The history of the song "Treasured Stone". Boris Mokrousov - laureate of the Stalin Prize "cherished stone" and lonely accordion"

Treasured Stone (song) (B. Mokrousrv - A. Zharov). 1944 Used L. Utesov.

Treasured stone
"Cold waves stir up the wide Black Sea like an avalanche..."
Performed by Leonid Osipovich Utesov.
Music: Boris Mokrousov. Words: Alexander Zharov. 1944 Performed by: L. Utesov

History of the song

In July 1941, the authors future song were among the defenders of the legendary Sevastopol. They were both drafted into the navy, and even then they decided to write a song about the heroic sailors, the glorious Black Sea people. But this plan was not destined to come true at that time.
Alexander Zharov was urgently summoned to Moscow and sent to the Northern Fleet, while Boris Mokrousov remained in besieged Sevastopol.
“I met Boris Andreevich again only in 1943, in Moscow,” recalls Alexander Alekseevich Zharov. - The composer told me that he recently read in the newspaper an essay “The Sevastopol Stone” - about the legendary last defenders of the city, who took with them a stone - a particle of their native land, vowing that they would definitely return to their native land and hoist this stone in that very place where he lay.
We both warmly took this to heart. true story about the Sevastopol stone. She inspired us to write a song that we called “The Stone of Sevastopol.”
It was under this name that the song with notes was first published in the newspaper “Red Star” on January 9, 1944.
The first performer of this song was Leonid Osipovich Utesov, who kept it in his repertoire for a long time.
“We have a king-cannon, we have a king-bell, and we have a king-song - “The Treasured Stone,” he said, speaking in one of the television programs with a story about it.”

Cold waves rise like an avalanche
Wide Black Sea.
The last sailor left Sevastopol,
He leaves, arguing with the waves.

And a menacing, salty, raging wave
Wave after wave crashed against the boat.
In the foggy distance
Can't see the ground
The ships have gone far away.

Sailor friends picked up a hero.
The storm wave was boiling.
He clutched the stone with his blue hand
And he said quietly, dying:

"When I left my native rock,
I took a piece of granite with me...
And there, so far away
From the Crimean land
We couldn't forget about her.

Whoever takes the stone, let him swear
That it will be worn with honor.
He will be the first to return to his favorite bay
And he will not forget his oath!

That stone is treasured both night and day
The sailor's heart burns with fire.
May he keep it sacred
My stone is granite
He is washed with Russian blood."

This stone passed through storms and storms,
And he took his place with dignity.
The familiar seagull flapped its wings,
And my heart beat calmly.

A Black Sea sailor climbed the cliff,
Who is the Motherland new glory brought,
And in a peaceful distance
The ships are coming
Under the sun of our native land.

The song "Treasured Stone" was written by composer Boris Mokrousov, and lyrics by Alexander Zharov. It was based on the publication of the correspondent of the newspaper “Red Fleet” Leonid Vasilyevich Solovyov, who hard days defense of Sevastopol for years he was at the forefront of the struggle as a newspaper correspondent. He witnessed how a mortally wounded sailor asked for a stone he had taken on Sevastopol soil to be returned to Sevastopol after liberation.
And for many it has become a tradition. The soldiers took with them handfuls of earth, carefully wrapped in handkerchiefs, fragments from shells and bombs, chips from the cobblestone pavement - everything that could remind of Sevastopol on other fronts... And this means that the captured city did not submit and that the time will definitely come his release.
The small “Black Sea Legend” by Leonid Solovyov brought to life dozens of stories, films and songs. And Leonid Solovyov himself gave the name “Sevastopol Stone” to his lifetime collection of stories.
On July 3, 1942, by order of the Supreme Command, Sevastopol was abandoned. In 1943, “The Black Sea Legend” by Leonid Solovyov was read by the poet Alexander Zharov and composer Boris Mokrousov... Words and music were born as if by themselves...
The ballad song is still sung today. But for Sevastopol residents these are not only words inspired by the Black Sea, imbued with sailor valor and faith in the best on earth, for Sevastopol residents this is part of the history of their native city.
The words of this song are very relevant today.

Cold waves rise like an avalanche
Wide Black Sea.
The last sailor left Sevastopol,
He leaves, arguing with the waves...
And a menacing salty raging wave
Wave after wave crashed against the boat...

In the foggy distance
No land visible.
The ships have gone far away.

Sailor friends picked up a hero.
The stormy water was boiling...
He clutched the stone with his blue hand
And he said quietly, dying:
“When I left my native rock,
I took a piece of granite with me -

Then, so that in the distance
From the Crimean land
We couldn't forget about her.

Whoever takes the stone, let him swear
That it will be worn with honor.
He will be the first to return to his favorite bay
And he will not forget his oath.
That stone is treasured both night and day
A sailor's heart burns with fire...

May he keep it sacred
My stone is granite, -
He is washed with Russian blood.”

This stone passed through storms and storms,
And he took his place with dignity...
The familiar seagull flapped its wings,
And my heart beat calmly.
A Black Sea sailor climbed the cliff,
Who brought new glory to the homeland.

And in a peaceful distance
The ships are coming
Under the sun of our native land.
The words of this song, written in 1943, are especially relevant today - People gave their lives for this city, and here again Russian soldiers and sailors are returning to their hometown!
"Granite stone, -
He is washed with Russian blood."

The song was performed by Mark Reisen.

Boris Mokrousov - Stalin Prize laureate

“...The sense of musical drama is undeniable
inherent in this talented composer."
V. Solovyov-Sedoy

Friend of Boris Mokrousov
composer Yuri Slonov

A sensitive sense of musical dramaturgy was most fully revealed in songs that can most accurately be called fairy tale songs, ballad songs. The composer often and extensively turned to poetic and musical folklore, the treatment of which was never limited to simple harmonization of folk melodies. His approach is very individual. Mokrousov did not consider himself tied to the “letter” of the song, its melodies. Starting from the original source, he developed and refracted it through his vision. Even folk texts often subjected to professional polishing and refinement. The composer also freely generalized the intonations of various song layers, trying to reveal and develop the essence of folk imagery as deeply and fully as possible.

Boris Mokrousov, 1941

Any song by B. Mokrousov is deeply national and carries a feeling of an inextricable connection with the native land and the life of the people.

The best of them are “Song about the Native Land” (words by O. Fadeeva) and “Song about the Volga” (words by S. Ostrovoy). The wide, continuously flowing melody of “Songs about the Native Land” evokes sublime feelings to love for the Motherland and pride in it. The imagination brings to mind the wide distances and silence of Russian fields, centuries-old forests, mighty rivers and fields.

At the junction of fairy tale songs and patriotic songs stands the famous “Treasured Stone”. This ballad, illuminated by the stormy reflections of the war years, filled with inescapable filial love for his native land, carries within itself all the brightest and most valuable things that the composer has previously developed, taking his work to a new level.

The history of creation and later life this song. In the very first days of the war, many composers responded to the call of the Political Directorate Soviet Army and the Navy. Boris Mokrousov, together with Yuri Slonov and V. Makarov, was seconded to the active Black Sea Fleet. In 1941, the composer met and became friends with the poet Alexander Zharov. They were both united by the desire to create a song that inspires people to fight and perform feats in the name of the Motherland.

Alexander Zharov told how this legendary song was created. “...When the initial musical sketches and melodic moves began to appear, we began to think together and work on the content...It didn’t work out right away. Boris set a difficult task: to create a song foreshadowing victory over the enemy (even then!). To do this, the song must carry the bitter truth of the first period of the war. Otherwise, the prediction of victory would not be artistically convincing. For a long time they could not find the central climactic episode that would define main idea essays. Finally, he was prompted by life itself..."

…For the fifth day already, a lonely boat was sailing along the Black Sea, heading for Tuapse. There were four people in the boat: all sailors were from Sevastopol. One of them was dying, three were sullenly silent. Faithful to the holy commandment of sea friendship, they did not leave their seriously wounded comrade on the shore, but took him with them.

When they raised him, struck by an enemy shrapnel, there in Sevastopol (it was near the monument to the Lost Ships), they did not notice at first that in his hand he was holding a small gray stone, knocked off the granite parapet of the embankment by a shell. Leaving Sevastopol, the sailor vowed to return to this city again and put the stone in its place.

Feeling that he was not destined to do this, the Chernomorian handed over the treasured fragment of granite to his comrades in arms with the order: to certainly return it to its place - to Sevastopol.

This is how the Sevastopol sailors passed this precious relic on to each other. From them it went to the soldiers of other branches of the army, and each vowed to fulfill the behest of the unknown sailor from Sevastopol - to return the stone to native land.

Composer N.P. Budashkin

This story, told by the experienced boatswain Prokhor Matveevich Vasyukov, was told to readers of the Red Fleet newspaper by writer Leonid Solovyov. In the summer of 1943, Boris Mokrousov read the legend about the Sevastopol stone in this newspaper.

“We met Boris Andreevich again only in 1943,” Alexander Alekseevich Zharov later said, “the composer said that he had recently read in the newspaper an essay “Sevastopol Stone” - about the legendary last defenders of the city, who took with them a stone - a particle of their native land, swearing that they would definitely return to their native land and place the stone in the very place where it lay. We both warmly took to heart this true story about the Sevastopol stone. She inspired us to write a song, which we called “The Stone of Sevastopol.”

It was under this name that the song, along with notes, was published in the newspaper “Red Star” on January 9, 1944. In the composer's archive we were able to find an earlier edition, dated October 1942 - a repertoire leaflet for the Red Navy amateur performances "Red Navy Variety", prepared by the VDNT named after N.K. Krupskaya and published by the publishing house "Iskusstvo".

So in 1944 she was already well known at the front, especially by sailors.

“I happened to be in Sevastopol during the days of its liberation in the spring of forty-four,” Zharov said, “and what was my joy when I heard a large detachment of marines enter the city with the song “Treasured Stone.” But joy is joy, but it turned out that some comrades, from those who liberated Sevastopol, of course in a joking manner, but made a claim against me:

Now, Comrade Major, we will scold you. You wrote the song wrong.

What's wrong with that?

And your song says that we will return to Sevastopol and “the Black Sea sailor who brought new glory to the Motherland will ascend the cliff.” It was very good when you composed it, but now the Black Sea sailor has already climbed the cliff. And ships are already sailing under the sun of our Soviet land. So please redo it.

And I corrected the lyrics of the song. Since then it has been sung in the form in which I made it in liberated Sevastopol.”

The first recording of the song “Treasured Stone” was made on a gramophone record by Georgy Abramov back in 1944. It was also performed by Leonid Utesov, who kept it in his repertoire for a long time.

“We have a king-cannon, we have a king-bell, and we have a king-song - “The Treasured Stone” - this is what he said about her famous singer and actor.

This song was performed by many singers: Mark Reisen, Maria Maksakova, Boris Gmyrya, Mark Reshetin and many others. Lyudmila Zykina and the master of our stage Joseph Kobzon included it in their repertoire. Recently, “The Treasured Stone” was performed and recorded on a CD “Songs of the War Years” by the famous baritone Dmitry Hvorostovsky. The collection includes two more songs by Boris Mokrousov - “Front Path” and the masterpiece of Russian lyrics “Lonely Accordion”, a song that is sung in many countries around the world. It is a pity that the people who were involved in the design of the CD do not see the difference between the poet M. Matusovsky (whose surname stands as the author of the music) and the composer B. Mokrousov, which puts Dmitry Hvorostovsky in an awkward position, who probably knows who the authors of the songs he performs are . Although nowadays it has become unfashionable to name its authors when performing a particular song, it is enough to name the singer and everything seems to be in its place.

On Kalyaevskaya Street in Moscow with his mother Maria Ivanovna, sister Shura and nephew Andreika. 1947

Known to many music show“Meeting with a Song” began for many years with the melody of “Lonely Harmony,” which became her business card. This song also has its own story, which was told by a famous Moscow musicologist, a front-line soldier, who devoted many years to studying the creativity of various Soviet composers, Yuri Evgenievich Biryukov.

“For people of my generation, “Lonely Accordion” and other songs by composer Boris Mokrousov are akin to call signs from distant childhood and youth. We grew up and matured with these songs. They entered our lives not only with the voices of Utesov and Bernes, Bunchikov and Nechaev, and other wonderful singers, but also sung by our in our own voices, and therefore fell in love, were remembered firmly and for a long time, one might say forever.

The post-war period brought Boris Mokrousov and the poet Mikhail Isakovsky together again.

“Lonely Accordion” is perhaps one of the best and undoubtedly a milestone in the poet’s songwriting. The time of her birth is the first post-war months of 1945 (I mean poetry). The original version of the song was preserved in the archive of their author, indicating that the two final stanzas looked completely different from their final form:

Why does it feel both sweet and painful?
At this time in your native land?
Why do I sigh involuntarily,
How can I hear your accordion?

The heroine of the future song asked herself, and she herself tried to explain this to herself:

As if I'm waiting for you in silence,
Even though I know you won't come.
Why are you wandering around the village all night,

Instead of these two stanzas of the original version of the song, which excluded the possibility of the heroes meeting, Isakovsky final version I made one:

It may happen that she is not far away,
She doesn’t know if you’re waiting for her...
Why are you wandering alone all night?
Why don't you let the girls sleep?

And the words of the future song began to play in a completely different way, allowing us, its future listeners, to independently “conjecture” the further development of events, their epilogue.

B.A.Mokrousov
and Andreyka's nephew

This technique of the so-called “open plot”, when its development does not end with the last stanza or line of the song, but gives the listener the opportunity to fantasize, awakens his associative fantasy. Isakovsky masterfully used it not only in “Lonely Harmony,” but also in his other song works. This, as a rule, caused numerous “continuations” and “answers” to them.

Isakovsky first showed his poem to composer Vladimir Zakharov. He composed music for it, calling his song “Harmonist”. It was learned and performed in the Pyatnitsky choir led by him. However, the song did not receive such universal fame as the lyrical songs written by this creative duo from the 1930s, “Seeing Off”, “And Who Knows Him”.

At the beginning of 1946, the poet published this poem in the magazine “October”. It was there that Boris Mokrousov noticed it and soon composed music for it. The melodic basis of the song for the composer was a tune that was widely used at the front, and therefore, published by him in the Muzfond, in a scanty edition (only 500 copies), “Lonely Accordion” managed to quickly spread and gain nationwide popularity in 1946-1947. After all, the first radio recordings of hers that I was able to find, based on the time of her broadcast, date back to the time when she was awarded the State Prize.

So in 1948 it was recorded with piano accompaniment by the famous Leningrad singer Efrem Flax. The following year, 1949, the soloist of the All-Union radio Georgy Abramov, accompanied by pop orchestra under the direction of Viktor Knushevitsky, who brilliantly orchestrated this, and by the way, many other songs by Mokrousov, Blanter, Solovyov-Sedoy, after which they were literally transformed. The touch of the hand of such a master of arrangement and song interpretation, unsurpassed to this day, as Knushevitsky, was one of the important reasons for their success and popularity among listeners.

Subsequently, the song “Lonely Accordion” was performed by S. Lemeshev, P. Kirichek, L. Aleksandrovskaya, the duet of L. Lyadov - N. Panteleeva, Eduard Khil and many other performers. It was performed beautifully by Georg Ots. The recording in his interpretation was preserved on the radio and is very memorable to listeners.

New generations of singers also sing the song. It still lives today, exciting and touching the innermost and most intimate strings of our souls.”

In 1948, for the songs “Treasured Stone”, “Lonely Accordion”, “Song of the Native Land” and the song “Flowers in the Garden are Beautiful in Spring” (words by S. Alymov), Boris Andreevich Mokrousov was awarded the State (at that time everyone said “Stalin’s ") USSR Prize.

After the maximum strain of all physical and spiritual forces during the war years, after the immeasurable joy of victory, people valued peace, quiet, and quiet most of all. People have returned to nature. They wanted to enjoy it, they were waiting for intimate lyrical songs about the simplest, most human things. A psychological turning point had to occur in order to return from the main task - defeating the enemy - to creation.

It is not surprising that it was at this time that the bright, life-affirming talent of Boris Mokrousov blossomed.

He writes the operetta “Rose of the Winds” (libretto by Lukomsky), the content of which is the victorious campaign in the Adriatic Sea, in the 18th century, of the Russian fleet under the command of Admiral Ushakov. Beautiful music, unfortunately, has been forgotten in our time, although this is probably the only work about Russian sailors of that time. In 1948-1949 he wrote the “Russian Overture” for symphony orchestra., piano trio. But the leading genre remains the song. And above all lyrical. Nizhny Novgorod musicologist Valentina Grigorievna Blinova, very familiar with Mokrousov’s work, in 1999 after anniversary concert, dedicated to the composer’s 90th anniversary, said: “...Mokrousov’s music itself, the song, without any pretension, is very high art, and the main thing that makes it dear, dearer than anything else, is its sincerity and spontaneity. His songs are like air, naturally, no tension, no art is immediately felt, and this, in my opinion, is very precious. This doesn't happen very often, and not many can be named. And this was his strongest feeling. Of course, he knew this, understood it, but to his credit, he never flaunted it. Although I did not see him, and was not directly acquainted with him, his own songs introduce him better than anything. Judging by the songs, one can form a completely correct human portrait of him, not only artistic, not only as a songwriter, but also as a person. And I can say that this is also worth a lot...”

Music by Boris Mokrousov, lyrics by Alexander Zharov (1943)
Performed by Mark Reisen and the Ensemble under B.A. Alexandrova (1947)

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The song “Treasured Stone” truly has heroic story creation based on real events.

The story about a Sevastopol sailor dying in a boat in the middle of the sea with a fragment of granite, knocked off the parapet of the Sevastopol embankment, clutched in his fist, is a story that actually happened. The sailor's last wish was to return this stone to his native land, which the comrades vowed to do, passing each other a simple fragment as the most expensive thing.

Boatswain Prokhor Vasyukov told this story to journalist Leonid Solovyov, who, in turn, shared it with readers of the Red Fleet newspaper. In 1943, the newspaper caught the eye of the composer Boris Mokrousov, who himself was a defender of Sevastopol, so this topic was close to him, caused a response in his soul. He decided to write a song together with his comrade, poet Alexander Zharov. Initially, the song was called “Stone of Sevastopol” and was published in 1944 in the newspaper “Red Star”.

The poet Alexander Zharov recalled:

“I happened to be in Sevastopol during the days of its liberation in the spring of forty-four, and what was my joy when I heard a large detachment of marines enter the city with the song “Treasured Stone”. But joy is joy, and it turned out that some comrades from those who liberated Sevastopol, of course, in a joking manner, but made a claim against me:

“We are going to scold you now, Comrade Major.” You wrote the song wrong.

- What's wrong with that?

“And your song says that we will return to Sevastopol and “the Black Sea sailor who brought new glory to the Motherland will ascend the cliff.” It was very good when you composed it, but now the Black Sea sailor has already climbed the cliff. And ships are already sailing under the sun of our Soviet land. So please redo it.

And I corrected the lyrics of the song. Since then it has been sung in the form in which I made it in liberated Sevastopol.”

Text

Cold waves rise like an avalanche
Wide Black Sea.
The last sailor left Sevastopol,
He leaves, arguing with the waves.

And a menacing, salty, raging wave
Wave after wave crashed against the boat.
In the foggy distance
Can't see the ground
The ships have gone far away.

Sailor friends picked up a hero.
The storm wave was boiling.
He clutched the stone with his blue hand
And he said quietly, dying:

“When I left my native rock,
I took a piece of granite with me...
And there, so far away
From the Crimean land
We couldn't forget about her.

Whoever takes the stone, let him swear
That it will be worn with honor.
He will be the first to return to his favorite bay
And he will not forget his oath!

That stone is treasured both night and day
The sailor's heart burns with fire.
May he keep it sacred
My stone is granite
He is washed with Russian blood.”

This stone passed through storms and storms,
And he took his place with dignity.
The familiar seagull flapped its wings,
And my heart beat calmly.

A Black Sea sailor climbed the cliff,
Who brought new glory to the Motherland,
And in a peaceful distance
The ships are coming
Under the sun of our native land.

Words by Alexander Zharov
Music by Boris Mokrousov

Cold waves rise like an avalanche
Wide Black Sea.
The last sailor left Sevastopol,
He leaves, arguing with the waves...
And a menacing salty raging wave
Wave after wave crashed against the boat...

In the foggy distance
No land visible.
The ships have gone far away.

Then, so that in the distance
From the Crimean land
We couldn't forget about her.

May he keep it sacred
My stone is granite, -
He is washed with Russian blood.”

And in a peaceful distance
The ships are coming
Under the sun of our native land.

words and music - 1943

Chorus (“In the foggy distance...”, etc.) is sung twice

Russians Soviet songs(1917-1977). Comp. N. Kryukov and Y. Shvedov. M., “Art. lit.", 1977

The last verse was originally sung in the future tense. And when Sevastopol was liberated, it began to be performed in the past tense, as given above.

The song was conceived in July 1941; then both its authors - Alexander Zharov and Boris Mokrousov - ended up in Sevastopol. Fighting for the city began at the end of October; on July 4, 1942, after an 8-month siege, the city fell. A small part of the defenders managed to evacuate on boats, breaking through the naval blockade, the rest died a heroic death or (100 thousand) were captured. The city was liberated on May 9, 1944, by this time there were almost no residents left in it - they died or were driven away to Germany.

In 1943, Zharov and Mokrousov met again and created a song. The first recording on the record is jazz by Leonid Utesov, 1944, Leningrad, Experimental Factory (small edition, for radio).

Translation

The Words Of Alexander Zharov
Music By Boris Mokrousov

Cold wave throws an avalanche
A wide Black sea.
The last sailor left Sevastopol,
He goes, arguing with the waves...
Salty and terrible raging shaft
On the boat wave after wave broke...

In the misty distance
No sign of land.
ships Far.

Friends-sailors picked up the hero.
Boiling water storm...
He clutched the stone blue hand
And said quietly, dying:
"When I left dear cliff,
With him a piece of granite carried -

Then, so far
From Crimean land
About it we couldn't forget.

Who"ll take the stone, he let them swear
What an honor to wear it.
He was the first in beloved Bay will be back
And his oath will not forget.
The stone and cherished night and day
Sailor heart burns the fire...

Let's hold sacred
My stone-granite, -
"He washed in Russian blood."

Through storms and the storms passed this stone,
And he stood in place with dignity...
Friend the Seagull's wings,
And heart began to beat calmly.
Ascended the cliff, the black sailor,
Who new homeland of glory.

And peace was given
Going ships
Under the sun native land.

words and music - 1943

Chorus ("In the misty distance...", etc.) is sung twice

Russian Soviet song (1917-1977). Comp. N. Kryukov and Y. Shvedov. M., "Art. lit.", 1977

The last verse originally sung in the future tense. And when Sevastopol was liberated, he was executed in the past tense, as above given.

The song was conceived in July 1941; then both its author - Alexander Zharov and Boris Mokrousov - was in Sevastopol. The battle for the city began in late October, on 4 July 1942 after 8-month siege the city fell. A small portion of the defenders were able to evacuate on the boats, broke through the naval blockade, the rest fell in battle or (100 thousand) were in captivity. The town was liberated on May 9, 1944, by that time it had few, if any residents were killed or were deported to Germany.

Zharov and in 1943 Mokrousov met again and created the song. The first entry on the record - jazz, Leonid Utyosov, 1944, the Leningrad Experimental factory (small edition for the radio).