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 popular Latvian and Russian lullaby, originally from the 1980 seven-part feature film "A long road in the dunes" ("Ilgais ceļš kāpās"/"Долгая дорога в дюнах"), a drama that takes place in Latvia and… More…
I previously featured the title song from the first Elusive Avengers movie, and this one's from the sequel. For decades the movies as well as the songs were hugely popular with generations of Soviet children.… More…
Allegedly Rolf Løvland wrote this as an instrumental piece for the funeral of his mother. In 2002 he then recorded it with his Irish-Norwegian band Secret Garden, as a song set to lyrics by the Irish novelist… More…
Today's my birthday, so I figured I'd share something of my own that I wrote 20 years ago but only ever played for like two people and never even bothered writing down. … More…
As a little kid I played piano every day. I was never ambitious, but I took it for granted that every day I would sit down and make music. For years.… More…
The Russian anthem is usually dated 1943, when a competition was held to replace the previously used The Internationale. However, Alexandrov originally wrote this piece in 1938 as the Anthem of the Bolshevik… More…
Widely regarded as a traditional Georgian folk song, Suliko was actually written in 1895 by the Georgian poet Akaki Tsereteli and set to music by his sister Varinka. … More…
The most well-known track from Elton John's debut album "Empty Sky", and by his own account the very first song that he and Bernie Taupin actually got excited about writing. … More…
Coming back from Armenia, I feel like featuring another student of Aram Khachaturian's. And a true master of counterpoint, no less. … More…
This channel has covered quite a bit of Russian music so far. From 18th century romance to 1991 pop charts; from children's songs to war songs; from state-commissioned propaganda to the outlawed genre… More…
Originally an American Civil War song published in 1861, "Aura Lea" is now known to most people under a different name entirely. Set to all-new lyrics by Ken Darby (but credited to his wife Vera Matson)… More…
Yet another solid warm-up and intonation exercise from Okudzhava. … More…
When I was a kid learning the piano in Russia, my mom bought me some English sheet music. "Recorder" it said on the cover. I didn't even know that was the English word for a flute. I thought it meant a… More…
Another famous song by Tariverdiev. This one is from a 1975 movie that all of Russia watches on New Year's Eve, every year, always. A lighthearted, even silly comedy, surprisingly critical of the Soviet… More…
I'm on vacation in Armenia right now, so it's only fitting that I feature a song with this title, written by a composer of Armenian descent.… More…
Well, I don't need to introduce this one, do I. Everyone has sung or whistled it at some point, be it in a football stadium or at a funeral. It's that popular, and that versatile. It was sung at the closing… More…
Learning piano as a child, I had my fair share of pieces that I detested. Of course in retrospect, most of them are laughably easy — but difficulty wasn't really the issue. They just didn't connect with… More…
Emir Kusturica and Goran Bregović are the enfants térribles of Balkan pop. Like, all of Balkan pop is mental, but these guys are like double mental on top of that.… More…
Nino Rota scored over 150 movies in 46 years, sometimes more than ten in a single year. That's in addition to writing dozens of chamber, choral, and orchestral works, including a string concerto, and scoring… More…
A prolific actor and chansonnier, Mark Bernes recorded some of the most heart-wrenching songs to come out of World War II, many very well-known to every Russian to this day, and a few forever bound to… More…
"Another day, another famous artist, another obscure song." I've typed words to that effect a few times too many by now, and my supply of synonyms is running dry. Might as well just make it this channel's… More…
Further easing our way into Russian romance, today we have a piece that's rather recent, yet in the best tradition of the genre nobody knows who the heck is responsible for it. … More…
2017 was a spectacular year for video games, and game soundtracks in particular. In March alone we had Breath of the Wild, Horizon Zero Dawn, and NieR Automata — each by itself enough to wipe the floor… More…
Here's another interesting one. Released in 1986, it was a huge hit all over the Spanish-speaking world, but stayed virtually unknown outside of it — except, for some weird reason, in the Netherlands,… More…
Vladimir Shainsky wrote literally dozens of songs that were insanely popular with Soviet children. I've already transcribed eight for this channel, here's the ninth, and there's no end in sight. … More…