
War and music
Have you ever wondered about the meaning of music during the war? There have been cases where military songs have saved hundreds of soldiers’ lives. The music was the spiritual weapon of the front and the back. It called to the battle, inspired with memories of peaceful days and instilled in the hearts of the people the belief in victory. It helped people to survive in that hard time and to win the cruel battle, it became a formidable weapon that did not allow to break the spirit of Soviet people. In the photo there is the musical instrument of Ilya Shatrov – famous Russian military musician, kapellmeister, composer. This is a truly brilliant musician who became the pride not only of our city but of all our country. This trumpet was bought by him during his studies at the Music Institute of Warsava. It went through more than one war with him and was transferred by his fellow musician Ivan Zalivin to the Tambov Museum of Local History in 1977.
The waltz goes to the front
Ilya Shatrov wrote the waltz «On the Snots of Manchuria» and thanks to it he became known all over the Country. The waltz helps you to plunge into war time, its notes aren’t tragic but they touch the hearts of listeners. This is a truly masterpiece of Russian music of the 20th-century. It was written during the Russian war with Japan and was dedicated to the fallen soldiers of the war. Later, heartwarming words were written for the waltz, it found the lyrics and became a song.
Although it was written in the early 20th century, during the Great Patriotic War its popularity increased. The Shatrov’s Waltz became one of the most performed during the war, the famous Soviet singer of those years Ivan Kozlovsky expressed his appreciation of this waltz and often performed it at his concerts, the earned money of which were donated to the fund of the Soviet Army. When the press published the information that the creator of the famous waltz lived in Tambov, a huge number of letters of gratitude were sent from soldiers, workers, schoolchildren. In one of the letters soldiers described how before the battle they had listened to the record of waltz and then went to the fight and came back from it save and having won. So the waltz became a valuable participant in this terrible war. It provided not only the spiritual assistance to the soviet army but also a material. Ilya Shatrov much desired to be called to the front, but he wasn’t accepted because he was already 64 years old. So instead of the composer his waltz went to the front.
Сentennial witness
During the fierce battle in the 1905, in whose name the waltz was written, I.A. Shatrov with other musicians, surrounded by shells, accompanied the Russian soldiers in the battle with their orchestra. Ilya Shatrov played the trumpet and we have reason to believe that exactly this trumpet you see in the photo was with him in that difficult hour and on this trumpet the famous waltz was first played.
This musical instrument witnessed many events, it was with the composer during the difficult time of the Great Patriotic War, we can only imagine how in those sad moments this trumpet helped to overcome the heavy burden of war time and how it calmed down the composer’s soul and listeners.
Listen to the trumpet: