Psoy Korolenko
Encyclopedia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Jewish song writer and performer by the name of Pavel Eduardovich Lion . At the same time Pavel Lion is a slavist with a Ph.D. in Russian literature.
His pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
comes from Vladimir Korolenko
Vladimir Korolenko
Vladimir Galaktionovich Korolenko was a Ukrainian-Russian short story writer, journalist, human rights activist and humanitarian. His short stories were known for their harsh description of nature based on his experience of exile in Siberia...
, Russian writer (1853–1921), whose works are subject of Pavel's research.
Psoy performs his own and others’ songs, accompanying himself to keyboard instruments, mainly a Casio
Casio
is a multinational electronic devices manufacturing company founded in 1946, with its headquarters in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Casio is best known for its electronic products, such as calculators, audio equipment, PDAs, cameras, musical instruments, and watches...
synthesizer in accordion timbre
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
. Experimenting with quite various song traditions he sings in about 6 or 7 languages, most frequently in Russian, Yiddish, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
.
For example, one of Psoy's songs, Buratino, is an a capella rhythmic recitation of the same phrase, - "Buratino byl tupoy" ("Buratino
Buratino
Buratino is the main character of the book The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Buratino by Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy. Based on the 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, Buratino originated as a character in the commedia dell'arte. The name Buratino is derived from the...
was dumb") - which after several repetitions starts to morph into other phrases, eventually shifting into Italian through syllable rearrangement. More phrases are then introduced and "mixed" vocally with it. The song is something of a parody of rap
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
and trance music
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
.
Psoy tours extensively beyond Russian borders, particularly in the States and in Europe. His music is popular both with adults (especially linguists) and teenagers. He rewrites many songs, and also has translated some songs from Russian to Yiddish. He has collaborated with such musicians as Julian Kytasty
Julian Kytasty
Julian Kytasty is a Ukrainian-American composer, singer, kobzar, bandurist, flute player and conductor. He was born January 23 1958 in Detroit, Michigan, in the family of refugees....
, Michael Alpert
Michael Alpert
Michael Alpert is a klezmer singer and multi-instrumentalist and has been called a key figure in the klezmer revival of the 1970s and 1980s....
, and Daniel Kahn.
Discography
| Russian name | English name/translation | Year | Co-producers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Песня про Бога | A Song about God | 2000 | |
| Fioretti | Fioretti | 2001 | |
| Песнь песней Псоя Короленко | Psoy Korolenko's Song of Songs | 2003 | |
| Шлягер века | Schlager Schlager Schlager music is a style of popular music prevalent in Central and Northern Europe and the Balkans and also in France and Poland. In Portugal, it was adapted and became pimba music... s of the Century |
2003 | |
| Гонки | Races | 2004 | Neoangin Jim Avignon Jim Avignon is a contemporary German pop artist and representatives of the art modeste, designer and musician. A respected cult figure in the art and Techno subculture in Berlin, he currently lives and works both in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and in Berlin.Jim Avignon was born Christian Reisz... |
| C чего начинается Родина (Un Vu Iz Der Onheyb Fun Foterland) | From What the Homeland Starts | 2006 | All Stars Klezmer Band |
| Русское богатство. Том I. | Russian Treasure. Volume I. | 2007 | Alyona Alenkova |
| The Unternationale | The First Unternational | 2008 | Daniel Kahn and "Oy Division" |
| На лестнице дворца | On the Steps of the Palace | 2008 | Olga Chikina, Alyona Arenkova and others |