Alexander Evstyugov-Babaev
@Schwallex · Piano, violin, guitar, flute, bayan, kalimba · Music theory, composition, improvisation · Saarbrücken
Russian-trained pianist, guitarist and composer. Now learning the violin and arranging a ton of pieces to play in duet with my teacher. Sharing some of them here for the benefit of other beginners and teachers alike.
A true classic. One of the most famous Russian poems, written in 1841 by Mikhail Lermontov and subsequently set to music by countless composers, but only this 1861 tune by Elisaveta Shashina came out on… More…
Perhaps the most boring thing I've ever written. But that's what the lyrics asked for, so here goes. Still a fair exercise in F major. Scales, thirds, arpeggios. Briefly touching on the minor and both… More…
Gotta say, in my capacity as a complete beginner on the violin, so far Okudzhava is my go-to favorite for warming up and showing the fingers their place.… More…
The fakebook for my most recent video, a romance set to a 1910 poem by Osip Mandelstam. Not arranging this one as a violin duet, doesn't feel like it would work as just two lines of notes. Might ask my… More…
Russia is an obscenely centralized country. Perhaps even more so than France. There's Moscow, maybe St. Petersburg, and then there's everything else. 1/7th of the Earth's landmass, 130 million people,… More…
Now here's a feel-good, happy-go-lucky song. Always raises one's spirits. Eighty years old now, very popular with Russians of all ages ever since. Little kids love it, adults love it, grandparents love… More…
A short romance set to an untitled 1912 poem by the Russian poet Osip Mandelstam. A victim of Stalin's repression, arrested twice, survived a suicide attempt, got sentenced to labor camp, never even got… More…
School's out for the summer, so I'm spending some time with instruments other than the violin. Here's a little waltz I just finished writing for a friend. … More…
Many singers have tried themselves at this one, including the recently featured Sofia Rotaru. All failed miserably. Even Ludmila Senchina's interpretation pales in comparison to this one by the Great Children's… More…
Happy 4th of July, everyone! I won't even bother you with the historical or technical details about The Anacreontic Song, which I'm sure you know too well (or can easily look up if you don't). … More…
The greatest Italian hit of 1968 that went on to become Adriano Celentano's business card. Widely known around the world to this day, with numerous covers in a variety of languages and styles. … More…
The title song from a popular Soviet animated series from 1982. Short and sweet exercise for string crossings. Can't think of anything else to say about it, really. More…
This song was originally recorded in 1993 by Chisato Moritaka, who also wrote the lyrics. The story goes, she specifically browsed maps of Japan in search of rivers with a nice-sounding name, and found… More…
Sofia Rotaru's biggest hit that she kept performing throughout her career with ever-changing duet partners. First aired on New Year's Eve 1985 and still quite well known to this day, with numerous cover… More…
More from Dunaevsky the son, more from the 1983 Soviet movie "Mary Poppins, Goodbye", and more from MosFilm going around copyright-claiming everything, so I can't find a single video to sync here. You… More…
How about some Dutch music for a change. Yes, of course someone named George Baker singing a song named "Paloma blanca" would be Dutch. What did you think.… More…
A song from a popular Soviet children's cartoon, not unsimilar to Tom & Jerry in concept, but with only ten episodes and two mice instead of one. (Also, the mice are definitely the evil guys here, the… More…
No, this is not Bonnie Tyler. Though funnily enough this was published in 1984, one year after her Total Eclipse of the Heart. Apparently a total coincidence, as neither the music nor the text exhibit… More…
Andrey Mironov performed countless songs in countless popular Soviet movies, so I'm quite surprised myself this is the first we see of him on this channel. … More…
One of many iconic tracks from the first Banjo-Kazooie game released in 1998. Transposed and arranged for two violins. Good for complete beginners starting to get bored of simple detaché and looking to… More…
Today marks the 77th anniversary of Operation Barbarossa. Not many remember the date, or even recognize the name. People who grew up in the Soviet Union very much do. … More…
A true classic and an exceptionally easy piece for complete beginners. One of the very first things that I played on the violin ― long before I even began bothering with sheet music and trying to figure… More…
Well this one's sure got a bunch of weird time signatures in the chorus. Don't let those scare you, just listen to the song a few times and go with the flow. It's a good one. Believe it or not, Chris de… More…
Another piece from the Children's Album by Tchaikovsky. This one is excellent practice for string crossings, both down and up from the same home string. A good opportunity to start practicing martelé,… More…
A couple weeks ago I featured Sviridov's Romance on this channel, arranged for two violins and a piano, and kinda teased doing the waltz as well, so here it is. … More…