Zvukovye Pis'ma - Musical Mail
The Institute acquired a small collection of extraordinary Russian sound documents: zvukovye pis'ma, or musical letters.
They were issued around 1950 in the Soviet Union. The musical letter is a bifold picture postcard with a supplementary sheet and a small flexible disc glued onto it. A topical song, either from the Soviet classical repertoire such as the 'Song of World Youth' and the 'Song of World Peace', or a love song can be heard.
Its text is printed on the postcard together with a picture of the composer or performer of the song. There is also space for a short message to the recipient.
The musical mail was edited by the composer Vano Muradeli and published by Vserossiiskoe Teatral'noe Obshchestvo in a run of 40,000 copies.
Some information is taken from: http://patefon.tol.ru/history.htm
Click on image for larger image, for song text and sheet music or listen to the songs
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Poliubil ia neudachno I fell in love in vain |
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Rastsvela siren' nezhdanno Unexpectedly the lilac-tree blossomed |
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realaudio 246 Kb |
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Govoriashchee pis'mo The spoken letter |
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realaudio 282 Kb |
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Pionery v Kremle Pioneers in the Kreml |
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realaudio 246 Kb |
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Edem my, druz'ia! : pesnia novoselov Let's go, friends! Song of the settlers |
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realaudio 196 Kb |
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Vasil'ki Cornflowers |
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realaudio 255 Kb |
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My za mir! We are for peace |
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realaudio 273 Kb |
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Veselyi veter The cheerful wind |
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realaudio 264 Kb |
mpeg 1789 Kb |
mp3 448 Kb |
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Gimn demokraticheskoi molodezhi mira Hymn of the democratic youth of the world |
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realaudio 291 Kb |
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mp3 493 Kb |
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Moskva-Pekin Moscow-Peking |
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realaudio 246 Kb |
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