Russian romance ( ''románs'') is a type of sentimental

art song An art song is a Western world, Western vocal music Musical composition, composition, usually written for one voice with piano accompaniment, and usually in the classical music, classical art music tradition. By extension, the term "art song" is ...

with hints of

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

influence that was developed in

Imperial Russia Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * ...

by such composers as Nikolai Titov (1800-1875),

Alexander Alyabyev Alexander Aleksandrovich Alyabyev (; ), also rendered as Alabiev or Alabieff, was a Russian composer known as one of the fathers of the Russian art song. He wrote seven operas, twenty musical comedies, a symphony, three string quartets, more th ...

(1787–1851), Alexander Varlamov (1801–48), and Alexander Gurilyov (1803–58). By the early 20th century, several types of the Russian romance had emerged. An elite type of the Italianate opera-influenced song known as the "salon romance" is contrasted to the lower-class genre of "cruel romance" which features "sentimental courtship, illicit love, pained rejection, and often suicide". The latter is supposed to have given birth to the

Russian chanson Russian chanson (; from French "chanson") is a neologism for a musical genre covering a range of Russian songs, including Russian romance, city romance songs, Bard (Soviet Union), author song performed by singer-songwriters, and blatnaya pesnya ...

. The Russian romance had its heyday in the 1910s and 1920s when the top performers included

Anastasia Vyaltseva Anastasia Dmitrievna Vyaltseva (, 1871-1913) was a rather renowned Music of Russia, Russian mezzo-soprano, specializing in Gypsy art songs. Enjoying the cult following and supported by the popular press (which called her The Incomparable, Nesravnen ...

, Varvara Panina,

Nadezhda Plevitskaya Nadezhda Vasilievna Plevitskaya (; (Ви́нникова); 1 October 1940) was a popular female Russian folk singer. Following the Russian Civil War, she lived in exile and was later recruited by the NKVD. Early life and career Plevitskay ...

Tamara Tsereteli Tamara Semyonovna Tsereteli ( ka, თამარ წერეთელი, , 14 August 1900, in Sveri, Kutais Governorate, Georgia, Russian Empire – 3 April 1968, in Moscow, USSR) was a Georgian Russian singer, contralto, who specialized i ...

Pyotr Leshchenko Pyotr Konstantinovich Leshchenko (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Петро Константинович Лещенко; ; 2 June 1898 Isayeve, Odessa oblast, Ukraine, Isayeve, Odessa uezd, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) – 16 ...

, and

Alexander Vertinsky Alexander Nikolayevich Vertinsky (; – May 21, 1957) was a Russian and Soviet artist, poet, singer, composer, cabaret artist and actor who exerted seminal influence on the Russian tradition of artistic singing. Early years Alexander Vertinsky ...

. In the early

Soviet era The history of the Soviet Union (USSR) (1922–91) began with the ideals of the Russian Bolshevik Revolution and ended in dissolution amidst economic collapse and political disintegration. Established in 1922 following the Russian Civil War, ...

the genre was less favoured, as it was seen as a vestige of the pre-revolutionary "decadent and bourgeois" sensibility through much of the 20th century. A new generation of singers, such as

Valentina Ponomaryova Valentina Leonidovna Ponomaryova (; []; 18 September 1933 – 8 November 2023), was a Soviet Russian cosmonaut, pilot and scientist. Biography Ponomaryova left the school for girls No. 156 in Moscow with a gold medal in 1951. She graduated f ...

and

Nani Bregvadze Nani Giorgis asuli Bregvadze (born 21 July 1936) is a Georgians, Georgian and USSR, Soviet singer, pianist, music pedagogue, People's Artist of the USSR (1983). She was born, raised, and started her career in Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, ...

, emerged in the 1970s. Several vocalists from the pre-WWII era, including

Izabella Yurieva Izabella Yurieva () is the stage name of Izabella Danilovna Livikova (; 7 September 1899 – 20 January 2000), a Russian singer nicknamed the "Queen of the Russian Romance" who celebrated her centennial at a tribute concert given in her honor at t ...

(1899–2000),

Vadim Kozin Vadim Alekseyevich Kozin (March 21, 1903 – December 19, 1994) was a Russian tenor, songwriter. Vadim Alekseyevich Kozin was born the son of a merchant in Saint Petersburg to Alexei Gavrilovich Kozin and Vera Ilinskaya in 1903. His mother was ...

(1903–1994) and

Alla Bayanova Alla Nikolayevna Bayanova (; 18 May 1914 – 30 August 2011) was a Russian Romance singer sometimes compared with Édith Piaf for her simple yet dramatic style of performance. Bayanova was born in Chișinău, Kishinev in the family of an opera si ...

(1914–2011), also returned to prominence in the late Soviet years. Alexander Malinin, Sergey Zakharov and Oleg Pogudin are among the Russian romance singers active in the 21st century. In 1994, . Alexander Malinin received the World Music Award as best selling Russian artist.

César Cui César Antonovich Cui (; ; ; 26 March 1918) was a Russian composer and music critic, member of the Belyayev circle and The Five – a group of composers combined by the idea of creating a specifically Russian type of music. As an officer o ...

's 1895 book ''Russian Art Song: A Study of Its Development'' was translated in J.R. Walker’s ''Classical Essays on the Development of Russian Art Songs'' (Northfield, MN, 1993).

Notable songs

* '' Black Eyes'' * ''

Shine, Shine, My Star "Shine, Shine, My Star" () is an acclaimed Russian romance. The authorship of the song was uncertain for some time, being ascribed to various people, including Nikolay Gumilyov and Ivan Bunin. A popular belief attributed it to Russian Admiral Alek ...

'' * '' Дорогой длинною/

Those Were the Days Those Were the Days may refer to: Music Albums * ''Those Were the Days'' (Johnny Mathis album) (1968) * ''Those Were the Days'' (Cream album) (1997) * ''Those Were the Days'' (Dolly Parton album) (2005) * '' Those Were the Days – The Best of L ...

/ Along the Long Road'' * '' Evening Bell'' * '' Les Chrysanthemes'' * ''

Katyusha Katyusha () is a diminutive of the Russian name Ekaterina or Yekaterina, the Russian form of Katherine Katherine (), also spelled Catherine and Catherina, other variations, is a feminine given name. The name and its variants are popular in c ...

References

{{reflist

External links

Russian composers and singer-songwriters of 19th century (English)
an educational site
Synthesis of poetry and music (Russian)
a site dedicated to Russian romance Russian styles of music Song forms Art songs Romance (music) Russian songs

Notable songs

See also

References

External links