Midnights in Moscow
Nye slýshný f sadu
dazhe shorokhi,
fsyo zdyes zamerlo do utra.
Yesli b znali vý, kak mnye dorogi
podmoskovnýe vetshera.
There is nothing to be heard in the garden,
everything here has died down till the morning.
If you only knew how I love
these nights in the suburbs of Moscow.
Ryetshka dvizhetsya i nye dvizhetsya,
fsya iz lunovo serebra.
Pyesnya slýshitsya i nye slýshitsya
v eti tikhiye vetshera.
The little river is flowing without movement,
it is all silver, shining in the moonlight.
You hear a song from afar, then it's quiet again
in these silent nights.
Shtozh tý, milaya, smotrish iskasa,
nizko golovu naklanya?
Trudno výskazat' i nye výskazat'
fsyo shto na sertse u minya.
Why do you, my dear, look at me from the side
your head so tightly nestled against mine.
It is so hard to say, and so hard not to say
all that is on my mind.
A rastswyet uzhe fsyo samyetneye.
Tak, pazhaluista, bud' dobra:
Nye zabud' i tý eti letniye
podmoskovnýe vetshera.
It is already dawning more and more.
So, please, be so kind:
Don't also you forget these summer nights
in the suburbs of Moscow.
Words: M. Matusovski
Music: W. Solovyov-Sedoi
Pronunciation:
a as in "bar", e as in "bed", i as in "bid", o as in "bore", u as in "blue"
y = as in "yellow" /
ý = dull i, as in "bill"
s = always voiceless, as in "son" / z = voiced, as in "zone"
sh = voiceless, as in "mesh" / zh = voiced, like the s in "measure"
kh = mostly rough, like the ch in Scotch "loch", but smooth when "e" or "i" follows
a, e, i, o, u, y
= the underlined vowel signifies the stressed syllable of a word.
Arrangement for balalaika, musical notation,
transcription and analogous translation: Kai Kracht
Comment:
This is not a traditional folksong.
But the first line of this nice melody
for a long time was the signature tune of
Radio Moscow,
so the song soon became very popular
all over the country.
© Kai Kracht 2002