The Song of the Volga Boatmen

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The "Song of the Volga Boatmen" (known in Russian as Эй, ухнем! [Ey, ukhnyem!, "Yo, heave-ho!"], after the refrain) is a well-known traditional Russian song collected by Mily Balakirev and published in his book of folk songs in 1866. It was sung by burlaks, or barge-haulers, on the Volga River. Balakirev published it with only one verse (the first). The other two verses were added at a later date. Ilya Repin's famous painting Barge Haulers on the Volga depicts such burlaks in Tsarist Russia toiling along the Volga.The song was popularized by Feodor Chaliapin, and has been a favorite concert piece of bass singers ever since. Bill Finegan's jazz arrangement for the Glenn Miller band took the song to No. 1 in the US charts in 1941. Russian composer Alexander Glazunov based one of the themes of his symphonic poem "Stenka Razin" on the song. Spanish composer Manuel de Falla wrote an arrangement of the song, which was published under the name Canto de los remeros del Volga (del cancionero musical...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Ilya Repin, Public domain