A soundtrack to Petersburg – 5 Essential Songs

Music is a powerful tool: it can bring you joy, a tear to your eye, energy to run the last mile and create a strong bond between people and places. Among the countless cultural artifacts, St. Petersburg – or, as it used to be, Leningrad – is also the “musical” capital, as the Питер рок-н-ролл  Walking down Nevsky Prospekt, one can encounter street musicians on every corner. So if you are in search for a St. Petersburg soundtrack or if you who have left and now experience this bittersweet feeling I call pitersickness (Piter and homesickness), here are five iconic songs from Petersburg that really capture the essence.

Dmitriy Shostakovich: „Leningrad” Symphony (1940)

Even though Symphony No. 7 in C major is not a song, it would be a shame to exclude classical genres from a list of Russian music. Shostakovich is considered to be one of the greatest, internationally acclaimed composers of the 20th century. He dedicated the symphony to his place of birth, which was first performed while the city was under attack in 1942. Rumours have it that during repetitions musicians occasionally fainted because of hunger and malnourishment, as Leningrad had little food supplies during the Nazi blockade. The first performance was broadcasted to German troops, showing the city’s courage, thus became Shostakovich’s work a soundtrack to the resistance and fight against fascism.

Vasiliy Solovyov-Sedoy and Aleksandr Churkin: Evening Song (Вечерняя песня/ Слушай, Ленинград…) (1963)

The nostalgia is strong with this one.’ Evening song’ – or, widely known as ’Listen, Leningrad…’ became the city’s unofficial anthem. The music was written by Solovyov-Sedoy, a well-known composer of the Soviet era, among others, ’Moscow nights’ (Подмосковные вечера) belongs to his famous works. The song tells about meeting old friends, remembering the good old times of one’s youth. In this version, the song is performed by Dmitry Hvorostovsky,  world-famous Russian baritone. He passed away in November 2017.

Billy Joel: Leningrad (1989)

With the Cold War coming to an end, Leningrad by American musician Billy Joel represented the wish for peace and mutual understanding of the common people in opposition to international politics’ rhetorics of hate. ’Leningrad’ consists of two parallel stories, one about Viktor, the Russian clown, and one about Billy, „a cold war kid in McCarthy time”. The message is simple but everlasting: even after the horrors of wars and nuclear tension, a mutual understanding can be reached through sharing our stories.

Spleen: Nevskiy Prospekt (1995)

In this song, there is something essential of Russian rock and something inexplicably essential of Petersburg. A bittersweet love story about abandonment and founding each other again in a hundred years told through poetry and music. Not uncommonly for Russian rock culture, the name ’Spleen’ has strong connections to Russian literature, for example, Pushkin’s most famous character, Evgeniy Onegin also suffers from spleen in a certain way. It is difficult to state anything clearly about a song so sweet and mysterious: better take a long walk along the Neva and take the song with you as soundtrack.

Leningrad: В Питере пить – V Pitere pit’ (In Piter we drink) (2016)

The group Leningrad was founded in 1997, and since then has become one of the most well known Russian bands worldwide. Their artistic, but NSFW music videos are available with English, German or French subtitles on Youtube. The provocative lyrics can teach anyone to swear in the most creative ways possible. Their popularity is, however, not only due to the harsh nature of their words. Leningrad simply knows how to party. Many who grew tired of pop music clichés will find their untamed craziness refreshing. V Pitere pit’ – In Piter we drink –  has already become a common phrase and is St. Petersburg soundtrack. 

Posted by Monika Wintermans

Hello there, I'm Monika from Hungary, interning at Liden & Denz as Social Media Assistant. I study Russian Language and Literature in Budapest. I love writing, urban life, food and Russian music - including the classics and rock as well.