"Katyusha" - one of the most famous military songs, in fact, was created in the prewar years. She has a rather complicated history of creation, but a very happy fate. This simple song managed to conquer almost the whole world.
"Katyusha" - the legendary war song, oddly enough it sounds, was created before the war. Moreover, the history of its creation was very difficult.
Song birth
It all started with the fact that the already famous poet Mikhail Isakovsky came up with quatrains - the very well-known beginning of the song: "Apple and pear blossomed
.“But the verses didn’t develop further, so Isakovsky decided to postpone work on them until better times. Soon he met the composer Matthew Blanter. The composer really liked the opening lines of the future song and, after several sleepless nights, he composed the legendary melody.
At Blanter’s insistence, Isakovsky continued to work on the text. The song was first performed in November 1938 in the Hall of Columns. Her first performer was a young singer Valentina Batishcheva, who was called for an encore three times. Later “Katyusha” was performed by Lidia Ruslanova, Georgy Vinogradov, Eduard Gil and Anna German.
Katyusha in the war
The song sounded completely different in the war years. The soldiers not only knew her text by heart, but also added more and more new options. Katyusha fought in them at the front, waiting for her soldier, becoming a nurse or partisan
.Many perceived Katyusha as a real girl and even wrote letters to her. The name Katyusha was called jet mortars, horrifying the Nazis.
In one version of the legendary song featured a certain Katya Ivanova. As it turned out later, Katya Ivanova had a real prototype - a beautiful girl from the Kuban, who volunteered to go to the front and fought near Stalingrad. After the war ended, Ekaterina Andreevna retained a handwritten version of the text of the song about Katya Ivanova with a note that these verses were dedicated to her.
Interestingly, the Katyusha was also enjoyed by the opponents of the Soviet Union. The Nazis sang its German-language version, Spanish volunteers who served in the 250th division of the Wehrmacht used its melody in their Primavera march, the Finns had their own, "Karelian Katyusha".
However, friends and allies of the USSR also fell in love with Katyusha. Under the name "Whistling Evening, " it has become the anthem of Italian partisans. A second Italian version of the popular song appeared, called "Katarina." After the war, its own Katyusha appeared in Israel and even in China.
So this simple, seemingly unpretentious song managed to conquer the inhabitants of different parts of the world.
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