Dark Is the Night (Тёмная ночь, lit. Dark Night) is a famous Soviet song associated with the Great Patriotic War. It was originally performed by Mark Bernes in the 1943 war film Two Soldiers.
The song was written by composer Nikita Bogoslovsky (1913-2004) and poet Vladimir Agatov who wrote text on his music. The song was made specifically for the film Two Soldiers. Leonid Utyosov, without knowledge and without permission of authors and film unit, recorded the song, thus becoming the first to do so, but it was Bernes' performance in the film that popularised the song. In the film, Bernes played a soldier who recalls his wife and baby while singing the song at night.
The official experts were keen to accuse Bogoslovsky of propagating "Philistine" sentimental tunes. Though ostracized by the authorities, the song became a symbol of the war years for millions of Soviet people.
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 Your may hear "Dark Night" in the album "Songs of the Steppes" recorded by Sidor Belarsky and the Mischa Borr Orchestra with John Serry in 1947 Here on archive.org |
Due to its popularity, the song was subsequently recorded for the RCA Victor label (#26-5037) by the vocalist Sidor Belarsky in collaboration with the orchestral accordionist John Serry and the Mischa Borr Orchestra in 1946.
Dark Is the Night has been described as "a gentle lyrical song imbued with a feeling of homesickness and expressing devotion to one's beloved" which helped "reveal the personal side of army life, indiscernable in the roar of warfare". It contrasted sharply with the prevalent type of war song, which was either a field marching song or a civil patriotic one.
Translated versions
- Hebrew: לילה אפל
- Estonian: Pimedal ööl
- Finnish: Tumma yö (at least with two different lyrics made by Antero Byman and Timo Vuori)
- Serbo-Croatian: Tamna je noć
- Polish: Ciemna dziś noc
- Chinese: 漆黑的夜
- Czech: Temná noc
- Vietnamese: Đêm đen
- English: Dark is the night
Other performances
Apart from Bernes and Utyosov, the song was performed by Ivan Kozlovsky, Muslim Magomayev, Lyudmila Gurchenko, Jason Kouchak, Noize MC, Zemfira, Ivan Rebroff, Georg Malmstén, Basta, and Alexander Goldscheider among many others.
In translated versions it was popularized by Wiera Gran and Farhad among many others.
Film
The song was later popularized in other films:
In 1958 it has been used as a trademark tune of the World War II period in such films as Andrzej Wajda's Ashes and Diamonds.
In 2005, the song became a main motif and title of the Israeli film "Dark Night" by Leonid Prudovsky. The film gathered numerous prizes including special mention, best short film at 62nd Venice International Film Festival (2005) and Silver Warsaw Phoenix in short film category at 4th Jewish Motifs International Film Festival (2007) in Warsaw, Poland.
In 2006, the song was used as the main theme in the Swedish horror film Frostbite, foreshadowing the coming of vampires in a northern Swedish town.
References
- "Темная ночь, история создания песни » 9 Мая .RU - День Победы". Archived from the original on 2017-08-16. Retrieved 2012-09-10.
- Bernes performing the song in Two Soldiers on YouTube
- ^ Tatiana Egorova. Soviet Film Music. Routledge, 1997. ISBN 9783718659111. Page 79.
- Discography of American Historical Recordings: "Dark Night" by Nikita Bogoslovsky on ucsb.edu
- Muslim Magomaev. Тёмная ночь
- Dark Night -Тёмная ночь- Jason Kouchak
- Noize MC - Тёмная ночь
- Zemfira-Темная ночь
- Ivan Rebroff sings Russian folk songs - 29. Dark night
- Video on YouTube
- Баста - Темная Ночь
- Alexander Goldscheider- Dark is the Night
- Lilioara Oprea (2018-02-11), Wiera Gran -- Ciemna Noc (Russian Tango), retrieved 2019-05-20
- Video on YouTube