hello!!! Hope you’re doing good!!! I loved your posts about Ilya’s childhood and schooling in Russia. I can’t seem to let go of this headcanon that Ilya is a really good singer and has had professional vocal training since childhood? Maybe something he and Irina used to do? Could you throw some light on what kind of songs Ilya would have listened to if he was a vocalist while growing up? Is classical singing and opera a big thing in Russia?
Hi, thank you so much, I'm glad you liked the posts!
Now, this is a hard question for me, I'm pretty much tone-deaf, so I was never in any kind of musical training, but I asked around, so no worries.
Okay, generally, classical music education is veeeeery strong in Russia, we have some of the best conservatories in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but it's higher education so. Irrelevant. For children we have music schools, they are separated from general public schools, but they are still free for anyone who wants to study music. There is an admission process though.
There are some nuances tho that I think don't quite add up for Ilya specifically. If he was to attend music school, it would conflict with his hockey training, because both require a shit ton of your time. If he went both to music school and hockey training he wouldn't have time to live his little life, which is sad.
Now, I kinda got inspired by this hc of yours, and I thought that it would make so much sense for his mother to be a music teacher. She could have played the piano and sung, she could have finished the Moscow conservatory and gotten a PhD in music research or something. This way she could have taught Ilya singing herself, from early age. I can imagine them bonding like that, her teaching him to play the piano and sing. I think she would have noticed his talent, maybe even pushed for him to attend music school at 6 or 7 yo, but his father would be strictly against it because you know. Hockey. A proper manly activity for proper men.
But she would have taught him anyway, and it would have been Ilya's favorite thing in the world, something only for him and his mama.
This makes me so sad actually.
Now, I want to welcome you into the Entry-level Russian Depression™ which is children's songs.
Idk, do you have songs in your culture that are for children, and they are cool and nice, but when you listen to them in adulthood you just cry within 10 seconds and then proceed to bawl for 3 hours straight all the while feeling so much longing you can't physically put it into words? Well, in Russia, we do.
Those are mostly songs from soviet cartoons or movies for children, and I think Irina would DEFINITELY sing them with little Ilyusha.
For example we have a soviet cartoon about little baby mammoth who woke up all alone and started looking for his mama. Spoiler, his mama has been dead for years, he is the last mammoth on the planet earth. And while he was looking for her he sung about how he wants to find his only mama, how he would withstand everything just to get to her and how no child should ever be left alone without their mama. And this song is TERRIBLE for my poor soul and I can't even imagine how Ilya would listen to it or sing it considering his fate. Btw in the end the baby mammoth gets adopted by mama elephant and everything is fine. But I do think that this cartoon and this song is the formative experience for any Russian child, Ilya included.
Here is the link if you want to listen, and there are lyrics in the description for you to Google translate of you want
So this is for little little babies, and now to something he could have sung with Irina closer to 10 or 11.
The first song is Russian Depression™ final boss, Prekrasnoe Dal'yoko (Beautiful Far Away). Not only is it sad as fuck, it also requires some serious singing skills, as far as I understand. This song is from a soviet movie and it's about future, and how one hopes it won't be cruel to them and you can ask any Russian person, they have cried at least once to this song, that I can guarantee. Because when you are a child it sounds hopeful and you are exited for your future that is supposed to be bright, but then you become an adult and just. You are not so hopeful anymore.
Here is the original song and I also added link to it's lyrics, I ran it through Google translate just to check how it sounds. Well, it's... Okay, the poetry is lost completely though, but oh well.
https://youtu.be/KIJpoqwp0js?feature=shared
https://genius.com/Tatyana-daskovskaya-beautiful-far-away-lyrics
This song's cultural impact is huge, it served as an inspiration for a bunch of modern song-writers and cover artists as well, and it's generally really well-loved in Russia and post Soviet space.
Now I just want to drop some links to Soviet songs with similar vibe, just because I really can't deep dive into every single one, it would take years, so here you go, for general knowledge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk5NV6DoQZ4&list=RDQk5NV6DoQZ4&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eu0Hp94NGY&list=RDQk5NV6DoQZ4&index=5
Now next one I want to share is interesting, because I listen to this song when I feel really bad, and it does a wonderful job of cheering me up. It has a very warm vibe, if you know, what I mean, here are some of the lyrics
The night will pass, clear morning will come,
I know, happiness awaits you and me
The night will pass, the stormy time will pass
The dawn will come
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peQqsTZ9958&list=RDpeQqsTZ9958&start_radio=1
It's also from a cartoon, so it still kinda falls under children's songs category and the next one is for everybody and I remembered it rather recently because of all the news about Artemis II. So yeah, it's about cosmos.
... And it also has lyrics about mothers and sons. So....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJQ3CIrxsV0&list=RDDJQ3CIrxsV0&start_radio=1
Yes, all of these songs are Soviet, but it's what I imagine Irina would sing with him while she was alive. I truly believe that in that context, Ilya wouldn't have any professional vocal training after her death, it would be too fresh a wound. Plus his father probably pushed for more hockey training, so no time for music lessons.
Music in 2000s is... Another matter whatsoever, it would need a separate post.
I would also love to make a post about what he would be listening to in 2020s, I have a lot of ideas.
Now I'm gonna wrap it up real quick, I always feel like I'm overstaying my welcome with these posts.
It took so much time. I listened to songs from my childhood. I smoked a lot. I cried. I thought about life. I ate kulich. Happy Easter, btw, even tho I believe that it has already passed for catholic world. We have it on the 12th this year. Happy late Easter, I guess.
Bye!
