Random waltz M. Fradkin – E

At the beginning of 1942, a young war correspondent, but already a famous songwriter, Evgeniy Dolmatovsky, wrote the poem “Dancing Until the Morning.” It accurately reflected the realities of that time, which today may seem almost incredible.

The title of the poem only repeated the advertisements inviting young people to dance. War was war, but no one canceled youth, and even in the difficult everyday life of war there was time for simple-minded entertainment.

In his book “The Past,” composer Dolmatovsky recalls:

“Such advertisements invited young people in those days, and I didn’t make it up, but wrote out in the title of the poem what was written in large, clumsy letters on pieces of paper.”

It so happened that front-line roads again brought together the poet Evgeny Dolmatovsky and composer Mark Fradkin. As you know, a little earlier, the fruit of their collaboration was the famous “Song of the Dnieper.”

And now, in the summer of 1943, on the way to the area of ​​the future battle on the Kursk Bulge, Dolmatovsky showed Fradkin the poem “Dancing Until the Morning” written a year ago, and the composer immediately began to compose a melody for it at a waltz tempo. The melody came out well, but it was clear to both that with such content their creation could not yet be a real song. And then Fradkin remembered an incident that a military pilot he knew told him about a year ago.

Here is how it was. One summer evening, this pilot had the opportunity to visit a front-line village. Suddenly, through the window of the house where he was staying, the melody of a waltz came from the street. He went out and saw local youth dancing to the gramophone. The pilot came closer and noticed a pretty girl standing alone on the side. He invited her to a waltz, and during the dance they started talking. They liked each other, but, alas, after ten minutes they had to part, because the officer-pilot had a car waiting for him. That's how it all ended.

This non-fictional plot became the ideological basis on which the new lyrics of the song were written. It was decided to call it “Officer's Waltz”.

The song became widely known thanks to Leonid Utesov, who began performing it in concerts and recorded it on a record. True, when recording, he used only one verse and chorus of the song, and its name was also changed - it began to be called “Random Waltz”. And this was probably correct, because a similar incident could happen to a military man of any rank.

Thus, the song became, as it were, a general song, close to every soldier.

The night is short. The clouds are sleeping And lies in my palm Your hand is unfamiliar. After the alarms The town is sleeping. I heard the melody of a waltz And I looked here for an hour.

Mark Fradkin / Evgeny Dolmatovsky
"Random Waltz"

"Random Waltz"("Officer's Waltz") -popular lyrical song by composer Mark Fradkin based on verses by Evgeny Dolmatovsky, created in 1943.

The song “Random Waltz” was created in 1943 by composer Mark Fradkin and poet Yevgeny Dolmatovsky on the personal orders of the commander of the Stalingrad Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Rokossovsky. This composition had to fulfill a real combat mission: an attack on the enemy in the Battle of Kursk was being prepared, and the Germans had to be convinced that serious military action was not being prepared. Interestingly, the original version of the song contained the following words:

The night is short
The clouds are sleeping
And lies in my pursuit
Your hand is unfamiliar.

They say that when J.V. Stalin listened to the song, he was indignant: how can a fragile girl reach the shoulder of a tall, strong Soviet officer?! Joseph Vissarionovich also did not like the name “Officer’s Waltz”: “an officer should not dance, but fight.” This is how the song began to be called “Random Waltz”, and the “epaulets” turned into “palms”.

In one of the February issues of the newspaper of the Southwestern Front “Red Army” for 1942, a poem by E. Dolmatovsky “Dancing until the morning” was published, which contained the following lines:

The blizzard howls on Oskol,
Winds glide along the river.
They say it's at school today
There will be dancing until the morning.
The hoarse voice of the radio,
Snow flying over the threshold.
The smell of the powder is not pleasant.
The clatter of felted boots.
Dance eternal pursuit
Surprisingly easy
And lies in my palm
Unfamiliar hand...

“I wrote this poem almost from life,” says the poet. — Even in the first difficult war winter, while in the troops at the border of Russia and Ukraine in the region of Kharkov and Belgorod, I noticed that no complexity of the situation, mortal danger, devastation, misfortune could drown out and reject everything that seemed to belong only to peaceful times and is called lyrics.

As soon as a military column stops for the night in a front-line village or town, acquaintances arise, and frank conversations, and falling in love, and all this is of a sad and chaste nature; and sooner or sooner - separation, departure...

Even in the title of the poem, I included what was written in large, clumsy letters on sheets of paper attached to the school doors: “Dancing until the morning.” Such advertisements invited young people in those days...”

Many months later, in December 1942, E. A. Dolmatovsky met composer Mark Fradkin, with whom they wrote “Song of the Dnieper.” The meeting took place in the Stalingrad area. With a brigade of artists, Fradkin roamed among the troops completing the Stalingrad operation.

“I read him “Dancing Until the Morning,” Dolmatovsky continues his story. “Soon, on a captured accordion, he played me a waltz melody, inspired, as he said, by this poem. Naturally, the poetry and music were rhythmically inconsistent. I had to think about a new version of the text, but, to tell the truth, the moment demanded different songs: we became witnesses and even participants in a great victory..."

And such “other” songs were written by them. The songs of M. Fradkin and E. Dolmatovsky “We are in Stalingrad”, “Ring”, and many others were very popular among the participants in the Battle of Stalingrad.

Soon after the Battle of Stalingrad, when Paulus’s army was completely defeated and an unusual, stunning silence fell on this section of the front, the poet and composer were invited to a meeting of the Military Council of the front, both were presented with the military awards they had deserved—the Order of the Red Star—and asked to introduce them to their new ones. songs, talk about creative plans.

“Fradkin played songs, and I looked at my idol, General K. K. Rokossovsky,” the poet ends his memories of that time. Until that day, I had never seen this commander so closely, who enjoyed the boundless love of his soldiers and officers... The commander, in the presence of his main political advisers - K. F. Telegin and S. F. Galadzhev - was interested in the condition and effect of the song weapons located in his troops and under his command.

I talked about our idea - to turn the poem “Dancing until the morning” into a song. The head of the political department of the front, Sergei Galadzhev, who knew this poem before. said that it should turn out something like an officer's waltz.

At that time, the word “officer” was just acquiring the right to exist, just penetrating into everyday life. I really liked the title “Officer's Waltz” for the future song.

Rokossovsky said that our new meeting will take place on a new sector of the front, which will be given to our Stalingrad troops. What kind of area this would be, what its geography would be, the front commander did not say. We left the hut in which the Military Council of the Front was located, and immediately learned that we had to get ready for the road. Night fell on the way. The echelon was moving north. Fradkin and I found ourselves in the carriage of the Political Department. It was there that “The Officer’s Waltz” was written.

The train moved slowly - from Stalingrad to Yelets it took seven days. At all stations and stops, Fradkin performed a song in front of soldiers of different echelons: overtaking each other, they walked from the banks of the Volga to the area that in the summer of 1943 thundered throughout the world - the famous Kursk Bulge. Near Yelets, the authors had already heard their song, which was ahead of them with the train that had passed earlier. So this waltz began to circle around the fronts. And soon the word “officer” in its title was replaced by “random” - after all, the song was also a soldier’s song.

“Random Waltz” was sung by many artists at front-line concerts. And Leonid Utesov recorded it on a record. Since then, this song has lived among the people, remaining one of the favorite lyrical songs of the wartime.

"Random Waltz"

Mark Grigorievich Fradkin (1914—1990)

Dolmatovsky Evgeniy Aronovich (1915–1994)

The night is short

The clouds are sleeping

And lies in my palm

Your hand is unfamiliar.

After the alarms

The town is sleeping.

I heard a waltz tune

And I looked here for an hour.

Even though I barely know you

And my home is far from here,

It's like I'm again

Random Waltz

M. Fradkin – E. Dolmatovsky

The night is so easy

The clouds are sleeping

And lies in my palm

Your hand is unfamiliar.

After the alarms

The town is sleeping.

I heard a waltz tune

And I looked here for an hour.

Even though I barely know you

And my home is far from here,

It's like I'm again

Near my family's house.

This hall is empty

We dance together.

So say a word

I don’t know what I’m talking about.

We'll circle around

Sing and make friends.

I completely forgot how to dance

And I ask you to forgive me.

The morning is calling

Hiking again.

Leaving your small town

I will pass by your gate.

Even though I barely know you

And my home is far from here,

It turned out that again

I'm at my family's house.

This hall is empty

It's like we're together.

So say a word

I don’t know what I’m talking about.

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