“There in the Wood, by the Valley, the Nightingale was Singing Loudly …”: The Orphan’s Song and Spiritual Verse

Folkloristics 9/2 (2024): 21–58
Author: Andrej B. Moroz
Text:

After the release of the movie “Road to Life” in 1931, the already popular song “There in the garden, by the valley, a nightingale sang loudly…” became a national hit. However, even before that it was very much widespread. Its recordings can be dated back to the early 1920s, but not before the 1920s. Nonetheless, there are several songs that clearly echo this one and they are of an earlier origin. Among them there is a romance of literary origin and spiritual verse, widespread mainly among the Old Believers. It is assumed that these songs had a significant influence on the emergence of the “Orphan’s song” associated with the new circumstances and new conditions of the song’s folkloric existence.

Keywords: spiritual poems, Soviet urban song, topics, symbolism, history of folklore.