Evening bells

 
     
 

Vetsherni zvon,
vetsherni zvon,
kak mnoga dum
navodit on ...

The evening sound,
the evening sound,
how many thoughts
it arouses ...

 
 

O yunýkh dnyakh
f krayu radnom,
gdye ya lubyil,
gdye otshi dom.

About the days of youth
at my home-place,
where I loved,
where my father's house is.

 
 

I kak ya, snim
navyek prastyas,
tam slýshal zvon
f pasledni ras.

And how I, from it
parting for ever,
heard this sound there
for the last time.

 
 

I skolkikh nyet
uzhe v zhivýkh,
tagda vesyolýkh
maladýkh.

And how many no longer
are among the living now,
who were happy then
and young.

 
 

I krepok ikh
magilný son,
nye slýshen im
vetsherni zvon.

Deep is their
sleep in their tombs,
inaudible is to them
the evening sound.

 
     
 

Words: I. Koslov
Music: Traditional tune
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.
Transcription and analogous translation: Kai Kracht
Comment:
       Since Serge Yaroff and his Don Cossack Choir has introduced the "Evening bells" into the western world about fifty years ago, this song is – next to "Kalinka", the "Volga Boat Men" and "Stenka Razin" – one of our most popular Russian folksongs.
© Kai Kracht 2002