The Northern Russian Choir performed in the Kremlin with Pelageya, Shaman and Marshal

“The task was to show the audience the culture of Pomorye through song legends and epics”

On September 19, in honor of the 85th anniversary of the Arkhangelsk Region, the Northern Russian Choir performed at the State Kremlin Palace with a unique program. Through the Pomeranian song legends and epics, the audience touched the culture of Pomorie.

For a choir with almost a century of history, this is the first solo performance on the main stage of the country. That is why the program “Song Radiance of the White Sea” included masterpieces of traditional song and dance culture from different regions of the Arkhangelsk region: Kargopolsky, Pinezhsky, Leshukonsky, Mezensky, Kotlassky, Primorsky and Onega. According to the director of the concert Pavel Remnev, the task was to show the audience the culture of Pomorye through song legends and epics. All performances were staged specifically for the scale of the stage space, so all the artists of the group were involved in some performances: vocal, dance and orchestral troupes.

The entire northern song culture carries a feminine element, and therefore the song group of the choir is exclusively female. “After all, Pomor men went to sea for a long time to fish. Thanks to this, northern folk art is especially melodic, melodious, we don’t speak – we sing, this is the peculiarity of the northern manner of speech – speak, ”the artistic director of the group Svetlana Ignatieva shared an interesting fact.

One of the numbers of the program with the traditional Pinega speak is a fragment of the production “Pinega metishche”. It is built on a stage from Fyodor Abramov’s unfinished novel “The Clean Book” and the traditions of Pinezhsky folklore. Under the a cappella singing, the audience sees the preparations of the girl, who for the first time goes to the round dance on the metishche – a traditional summer youth festivity in a meadow by the river. This is a northern rite of passage into girlhood. A large festive outfit for a girl is brought to the stage in a chest. And then, making a circle with each element of the outfit, they dress. According to Svetlana Ignatieva, this round dance tradition has a sacred, magical meaning, which today is preserved only in the north.

– Round dances are slow at first – a kind of round dance processions. And then gradually, gaining a step, they turn into whirlwind quadrilles, she said. – This rhythm is connected with the nature of the north: splashing water, soft earth, and then winds and storms.

The festive attire of the Pinezhsky district for this issue, according to the chief fashion designer of the Northern Choir Nikolai Teryukhin, was almost completely recreated: a sundress, a brocade short, scarves, scarves, a bandage with pearls, a woven belt, ribbons, amber beads and a shawl. And all the costumes of the artists are made in accordance with the traditions of the regions of Pomorie: cut, ornament, color and embroidery. To do this, the costumers of the choir have been collecting archival information for ten years.

The second section of the concert program was dedicated to the traditional visiting holiday “Margaritinsky Fair”. Fair traditions are, first of all, meeting and receiving guests. SHAMAN, Pelageya, Alexander Marshal, Alexei Petrukhin, the Gubernia group, as well as the Arkhangelsk art ensemble of Tim Dorofeev and the modeling agency of Nikolai Teryukhin became the guests of the Northern Choir on the stage of the Kremlin.

By the way, the song “My Home is Russia”, which was performed at the concert by Alexandra Marshal, was in the repertoire of the Northern Choir before that.

“Folk songs were always sung to me by my grandmother and mother, since then they have always been in my heart,” said Alexander Marshal. – I have repeatedly been to the North – to Murmansk, Arkhangelsk – and every time I am convinced that the beauty of our Motherland is indescribable, but the most important thing is people. There are no other people with such a soul anywhere in the world.

The final accent was the performance of the song “Let’s Get Up” by SHAMAN together with the Northern Choir. Especially for the concert in the State Kremlin Palace, the arrangement of this composition was made by the singer and composer Maxim Pavlov. The hall listened to her standing.

“I recently performed at the Spasskaya Tower festival and sang the song Let’s Stand Up to a military band, and I really liked this experience,” he said. – I like to try something new in my work, because when you do one thing, it gets boring. Today, for me, the performance with the Northern Choir is another milestone. The northern choir is an amazing performance, this is power!

The concert in the Kremlin Palace launched a series of festive events dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the region, which will be held in all regions and districts of Pomorie during the week.