Tribute: To the lost members of The Red Army Choir ( Alexandrov Ensemble)

[Marusya]

On December 25, the internationally renowned Russian military choir lost most of its singers in a plane crash.

The Alexandrov Ensemble, an official army choir of the Russian armed forces, was founded during the Soviet era. It is named for its first director, Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov (1883–1946). The ensemble consisting of a male choir, an orchestra, and a dance group was famous both in Russia and throughout the world. On December 25, the Alexandrov Ensemble lost 64 members, who were supposed to fly to Syria to perform before the Russian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry has promised that the ensemble's name will not perish.

Almost all the ensemble's soloists and its director, Valery Kalilov, died in the crash.


Those who died were members of what is colloquially known as the Red Army Choir and formally called the Alexandrov Military Song and Dance Ensemble. For almost 90 years, they have traveled, in their crisp uniforms, to war zones and unfriendly countries to entertain and sometimes, back in the day, to put a friendly face on the U.S.S.R.

Sometimes they were endearingly funny, as when they sang about the "lung vay to Tipperary." (That song is featured in the movie "Das Boot.")

In recent years, the group performed for troops in Afghanistan and Chechnya. At the Sochi Olympics in 2014, they did a memorably goofy rendering of Daft Punk's "Get Lucky."Some of their music was featured earlier this year in the movie "Hail, Caesar."

The ensemble was founded by Alexander Alexandrov in 1928. During the Second World War, it performed 1,500 concerts for Soviet troops.

I first encountered the choir through my grandfather, who had one their albums, among other albums of chanting Russian monks and Ukrainian folk songs, in his music library. He would play these albums on Saturday mornings, a time my mother allowed him to play his music. Nothing like waking up to The Volga Boatmen's Song at 8am!

Please post your favorite songs and memories of this great choir.

Eternal memory to those who have been lost. I hope this iconic choir can return one day.

[Harkonnen]