Saturday 19 March 2011
Tune of the Day: Kalinka
Russian folk song
This song was written in 1860 by the Russian composer, writer and folklorist Ivan Petrovich Larionov, and first performed as part of a theatrical entertainment that he had composed. Soon it was added to the repertory of a folk choral group, and rapidly became one of the most popular folk songs in Russia. The refrain of the song refers to the kalinka, which is the snowball tree, and is usually played with an accelerating tempo.