Katyusha (song)
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Katyusha or Katjusha (Катюша) is a Russian Soviet wartime song about a girl longing for her beloved, who is away on military service. The music was composed in 1938 by Matvei Blanter and the lyrics were written by Mikhail Isakovsky. It was first performed by the celebrated Russian folk singer, Lidiya Ruslanova.
Katyusha is a tender diminutive from the female name Ekaterina (Catherine): Katya is the nickname and Katyusha, a tender diminutive.
The Russian song also gave name to the BM-8, BM-13, and BM-31 "Katyusha" rocket launchers that were built and fielded by the Red Army in World War II.
[edit] Italian song to the tune of Katyusha
During the resistance against Nazist invaders and Fascists (1943 - 1945), Felice Cascione (1918 - 1944) wrote an Italian text for the music of the Russian song Katyusha. The song, titled Fischia il vento ("the wind blows"), became (with Bella ciao and La Brigata Garibaldi) one of the most famous partisan anthems.
[edit] Japanese "Katyusha's song", not related to Katyusha
In addition to the Soviet version, there was another, apparently quite separate, "Katyusha's song" (カチューシャの歌 Kachūsha no Uta?) that became highly popular in early 20th century Japan. It was composed in the major pentatonic scale by Nakayama Shimpei. It was sung by Matsui Sumako in a dramatization of Tolstoy's Resurrection, put on in 1914 in Tokyo. The song was a huge hit, selling large amounts of records and was taken on by street corner musicians throughout the Japanese empire. It is considered by some music historians as the first example of modern Japanese popular music.[1]
