Saying Goodbye to Slavic Women

I like to listen to the music of Farewell of Slavianka. This piece was composed in 1912 by Vasily Agapkin in honor of the Slavic women who accopmpanied their husbands to the front in the First Balkan War, fought against the Ottoman Empire by Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Macedonia. I find that Farewell of Slavianka is a very powerful musical composition, a beautiful, energizing and poignant military march. It also has a fascinatingly checkered history. The march was used by the anti-Bolshevik White Army forces and embraced by the Soviets, too. It was played in the Red Square in Moscow during the 1941 October Parade and the Red Army marched in the Battle of Moscow defending the Soviet capital against the invading German forces to the uplifting tunes of the march. By April 1945, the music led the Soviet soldiers to the bunkers of Hitler in Berlin. According to a modern Russian myth the Red Army soldiers who died in the blood fields of the war became white cranes flying through the skies. The 1957 Soviet film, The Cranes are Flying, won the 1958 Palmes d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. In the film, the march Farewell of Slavianka plays a prominent role. The protagonist. Veronika's boyfriend, Boris, enlists in the army and goes to the front to the tune of the march. At the end of the movie the orchestra again plays Farewell to Slavianka as Veronika rushes through the crowds at the railway station, celebrating victory with the soldiers who are returning from the war. However, Veronika--filled with rosy hopes, yearnings and love--ends up with shattered dreams and griefing. With a large bouquet of flowers in hand, she learns that Boris died in the war.