Ej, Yamshchik, goni-ka k "Yaru"
Hey, Drive Faster To "Yar", Coachman! Эй, ямщик, гони-ка к «Яру»!
This is one of the most famous Russian romances, with music composed by the Russian poet and composer Evgeny Yuriev (1882-1911), to the words of a poem that was written by Boris Andrzhievsky. The romance belongs to the so called "Yamshchik songs" (Coachmen songs). Yuriev has lived about 30 years only and left after him several very good romances: "In The Moon Shining" (В лунном сиянии), "What for To Love, What For To Suffer" (Зачем любить, зачем страдать). The initial text of the romance is lost, and publications provide various texts.
The Moscow restaurant and theater "Yar" was founded in 1826 on Kuznetsky Most by a Frenchman Tranquille Yard. The restaurant enjoyed such popularity that it became indissoluble with life in Moscow, and it was frequented by Pushkin, Tolstoy, Chekhov and Maxime Gorky, Savva Morozov, Konstantin Balmont, Valery Bryusov, Konstantin Przhevalsky, Alexander Kuprin, Vladimir Andreev, Fedor Shalyapin. |
Alexander Pushkin, the most famous Russian poet, marked the good food served in Yar. It was also famous for its Sokolovsky Gypsy choir, under the direction of Ivan Sokolov, succeeded by his nephew Ilya Sokolov. The famous soloist of the choir was the Gypsy woman Stesha, whose true name was Antonina Soldatova. Stesha was called the Russian Catalani (an Italian female singer). She was said about that even Napoleon himself sent for her when living in Moscow in 1812, however, she was in the city of Yaroslavl.
In 1917, after the October Revolution, it housed a club of the Red Army soldiers, and a few years later it became the government hotel called "Soviet". Finally, in 1998, the restaurant got its original name back "Yar", and nowadays the Gypsy theater "Roman" is also housed in the same building.
In 1917, after the October Revolution, it housed a club of the Red Army soldiers, and a few years later it became the government hotel called "Soviet". Finally, in 1998, the restaurant got its original name back "Yar", and nowadays the Gypsy theater "Roman" is also housed in the same building.
The famous litterateur, Gilyarovskiy, wrote that people did not come, but fell into Yar. People went on a bat there for days. Some extraordinary events are reported to happen there. So, Grigory Rasputin was said to ride into Yar in the troika once, having made an aperture in the back wall in advance. The another case was when the members of the bandit gang "Black Jacks" came to the restaurant as a funeral procession, and their leader came out of the brought coffin. They broke mirrors throwing champagne bottles at them, painted the waiters faces with mustard, wrote on the waiters`backs their addresses for coachmen with a piece of chalk.
The last Russian tsar Nikolai II visited Yar also, and sat in a special tsar`s lodge there. Nowadays the romance is used in movies and theater performances for the creation of the late Russian Empire`s atmosphere. A lot of singers performed the romance, either Russian or those from other countries: Yuri Morfessi, Deanna Durbin, Eduard Khil, Oleg Pogudin, Vladimir Samsonov, Ivan Ozhogin, Alexander Miminoshvili, Galina and Oleg Ivanov, and others. |
Eduard Khil performs the song
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Russian text:
Что так грустно – взять гитару Да петь песню про любовь Иль поехать лучше к «Яру» - Разогреть шампанским кровь. Там цыганки молодые Будут петь, плясать всю ночь. Раздарю им золотые, Отгоню тоску я прочь! Эй, ямщик, гони-ка к «Яру»! Эх, лошадей, брат, не жалей! Тройку ты запряг – не пару, Погоняй-ка поскорей! Темной ночью, снежной вьюгой, Все дороги заметет, В сани сяду я с подругой, Тройка с места понесет. А когда вернёмся к «Яру», Отогреемся, друзья, И под звонкую гитару Будем петь мы до утра… Эй, ямщик, гони-ка к «Яру»! Эх, лошадей, брат, не жалей! Тройку ты запряг – не пару, Погоняй-ка поскорей! |
Transliteration:
Chto tak grustno vzyat gitaru Da pet pesnyu pro lyubov Il poekhat luchshe k YAru - Razogret shampanskim krov Tam cyganki molodye Budut pet plyasat vsyu noch Razdaryu im zolotye Otgonyu tosku ya proch Ehj yamshchik goni-ka k Yaru Ehkh loshadej brat ne zhalej Trojku ty zapryag ne paru Pogonyaj-ka poskorej Temnoj nochyu snezhnoj vyugoj Vse dorogi zametet V sani syadu ya s podrugoj Trojka s mesta poneset A kogda vernyomsya k Yaru Otogreemsya druzya I pod zvonkuyu gitaru Budem pet my do utra Ehj yamshchik goni-ka k Yaru Ehkh loshadej brat ne zhalej Trojku ty zapryag ne paru Pogonyaj-ka poskorej |
English text:
The guitar will chase the sadness When we sing about love Or we ride to seek the madness, into "Yar", that warms the blood. The young Gypsy girls are there, They will sing and dance all night. I`ll give them gold beads to wear, I`ll push the ennui aside! Coachman, drive fast to "Yar" then! Ekh, do not spare the steeds now! Rush the troika just as you can! Not a pair, anyhow! A dark night, a snowy blizzard, Covers all the roads with snow, In a sleigh I sit with my friend, And the troika starts to go. And when we return into "Yar", We`ll warm ourselves, mates! We will play a ringing guitar, We`ll sing till the sun awakes... Coachman, drive fast to "Yar" then! Ekh, do not spare the steeds now! Rush the troika just as you can! Not a pair, anyhow! Translated by Alexander |
Sources:
http://a-pesni.org/romans/kjaru.htm; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yar_(restaurant);
http://cyclowiki.org/wiki/Эй,_ямщик,_гони-ка_к_«Яру»_(романс) ; http://seeandgo.ru/?p=1223
http://a-pesni.org/romans/kjaru.htm; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yar_(restaurant);
http://cyclowiki.org/wiki/Эй,_ямщик,_гони-ка_к_«Яру»_(романс) ; http://seeandgo.ru/?p=1223