BELLORUSSIAN PROG FOLK 

PESNIARY

'Gusliar'

(Melodiya rec. C60 - 12727 USSR 1980 )

  Cover  VG Rec  EX+

 Listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE82ijvvDb0

Ten-man Soviet band that combined White Russian folk music with prog. Supposed to have Jethro Tull, Yes and ELP influences.
 The person who wrote the above entry obviously never got to hear any of Pesniary's music. I have, thanks to a Russian GEPR reader who was kind enough to send me a CDR of what he considers to be Pesniary's "most progressive" tunes and hearing the new Boheme Music release of Pesniary's Gusliar. To say that Pesniary bears much resemblence to Jethro Tull, Yes or ELP is a huge stretch, unless you just think anything with a percussive Hammond organ in it sounds like ELP.

 So what does Pesniary sound like? Well, basically this is a band that was sanctioned as "acceptable" folk/rock music by the former Soviet Union. Most of their music is pretty much in the folk vein (particularly slavic folk and more ancient and traditional music), though there are occasional outbursts of electric guitar, bass, synthesizer and Hammond organ to be heard among the gypsy violins and accordions. The vocal stylings are more like '60's vocal folk bands like the Limelighters or the Kingston Trio than what prog rockers are used to hearing. Still, given the restrictions they were under, they did manage to get experimental every once in awhile.

 But that simply describes what Pesniary is usually like. Their album Gusliar might be considered their crowning achievement, and has by far the most progressive elements of any of the Pesniary I've heard. Re-released on CD by the Russian Boheme Music label, this definitely has the folk/rock sound they usually had, but for this album they are backed by an orchestra. They have gone deep into "epic prog" territory with an adaptation of Yanka Kupala's Byelorussian poem "Barrow". The entire CD is one 37-minute cut, and in various parts you'll hear brass sections that sound like a cross between Zappa in The Grand Wazoo and the brass section of Chicago, schmaltzy broadway show tunes (or maybe TV theme songs), Gypsy violins, a Russian a capella chorale, and reminders of Rick Wakeman's Journey to the Center of the Earth or maybe The Moody Blues' Days of Future Passed. There are also some vaguely Emerson-like Hammond sections, with the orchestra doubling the notes using the string section, sometimes accentuating the percussiveness with pizzicato violins. Lots of sections and changes in mood, tempo and time signature give this CD a very "Classical Music Prog" feel, and they do keep returning to the same motifs over and over to give the overall piece a feeling of cohesiveness.

 Another reviewer (outside of the GEPR, see link to EER below) has said it sounds like a high school theater group doing "Hair". Well, that's a bit much, but I certainly see what the guy means. There is an element here of self-important seriousness while playing something that frequently sounds pretty cheezy. Still, this wouldn't be the first prog album to have that problem. Overall, I would have to say this album has plenty of prog touches to keep most symphonic proggers interested, while still keeping a very ethnic folk feel going throughout. There are even a few blasts of brass noise for the avant-garde lovers to listen to. And, though I have no idea what the subject matter of the poetry is, I'm left with the feeling that I've just heard something profound. This CD is not to be missed! A definite recommendation. -- Fred Trafton
Gusliar contains only one self-titled epic and conceptual composition, stylistically close to the genre of Rock Opera. It was created by the well-known in USSR / C.I.S. composer Igor Lutchenock on the basis of the "Kurghan" poem by the remarkable writer Yanka Kupala (his name sounds almost like Yankee, yet both aforementioned authors are Byelorussians) and arranged within the frames of Rock Music by Pesniary leader Vladimir Mulyavin. From the first till the last note Gusliar is a true "child" of Progressive Rock, as both the vocal and instrumental thematic palettes of the album amaze with richness of colours, and especially of varieties of them. That said, Gusliar definitely induces me to think about its relation to Rock Opera, though already in the fact of creation of such a monolithic epic musical piece on a text basis lies the same idea. First of all, though, it's connected with vocal themes and arrangements, whereas instrumental canvases are so intensive that listening to them I clearly see these are arrangements of the pure Classic Symphonic Art Rock, full of varied and sometimes totally unpredictable breaks and time signatures. Besides typical progressive structures, there are some sonatas of classical music, as well as motives taken from Byelorussian folk music clearly audible, too. Arrangements, made by Vladimir Muliavin, are brilliant. The main instrumental parts are prolonged, in compliance with "the laws of the genre", and the majority of them are sustained in up-tempo with cascades of surprisingly masterful "crossing" solos from all the band's instrumentalists, including some really amazing interplays among both the lead violinists. Vocal themes are also magnificent: composed and sung on the whole in an obvious dramatic key of singing, they practically never repeat themselves, carefully reflecting each emotion of an appropriate text episode, and so they're in constant development all throughout the album.

(http://www.gepr.net/pa.html#PESNIARY)

NM (nearly mint)

The record has been played up to 10 times and it’s condition/envelope condition are nearly perfect. All my records are from private collections and I can’t take the responsibility for their quality – hence I NEVER mark even the perfect records as NM!!!

EX (excellent)

The record shows some signs of having been played, or NO(I NEVER mark even the perfect records as NM!!!). The cover and packaging might have slight wear or NO (I NEVER mark even the perfect records as NM ).

VG (very good)

The record shows some signs of having been played, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, have insignificant surface marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable

G (good)

The record has been played so much that the sound quality has deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and scratches. The cover and contents suffer from folding, scuffing of edges, spine splits, discoloration, etc.

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