The ''Echelon Song'' (), also known as ''Song for Voroshilov'' () or ''Battle of the Red Guards'' (), is a Russian song written in 1933 by A. V. Alexandrov (music) and Osip Kolychev (lyrics), dedicated to

Kliment Voroshilov Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov ( ; ), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (; 4 February 1881 – 2 December 1969), was a prominent Soviet Military of the Soviet Union, military officer and politician during the Stalinism, Stalin era (1924–195 ...

. It is one of a number of popular Soviet songs which reminiscence about the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

era. This particular song is about the "railway warfare" (in Russian called "

echelon Echelon may refer to: * A level formation ** A level or rank in an organization, profession, or society ** A military sub-subunit smaller than a company but larger than a platoon ** Echelon formation, a step-like arrangement of units * ECHELO ...

warfare" "a special kind of warfare along railway lines used at the beginning of the Russian Civil War. ..'Echelon warfare' was used from December 1917 until Summer 1918 during the liquidation of the main counter-revolutionary pockets along the Don, in Belarus and in the Ukraine." (особый вид боевых действий вдоль ж.-д. магистралей, применявшийся в начале Гражданской войны в России. ..«Э. в.» велась с декабря 1917 до лета 1918 во время ликвидации основных очагов внутренней контрреволюции на Дону, в Белоруссии и на Украине.
Эшелонная война
in:

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; , ''BSE'') is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Great Russian Enc ...

, Moscow, 1969—1978.) during the Battle for Tsaritsyn of 1918 (between 1925 and 1961, Tsaritsyn was known as

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

and since 1962 as

Volgograd Volgograd,. formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area of , with a population ...

), where (according to official Soviet historiography) Voroshilov and

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

became friends. The music of the song is composed so as to recall a

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, Fuel oil, oil or, rarely, Wood fuel, wood) to heat ...

, beginning in an

accelerando ''Accelerando'' is a 2005 science fiction novel consisting of a series of interconnected short stories written by British author Charles Stross. As well as normal hardback and paperback editions, it was released as a free e-book under the CC ...

and

crescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece are the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings require interpretation by the performer depending ...

, and ending in a decrescendo. The song has been used for the closing credits of the 2016 film '' Hail, Caesar!''

References

*Yuriy Aleksandrovich Aleksandrov (ed.), ''А. Александров: Нотобиблиографический справочник'', Moscow, 1980.

External links

1939 performance
at sovmusic.ru {{authority control Russian military songs Soviet military songs 1933 songs