The Kostroma nugget conductor Sergei Alekseevich Zharov became the leader of the Cossack choir. In emigration, the singing skill of the choir and the original manner of conducting S. Zharov - a barely noticeable movement of the hands - contributed to the growth of their recognition and the pinnacle of their creativity in many parts of the world.
From biography
Sergei Alekseevich Zharov was born in 1896 in the Kostroma province in the family of a former sergeant-major who became a merchant of the 2nd guild. He was the eldest among six children.
Prayers were an obligatory family attribute. The mother loved to sing them, not speak, and asked her son to sing too. When she died early, the boy felt lonely. The father, having married for the third time, paid little attention to his son. The young wife did not look after the children. They were taken care of by his daughter from his first marriage, Varvara.
Adolescent years
At the age of 10 he entered the Moscow Synodal School of Choral Singing. During the exam it was necessary to read Our Father. He said he could not read and asked permission to sing.
When his parents were gone, Sergei supported the family: he rewrote the sheet music, conducted the choir of the seminarians. In high school he became a choir director in the church.
From an early age he sang in the Synodal Choir and took part in his foreign performances. Once the choir performed a piece by S. Rachmaninoff, who thanked the singers, and patted Sergei on the head, who turned up by chance. The teenager remembered this incident for the rest of his life.
Fateful place
Before the civil war S. Zharov graduated from the Alexander military school. During the retreat of the White Army, the Cossacks were evacuated to Turkey - to Chilingir. This village was destined to play a double role in the fate of the Cossacks - both sad and fateful. The population of the village was engaged in sheep breeding. Sheepfolds were located on its outskirts, in which the Cossacks huddled. Cold and dampness, hunger, cholera and death - that was what awaited them. They yearned for their homes. And only in prayer and in the Cossack hymn did they find joy. A religious holiday was approaching. It was decided to gather the singers into a choir, which will also participate in the funeral service for the dead. They began to write notes. Sergei took up the arrangements. The rehearsals were going on. So the Cossack Choir was born in the Turkish village.
Bulgarian experience
In Bulgaria, S. Zharov worked at a brewery, at a cardboard factory, and then as a singing teacher at a gymnasium and a gymnastics teacher. To earn some money, the choir staged a concert. The first serious confession appeared.
Soon there was an offer to sing in the St. Sophia Cathedral. The listeners were mainly Russian emigrants. After successful performances, it was decided to release the Cossacks from physical work. They began to sing in different embassies. S. Zharov dreamed of speaking at cathedrals in other Orthodox countries. The choir became the goal of his life for him.
Austrian recognition
The Cossacks, who did not yet believe that they would be on the European stage, appeared before the Viennese public. And suddenly … my heart sank in pain … because of the poorly dressed comrades. He remembered standing here as a boy in the synodal choir. Overcoming sorrowful feelings and memories, he raised his hands. The entire outgoing painful life of the Cossacks pulsed in chords. There was a sound of growing applause. Subsequently, the singing group was engaged for other European cities. After several concerts, one of Sergei's friends approached him and reminded him of their conversation in Bulgaria that the soloists did not believe in the choir, and only Sergei alone believed that with this collective it was possible to conquer the world, only this faith had to be instilled in them. Now the Cossacks believed in him and in the chorus.
What the Cossacks sang about
The choir performed church, folk and military songs.
The field is the most widespread ancient song image associated with warriors. There is space, expanse for horses and Cossacks. This is their element. This is their home, which they are ready to defend. The singers create a life-like picture of the farewell of the Cossacks to their loved ones, who see them off with tears. And men calm them down. They want women to be proud of gallant, heroic men. They guard the peaceful, working life of their villages. On fast horses, with sharp swords, they are ready to repel the onslaught of enemies.
The fight begins early in the morning. A battalion of Cossacks is in line. They hear the corporal's command about the intervals. There are already killed, including Lieutenant Chicherev, then the regiment commander Orlov. The enemy marvels at the beauty of the Cossack system.
A stormy river flows at the bottom of the Caucasus Mountains. A bush bush grew on its shore. During the battle, the Cossack was wounded, and he found himself under this bush, on which a gray-winged eagle sits and guards the wounded. The Cossacks loved to sing about the Kuban, which they called their age-old hero. The spacious and abundant Kuban is dear to their hearts. The Cossacks are far from their homes and send a deep bow to their native land. They say that they will not shame the glorified banners of their ancestors.
Cossacks are riding across the steppe. One got sad on the home side, which is very close. The regiment continues on its way, and he galloped off to visit the house and say hello to other families from his comrades.
Often, mainly folk songs were performed, for example, about the sad song of the driver, which spilled over the flat field to the sound of a bell. Under the influence of this native tune, a soothing tear rolled down in a person.
Conductor-nugget
Even the Viennese performances taught Sergei a lot. He avoided monotony and looked for new ways of choral singing. The conductor imitated the string orchestra and learned to feel the acoustics of the hall. He was wary of turning the chorus into a machine, so he always kept it in a kind of tension, changing the acceleration and deceleration. The leader did not give the singers the opportunity to get used to the musical template.
The journalist P. Romanov wrote about the almost invisible public of S. Zharov's conducting style and called him a one-of-a-kind “handless conductor”.
Last years
In 1939, the Cossacks became American citizens. The choir's creativity reached its peak of popularity.
In 1981 S. Zharov was inducted into the Chamber of Fame of the Congress of Russian Americans. Not many Russians have received this recognition from the President of the United States. Zabolev, S. Zharov transferred the rights to his collective to his friend and manager Otto Hofner, who in 2001 transferred the choir to Vanya Hlibka, one of the young soloists.
S. Zharov died in 1985 at the age of 89 in America.
From personal life
S. Zharov married a Don Cossack woman Neonila Kudash, having married her in Berlin. They had a son, Alexei. The family lived in Lakewood.
Nostalgic memory
In emigration, Sergei Alekseevich yearned for his homeland. When asked about his cherished dream, he replied:
S. Zharov's legacy returns to Russia. Since 2003, CDs have been produced in Russia. A number of archival records of church chants, romances and folk songs are being prepared for publication. In the museum of the city of Makariev there is an exhibition dedicated to S. Zharov.
The famous musical creativity of the choir and its leader was understood and appreciated by the public from many parts of our planet. The activity of the Cossacks reflected the desire of a broad, powerful soul, cut off from the Motherland, to be closer to it.
