Something about a Russian Chorus is just special
They can even make a song about an accordion interesting
Then there’s that whole dancing and sabers and drums thing…
Not as artistic, but the Russians still know what a National Patriotic Parade is all about
Then after the fighting, there’s that soulful Russian Heart
One of my all time favorites. Volga Boatmen
Guess it’s a good thing that the whole German Wehrmacht marching and fighting is in the past and didn’t just move to South America… Oh, wait…
Somehow I get the impression these guys aren’t worried:
Somehow I think the EU has lost the plot…
Musings from the Chiefio 
Years ago I came across a Russian Orthodox church choir singing their liturgy. Now those all male choirs of monks know how to sing. Extraordinary ! Still have a CD somewhere.
And yes the EU has lost the plot. But not all of them. Among the countries wanting to preserve their own national traditions are Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, ( the Visegrad group) and Spai…And when one thinks about it there are other countries which are in the EU project only because it is a way of supporting their national identities : eg Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Rumania, Macedonia and Ireland…
Epic, yep! Timing and those balalaikas!
Russian culture should be respected by all. Moscow and Saint Petersburg are amongst the greatest culture cities of the Western World.
Russian music is at the pinnacle of classical romantism, and of course Russian ballet is the world leader in that art form.
Powerful music.
The Chile march was interesting. I’ve heard many bands, but never one with distortion like that. That was the tubas, wasn’t it? ;-)
There are better renditions than this one, but here is a US done similarly: .
The one that really gets me is the one done by Bush 42 for the Pope when he arrived. That one’s still around, I think.
Oh, and there is still the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. [Old band member … ]
This comment could go on the tik tok thread as an observation of another cultural dead end, but I think it is best to be put here as a lead-in to the next thread. It’s mostly about women on the news shows but it does somewhat generalize to our culture as discussed on the next thread.
The skirt lengths of the women in the Russian videos jumped out at me. The skirts are a completely sane and very attractive length. I’m not seeing much of that on US television nowadays, particularly and especially on the news shows.
Of course I liked short skirts in my peak-testosterone days, but then after they got shorter and stayed that way, “The Thrill Is Gone” as the old song goes.
Now I just shake my head at the mental and physical gymnastics the women on TV go through as they start by wearing skirts too short to cover much of anything and then spend all their time squirming and tugging trying to cover up.
Give it up, already! You wore the short skirt to draw attention to yourself, but then there is so much squirming going on that no-one is actually paying attention to you. Everyone is watching your personal Skirt Wrestlemania to see who will win. Your discomfort makes your audience uncomfortable. The same goes for the low-cut outfits that are this ]—[ close to revealing whether you have an innie or an outie.
I watch the news shows for news and discussion. If I want to see nekkid women, all I have to do is watch cable TV programming.
So pay attention to the women in these Russian videos. It’s easy to do as their outfits add to the total package rather than distract from it.
After watching the Chile military parade, I think I can understand why Pinochet & the coup of 1973 happened.
But I wonder just why this type of parade is needed ? When did Chile last fight a bloody war with anyone ? The one against Bolivia in the 1880’s ?
@Corsair Red:
I have no idea where the music in the Chile March came from, but it was clearly added for an emotional effect by the person assembling the video. They might well have added the distortion.
@Bill In Oz:
IMHO the “March in Review” where a country has the military march past the Dear Leader is about in group cohesion. It is to remind the military that this guy is in charge, and to remind Dear Leader that this much force needs to be kept happy or they might change their minds…
So the Military shows off, the neighbors notice and don’t pick a fight, and Dear Leader feels all powerful and mighty while also making a note-to-self to approve that Military Raise package and invite the Generals over for an awards ceremony…
“military march … is about in group cohesion”
Leaving out the Dear Leader part, I would say that is true in general.
With the Dear Leader part, I would say that it is to impress everyone that Dear Leader is boss.
I have no idea what the attraction of the big hats and the goose step is. I don’t even know what the attraction of marching in step is, but it is not just military. Synchronized choreography is everywhere, old Hollywood, new Hollywood, pop star’s routines, everywhere. It must be primal human nature. Like playing with dolls.
For the military, it trains soldiers that they are just one cog in the machine. Maybe it has other benefits too, but it also has some drawbacks. There were the Redcoats in the American Revolution who acted as if war was some kind of duel. Then there was the Great War (WW I) where about the only training soldiers got was in marching. Which was very useful as they slowly marched in ordered lines together toward the German machine guns.
Chile … Don’t know if you watched the History TV show “Hunting Hitler”. They documented historical evidence and eyewitness accounts from some of the “disappeared”, that the Chilean secret police were run by escaped Nazi war criminals that fled Germany at the end of WWII. Pinochet’s regime was kept in power by Nazis, it seems. Or was the closest thing to a Nazi regime in the world, at the time. Scary stuff, especially for the people who were snuffed out.
So I’m not surprised by the Wehrmacht-inspired military parade. They came by it “honestly”.
I have no idea what the attraction of the big hats and the goose step is. I don’t even know what the attraction of marching in step is, but it is not just military.
There is a great deal of psychology involved in military actions. Close order drill and music has been a part of military operations for thousands of years.
The goose step is a military style of march that creates intimidation (the strong cadence of the foot falls is very intimidating when it is coming at you), Same reason riot police beat on their shields with their batons as they advance (or the Zulu warriors).
Marching in close order builds lots of useful skills. It teaches close attention to what your mates are doing (and use of peripheral vision to do so) It sharpens mental concentration to listening for commands. It builds conditioned reflexes and conditions the troops to acting as a unit. Very useful skills in battle.
Note the cadence of the Chili marchers is the same as a fast pulse rate. As you march, your pulse will naturally sync with the cadence of the drums and steps. If used as a final approach to battle, they gradually increase the cadence first to quick step then double quick step then a running jog, everyone is at a ready for action pulse rate when they make contact.
In the days of black powder or earlier times with shield and sword or pike squares, movement as a unit was imperative, if you broke ranks you died. The close ranks provided mutual shielding. The shield of the man to your left and your shield created a small opening just wide enough for his weapon to engage the enemy (roman solders used a sword that was designed for stabbing, not slashing – same for these Zulu warriors depicted in the movie “Zulu”
Note the use of combined action, cadence and battle songs to build courage and hopefully intimidate the enemy prior to the engagement.
All this changed following the American Civil war as we moved away from massed assault in the open and gradually changed to fighting from fortified positions (WWI) and later to fire and maneuver in small units and individually as it dawned on the military that modern military weapons were too effective for tactics like massed charges. In the time of black powder the slow rate of fire allowed disciplined mass charges to barely be effective, by WWI that was no longer the case but for several years the command structures did not give up the use of mass but eventually the message got through.
I think the distortion is of the electric techno music genre and intentional
http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Six_Umbrellas/Private_Ark/05_Six_Umbrellas_-_Magic
” by WWI that was no longer the case but for several years the command structures did not give up the use of mass but eventually the message got through.”
I think you meant
“by WWI that was no longer the case but for several years the command structures did not give up the use of mass {charges} but eventually after tens of millions dead and running out of cannon fodder the message got through.”
Yep what I said – the conversion took different amounts of time depending on which country was involved. The British tried to break the stalemate with the tank but did not understand how to use it properly. Likewise the use of the walking barrage was an effort to give the units some cover during the mass advance, same with air power, technology was not mature enough to fulfill the aspirations of the planners.
Military methods change pretty much the same way science does – as the old guard dies and or retires. The younger folks in the trenches usually have a good handle on what will work but like in Vietnam, and Obama in the middle east you have bone headed leaders trying to micromanage the battlefield. Nixon broke the stalemate in Vietnam with Linebacker II
. . . President Richard M. Nixon’s patience ran out and he issued this order to the Joint Chiefs: “You are to commence at approximately 1200 Zulu, 18 December 1972, a three-day maximum effort, repeat maximum effort, of B-52/Tacair strikes in the Hanoi/Haiphong areas. Object is maximum destruction of selected targets….Be prepared to extend operations past three days, if directed.”
Maximum effort bombing continued for 11 days until they ran out of targets and were mostly bouncing rubble. That was the time period where John McCain mentioned for the first time he saw fear in the eyes of the prison guards when he was POW
Trump did the same thing when he turned command of the war operations over to Mattis and the boots on the ground with clear simple orders – “Destroy ISIS”
Epic Russian chorus? Has to be Alfred Schnittke’s “Choir Concerto”, an exquisite, 45-minute meditation which leaves me floating six inches below the ceiling in ecstasy every time. Prime version is by Valery Polyansky, conducting the Russian State Symphonic Cappella, on Chandos.
Coming back to earth (and goose-stepping across it), fans of marching can do no better than Leni Riefenstahl’s “Triumph des Willens”. Sharp Nazi uniforms, a cast of 700,000, a real feast of military discipline. If you’re not into marching or national socialism, though, it’ll put you to sleep.