov's variants of 'Tsar Maximillian'.13 Here the correlation between speaker and words has been lost. The song, commonly sung by the Hussar, has been accepted as an integral part of the text while the character himself, in this case, has been replaced by another. On the whole, however, songs were more carefully integrated into the fabric of the plays.

A large number of songs, indeed the majority, had a more definite function than merely to emphasise. They were intended to add to the action itself, to offer some new development, to expand our view of what is going on and they are used to this purpose in a variety of different ways.

As has been shown above, a song may be used passively to underline the dramatic mood. A song may also have the active r61e of changing the mood of the situation, in particular of altering a melancholy moment into a gay one or of relieving tension by alternating the sad with the humorous. Sometimes only one song

11 N. N. Vinogradov, Narodnaya drama 'Tsar' Maksimil'yan', variant I, in Sbornik Obshchestva russkogo yazyka i slovesnosti, Vol. XC, no. 7, Peterburg I914, P. 2I.

12 E. R. Romanov, 'Tsar' Maksimiyan', Belorusskii sbornik, Issue 5, Kiev 1891, p. 274.

13 P. N. Berkov, Odna iz stareishikh zapisei 'Tsarya Maksimiliana' i 'Shaiki razboinikov', Russkii fol'klor, materialy i issledovaniya, No. IV, Moscow-- Leningrad I959, p. 338.

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is introduced to make a short break, while in other cases the songs form an integral part of the comic interludes which alternate with the serious or tragic scenes of the folk-plays. One often finds such songs inserted after particular episodes such as the death of one of the main characters. In one of N. E. Onchukov's variants of 'Tsar Maximillian', after Anika the royal champion has been slain by Death with her scythe, the Tsar asks for his favourite song to cheer him up. The humorous love-song 'Ai, Nastas'ya, ty Petrovna, otpirai-ko vorota,/Ai da lyuli, ai da lyuli, prinimai-ko sokola' ('Hey Nastasya Petrovna open up your gates, Ai da lyuli, ai da lyuli, and let your falcon in'),14 which follows completely changes the mood and it is upon this optimistic note in fact that the play ends. In the same variant after the melancholy scenes of Adolf's banishment and his father's anger a moment of light relief is interpolated before the final humiliation and execution. The motivation for this is provided by Adolf himself who pretends to recant and calls for singing and dancing to celebrate his return from exile. In some variants of 'Lodka' the mood at the beginning set by the Ataman's introductory monologue is a melancholy one. This is often remedied by the Ataman's own suggestion that the robbers should sing his favourite song. The robbers obey him with the following: 'Akh vy, gory moi, gory/gory Vorob'evskie!' ('O you hills, my hills, my Sparrow Hills').'5

Songs may be used not only to change the mood of the plays, in other words to introduce new emotional elements, but also to introduce new characters. Thus in several variants of 'Lodka' the entrance of the robber-band or one of the robbers is accompanied by or prefaced by the singing of an appropriate song. In one variant,16 for example, the song 'Sredi lesov dremuchikh/Raz- boinichki idut' ('Deep in the forest the robbers go by'), is heard in the distance, heralding the arrival of a new member of the band. In 'Shlyupka' the gathering of the band at the beginning of the play in answer to the Ataman's summons is accompanied by the song 'Ai da usy, ai da usy'.17 In yet another variant'8 of the play the

14 'Tsar Maksim'yan' (variant I) in N. E. Onchukov, op. cit., p. 47. 15 'Lodka' in V. V. Sipovskii, Istoricheshaya Khrestomatiya po istorii russkoi slovesnosti, Vol. I., Issue i, Petrograd I916, p. 240.

16 Ibid. 17 N. E. Onchukov, op. cit., p. 7I. 1s 'Konets sem'i Preklonskikh', in V. Golovachev and B. Lashchilin, op. cit.

p. 60.

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entrance of the robbers is prefaced by 'Viniz po matushke po Volge'.

Such songs act almost like a signature-tune, telling the audience to expect the arrival of the robber-band.

In a similar way, at the beginning of several variants of 'Tsar Maximillian' before the Tsar's first appearance on stage the song 'Ezdil, ezdil russkii tsar'/Pravoslavnyi gosudar'' ('Our Orthodox monarch, the Russian Tsar went on a campaign'),'9 sets the scene and prepares the audience for the ensuing entrance of Maximillian.

An extension of this principle is the type of song in which the character in question actually describes himself, his mood or the situation in which he finds himself, thus forming a sort of musical soliloquy which takes the place of the customary spoken monologue. Thus in the song 'Ya v pustynyu udalyayus', ot prekrasnikh zdeshnikh mest' ('Into the wilderness I make my way, leaving behind these beautiful places'), which occurs in many variants of 'Tsar Maximillian' Adolf expresses grief at his impending banishment. Often these 'song-speeches' are addressed directly to some other person or persons. Joined by a reply, in spoken or musical form, or by some physical response evoked by the appeal of the singer, the song becomes woven into the very fabric of the dramatic action.

The various stages in this process can be seen in the following examples. In the first the robber-leader addresses a kidnapped girl, promising her an easy life and fine clothes:

U menya est' dlya tebya Koftochka zolotom shitaya, Shuba na lis'em mekhu. Budesh' khodit' ty barkhatom odetaya I spat' na lebyazh'em pukhu.20

(For you I have A little shirt sewn about with gold And a coat of foxes' fur. You will be dressed in velvet gowns And sleep on a swansdown bed.)

Similarly Adolf, reconciled at last to his tragic fate, takes 1'9 'Tsar' Maksim'yan' in N. E. Onchukov, op. cit., p. 2. 20 'Shaika razboinikov', V. P. Biryukov, Dorevolyutsionnyi fol'klor na Urale,

Sverdlovsk I936, p. 44.

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farewell of the world and asks his father's forgiveness before his execution. This he does usually through a song in which he addresses by turn his father, his friends and his forsaken bride.

In these two cases specific people are addressed but no reply is forthcoming. In the play 'Stepan Razin', however, there is an example of a response, in the form of action, to the song of the imprisoned robber. The prisoner, in an allegorical song-soliloquy bewails his fate:

Uzh zagorelas' vo chistom pole trava-kovyl', Dogorela ona do kamushka, do belogo. Na tom na kamushke sidel mlad sizoi orel. Podpalil on svoi krylushki bystrye, Podzheg-to, orel, nozhen'ki skorye.21

(In the steppe the feather-grass caught fire, It burned right up to the stone, to the white stone. On the stone there sat a young grey eagle. He singed his quick wings, The eagle scorched his swift feet.)

The young eagle is, of course, a reference to the prisoner himself and the singeing of his wings refers to his falling into the hands of the enemy and his subsequent imprisonment. In despair, he appeals to his friends to rescue him:

Oi vy bratsy, druz'ya moi milye, Ne spokin'te menya, dobrogo molodtsa, vo nevolyushke.

(Oh my brothers, my dear friends, Do not abandon me, a brave young hero, in my captivity.)

In answer the Cossacks and Stepan Razin himself burst into the prison and free him.

A further stage is reached when a complete musical duologue or even dialogue has evolved. This is often simply the result of dramatising a song. In the following example a conversation takes place between Adolf and his gaoler. Adolf mourns his lost freedom and asks the gaoler to help him escape. The latter, although he sympathises, is afraid to let him go. It will be seen that the duologue is a dramatised though distorted version of Ogarev's poem 'Arestant':

21 V. Golovachev and B. Lashchilin, op. cit., pp. 63-4.

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Adolf- Noch' tikha, sochti minuty, U tyur'my dveri krepki. Vo tyur'me sizhu razboinik V mal okoshechko glyazhu.

(The night is still, count the minutes, The prison doors are strong. A brigand, I sit here in prison Gazing through the tiny window.)

At this point Adolf calls to the guard for assistance and the guard replies:

Eto barin vse vozmozhno, Odnogo lish' ya boyus', Zdes' nachal'stvo vse likhoe, Ofitseram donesut, I skvoz' stroi soldata provedut.22

(That's all very well, Sir, But there's one thing I'm afraid of, The chief here is very strict, He'll tell the officers what I've done, They'll court-martial me And they'll have a soldier flogged.)

Similarly, in N. E. Onchukov's 'Shaika razboinikov' ('The Robber-band')23 there is a three-cornered dialogue between the Ataman, one of his men and the robbers, partly in spoken and partly in musical form. The Ataman and Rezov discuss the capture of a barrel of wine and the robbers gather round to celebrate. Rezov sings:

Vdrug ya vyshel na dorogu, Tut popalsya mne muzhik, On neset vina v bochenke, Podoshel k nemu ya v mig...

(Suddenly I came out onto the road, And there I came upon a peasant, Carrying a barrel of wine, So I went right up to him...)

22 'Tsar' Maksimilian i ego nepokornyi syn Adolf' in V. Golovachev and B. Lashchilin, op. cit., p. 93.

23 N. E. Onchukov, op. cit., p. Io5.

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The Ataman asks him:

Shto zh ty emu skazal?

(What did you say to him?)

Rezov then sings in answer:

Ne skazal emu ni slova, Tsop po shee tesakom, I skhvatil vino v bochenke, Tut i sled moi uzh prostyl.

(I didn't say a word, Just thumped him round the ear with my cudgel, Grabbed the barrel of wine, And disappeared at the double.)

Then all the robbers sing and make merry:

Druz'ya v butylki nalivaite, Obsushaite v ryumkakh dno, To-to lyuli, to-to lyuli, To-to lyulyushki moi!

(So pour it friends into the bottles, Then drain your glasses to the dregs, Hey lyuli, Hey lyuli,

There are other instances, however, when the action, mood or thought of the characters are expressed through the medium of a choir, which is usually hidden off-stage. Direct musical statement is thus replaced by indirect musical comment.

It has been shown, how, in some cases, the use of appropriate descriptive songs develops into a primitive form of dramatisation. In situations where the correlation between the words of the song and the action on stage, in other words the element of 'dramatisation' is high, there appear to be two distinct factors at work. In some cases the actions which correspond to the words of the songs are already an integral part of the play. The song has been introduced simply in order to emphasise the action. To take an example; the chaining, imprisonment and execution of Adolf are obviously an integral and original part of the plot of 'Tsar Maximillian.'

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Often the scene depicting these actions is illustrated by the singing of Turgenev's 'Ballada' ('A Ballad'):

Kak na lobnom meste molodets stoit,

Skovan on, skovan, skovan po rukam, Skovan on, skovan, skovan po nogam.24

(At the place of execution there stands a brave young lad, He is chained, chained, chained by the hands, He is chained, chained, chained by the feet.)

Clearly in such instances the action cannot be regarded as a dramatisation of the song. However, these are variants of the same scene in which the addition of another song, also connected with the theme of action, leads to considerable expansion, the appearance of a new character, and, to a certain extent, a change in the whole mood of the scene. In a variant published by N. N. Vinogradov, for example, the scene of the chaining of Adolf is further expanded by the singing of the comic song:

Vdol' po ulitse shirokoi Molodoi kuznets idet, On idet, idet, idet, Gromko pesen'ku poet.. .25

(Down the wide street Goes a young blacksmith, And as he goes, goes, goes He loudly sings this little song...)

The subsequent words and actions of the blacksmith who material- ises from the song and puts Adolf into fetters introduce a note of frivolity into this usually tragic scene.

It was quite usual too for the plays themselves to open on a musical note. The actors used to enter the house where the performance was to take place, singing a song in which they introduced themselves to their host, asking his permission to play and expressing their hope of some small reward. The commonest songs of this introductory type were variations of the following:

24 See e.g., V. V. Kallash, kistorii narodnogo teatra: 'Tsar' Maksimilian', Moscow 1899, P. 9.

25 N. N. Vinogradov, Narodnaya drama 'Tsar' Maksimil'yan, Teksty, sobrannye iprigotovlennye k pechati N. N. Vinogradovym (variant III), SPb. I914.

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Ty dozvol', dozvol', khozyain, V novu gorenku voiti!

V novu gorenku voiti Vdol' po gorenke proiti Slovo vymolviti ...26

(We ask our host, Pray let us enter your new guest-room, Enter your new guest-room, Let us pace the room, And give you our play.)

In the European folk-theatre in general a formal request for permission to play was a common phenomenon. Songs similar to the above Russian one can be found, for instance, at the beginning of the English folk-plays of 'St. George' where Father Christmas asks:

A room, a room, I do presume, Pray give us room to rhyme, For we have come to show activity This merry Christmas time.27

It was customary also to end the performance of the Russian folk-plays in a formal manner, resembling the rhymed kontsovka (ending) of other genres of folk-literature, in particular the skazki (fairy-tales) and byliny (epic songs). Such conventional endings were usually not only an indication to the audience that the performance was at an end but also contained a humorous request to reward the performer for his entertainment. In folk-drama this request or quote was a recognised part of the structure of the play. It could take the form of a song but in the Russian folk-plays it is more usual to find a spoken jingle as in the following:

Vot pochteneishaya publika, Zanaveska zakryvaetsya, I predstavlen'e vse konchaetsya, A akteram s vas na chai polagaetsya.28

26 'Lodka' in V. V. Sipovskii, op. cit., p. 239. 27 The Mummers' Play from Stanford-in-the-Vale, Berks: Stuart Pigott,

'Mummers' Plays from Berkshire, Derbyshire, Cumberland and Isle of Man', Folklore, Vol. XL, 1929, pp. 262-77.

%* N. N. Vinogradov, Tsar' Maksem'yan i ego nepokornyi syn Odol'f, SPb., I905.

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(And so most honourable members of the audience, The curtain descends, Our play is at an end, And now you must reward the actors.)

Often, however, a lively song was chosen to round off the folk- plays so that the action might end on a cheerful note after the preceding scenes of death and violence and so that the audience might return home in a congenial frame of mind.

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Documents

The Role of Folk-Songs in the Russian Folk-Plays