Вечерний звон (Vecherniy zvon)–Mnogaya L’eta! Yale Russian Chorus 65th Anniversary CD

Yale Russian Chorus: V’echern’ii zvon (Evening Bells). The lyrics of this popular Russian song are a free translation of the poem “Those Evening Bells” by Thomas Moore (1779-1852), published in his collection “National Airs” in 1818 with the annotation that it was an air to the tune of “The Bells of .” The adaptation, by the Russian poet Ivan Kozlov (1779-1840), was one of several from Moore in a collection “Northern Flowers” published in 1828. The best-known setting is usually attributed to Alexander Aliabiev (1787-1851), but recent research indicates that the melody is actually that of a folk song. As arranged by the great leader of the Don Cossack Choir, Serge Jaroff (1896-1985), this song became a favorite among exiles from Russia, who sang it to remember the motherland that they were forced to leave behind. Yale Russian Chorus 40th Anniversary (1993): Woolsey Hall, Yale Univ., September 1993. Conductor: Denis Mickiewicz. Soloist: David-Marc Finley.