Pesnyary & New Christie Minstrels

1976. Big tour of Pesnyary in USA 1. Ya postavil konika - I left my horse near the gate - belorussian folk song 2. Veronika The group was created in Belarus (Byelorussia, the USSR) in 1967/68 as LIAVONY (“(The) Jesters“) by the folk enthusiast Vladimir Muliavin (1941-2003), who became band’s constant leader. In 1969 it was renamed to PESNIARY (“(The) Folk Tales Narrators/Singers“). The main specialization of the group was folk songs’ adaptation on modern rock instruments (and also violins, flutes, sax, folk whistles, lyre) with heavy accent on vocal harmonies. They were certainly pioneers of such music in the Soviet Union. The demanding selection by Muliavin resulted in an unusual amalgam of multi-instrumentalists with incredible voices, a unique band in the USSR (and in the world too) at those times. The 70s. The peak of the band’s popularity, albums were sold in millions of copies . The band often appeared on TV and radio and constantly toured. PESNIARY played 2 - 4 concerts almost every day, but it was hard to buy tickets, they were sold out very fast. Byelorussian folk songs (arranged by Muliavin) were the base of the band’s repertoire. But there were also songs by Vladimir Muliavin (with lyrics of good Byelorussian poets) and songs of Soviet (Russian and Byelorussian) composers, arranged by the band. Arrangements are very important, because everything PESNIARY performed was made in their unique way. It isn’t a mistake to call the band co-authors of songs written by other composers. It is the period when the band was in constant progress. In 1976 PESNIARY were the first Soviet rock band toured in the USA. In the middle of the 70s Vladimir Muliavin decided that it’s time for concept works. Two big suites were created: - “Pesn o dole“ (“The Song of Fate“), 1976-1977, music by Vladimir Muliavin, lyrics by great Byelorussian poet Yanka Kupala. Unfortunately it was never recorded in studio, only some live recordings exist and still wait for their time to be published. - “Gusliar“, 1979, - a poem-legend to the Yanka Kupala’s poem “Barrow“, music by Byelorussian composer Igor Luchenok. “Gusliar“ has been recorded on LP, in 2000 the label “Boheme Music“ released it on CD.