a film by Inessa Kovalevskaya
Rock music-wise, 1970s really started in 1969. Abbey Road, Concerto for Group and Orchestra, In the Court of the Crimson King, Led Zeppelin, Yes and Woodstock defined the shape of rock to come, just like, a decade earlier, Ornette Coleman and other giants did it for jazz. And then there was The Bremen Town Musicians. I can’t honestly tell you that I remember it since 1969 but I am sure that I first heard this mini-musical on the EP that my cousin brought us. This EP, albeit badly scratched, survived in our house till the late 1980s when I finally found a replacement.
Of course, not only I and my brother (and then, Yuri and Timur, too) — whole generations grew up on this story and this music. Still, I think of it as “ours”. There was a group of trees not far from our house where we loved to play and, by some reason, referred to as «Бременские». Maybe it was my mum who called it that first. When, years later, I read the Grimms’ version, I was sorely disappointed. Without either Troubadour or Princess, it wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on, I decided.
It aged beautifully. As the end credits roll, the main “rock” theme («Ничего на свете лучше нету») is played as an instrumental with a strong Latin feel. The trumpet goes higher and higher. The music ends. My hands ache to flip the vinyl to the A-side and start from the beginning.
Давным-давно на белом свете жили глупые короли, прекрасные принцессы, страшные лесные разбойники и весёлые трубадуры...
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