"Left March" is one of the most famous songs by Ernst Busch.
Written with words by Vladimir Mayakovsky.

Entry 1. Original by Ernst Bush.
Title: Linker Marsch Left March - German - 02:41

German translation of Mayakovsky's "Left March" (see text below). Recorded in the 1960s.
Music: Hans Eisler Lyrics: Vladimir Mayakovsky (German translation by Hugo Guppert) Performed by: Ernst Busch
Download mp3 file:
http://www.sovmusic.ru/sam_download.php?fname\u003ds9820

Record 2. Variant of choral performance.
Title: Linker Marsch Left March - German - 02:49
Description: "Your word, Comrade Mauser!" "Du hast das Wort, rede, Genosse Mauser!"
A version of the "Left March" performed by the Ensemble. Erich Weinert of the National People's Army of the GDR. There are slight differences in the text from the version performed by Ernst Bush.
Music: Hans Eisler Lyrics: Vladimir Mayakovsky (German translation by Hugo Guppert) Performed by: Erich - Weinert - Ensemble unserer Nationalen Volksarme Performed in 1976.
Download mp3 file:
http://www.sovmusic.ru/download.php?fname\u003dlinkerma

The text of the song is an almost literal translation of Mayakovsky's poem:

V. Mayakovsky at the exhibition “20 years of Mayakovsky's work”.

Photo. Hans Eisler (at the piano) and Ernst Busch. 1950s

Speech by Hans Eisler and Ernst Busch, drawing, 1929-32

The history of the creation of the poem "Left March", 1918, Petrograd:

http://feb-web.ru/feb/mayakovsky/kmh-abc/kmh-222-.htm

"
[About Mayakovsky's first performance of The Left March in Petrograd in 1918.]

December 17 - performance by [Vladimir Mayakovsky] at the Matrossky Theater (former Guards crew) [Petrograd].

“This was the first performance with art in the Matrossky Theater, which has existed for several months, but for some reason was bypassed by cultural and educational work. The doubts expressed by some comrades about the possibility of reading poetry ... in front of an audience that had previously only been inclined to "dance" was not justified in any way. A warm meeting and a whole line of people buying books was a joyful end to the performance ... "(" Art of the Commune ", 1918, December 22).

At this evening, Mayakovsky first read The Left March, written, as he later said, especially for a performance at the Matrossky Theater.

“I got a call from the former Guards carriage and demanded that I come to read poems, and so I wrote“ Left March ”in a cab. Of course, I prepared some stanzas earlier ... ”(Speech at the House of the Komsomol, March 25, 1930).
"

Vladimir Mayakovsky read the poem "Left March" at a literary and political evening in Berlin in 1928-1929, where Hans Eisler and Ernst Busch were present. Further, their memories of this meeting and the history of the creation of the song "Left March" in 1957:

Quote after: "Chronicle of life and work, 1893-1930" // Katyanian V. A. Mayakovsky: Chronicle of life and work / Otv. ed. A. E. Parnis. - 5th ed., Add. - M .: Council. writer, 1985 .-- S. 20-504.http://feb-web.ru/feb/mayakovsky/kmh-abc/kmh-222-.htm

According to the memoirs of F. Weisskopf (1952), during his stay in Berlin in February 1929, Mayakovsky spoke in one of the auditoriums in Gazenheide.

“Numerous workers were also present at the evening with Mayakovsky's friends, writers and literary sophisticated audience. Mayakovsky read his poems in Russian, without worrying that only a few in the audience understood Russian. But the impact of his dynamic personality was so great that the listeners were captured by this incomprehensible to them, but truly felt performance. And when, in conclusion, he threw "Left March" in the hall in his sonorous, rich, deep voice - everyone in the hall stood up. “Ah,” he said afterwards, deeply satisfied. "They understood me, because they saw that I was mine and share with them everything I have."

On February 20, he signed an agreement with the Malik publishing house in Berlin for the publication of plays and prose in German.

Quote after: "I almost went around the whole globe ..." Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky, Vera Nikolaevna Terekhina, A. Zimenkov, Sovremennik, 1988:

"
[About Vladimir Mayakovsky's trip to Berlin in 1928-1929] Although the poet, constrained by his ignorance of the language, called Berlin only a transit station on the way to Paris, he was interested in the first plays of B. Brecht, went to the "Red Cabaret", where G. Eisler performed by E. Bush. Years later, the singer recalled how suddenly, in the midst of the performance, someone huge, unfamiliar jumped on the stage, hugged him, squeezed him, then in a thunderous voice began to read some verses: "He scared everyone - at first no one knew that it was Mayakovsky ..." But soon Mayakovsky's "Left March" sounded in the performance of Ernst Bush as one of the best songs of the United Front of the anti-fascist struggle.
"

Quote from: G. Schneerson, "Ernst Bush and His Time", M., Soviet Composer, 1971:

“... the great Soviet poet, having heard Ernst Bush's speech at one of the literary and political evenings in Berlin in November 1928, immediately recognized him as“ his own. ”As Bush says, that evening Mayakovsky was reading his poems. did not prevent Bush from feeling in the poetry of the Soviet poet, in his amazing skill as a reader-orator, the fighting spirit of innovative art. ...
<...>
Eisler wrote "Left March" and "The Subbotnik Song" (from the poem "Good") on the initiative of Bush, who played the role of the Chairman of the Ukom in the play "Storm" by V. Bill-Belotserkovsky. At the same time, in 1957, both songs were recorded by Busch, accompanied by a symphony orchestra and choir conducted by Walter Gera.
Performing these songs in German in a good translation by Hugo Guppert, preserving the rhythm of the original, Bush perfectly conveys Mayakovsky's oratorical intonation: "Who is walking right there? Left! Left! Left!"
"

Quote from: "Actual problems of socialist art": Sat. articles about the artist. culture of social. European countries, Science, 1978:

Over the course of several years, Eisler systematically met with two prominent art historians, who recorded detailed interviews with him on tape, with a view to the subsequent publication of the collected materials. These valuable conversations began at the beginning of 1958 by a friend of the composer, musicologist Nathan Notowitz (he was one of the organizers of the GDR Composers' Union and its first secretary). Eisler's five conversations with Notowitz, recorded in the winter and spring of 1958, cover the composer's important memories of the years of study with Schoenberg, of his many friends and associates, as well as a number of reflections on musical and aesthetic themes.<...>

[About Hans Eisler] ... the composer had a special passion for Mayakovsky's poetry, in which he felt not only a great poet, but also a direct ideological like-minded person. He liked to remember his only meeting with Mayakovsky in Berlin at the beginning of 1929, when the poet spoke to a youth audience with a reading of the Left March in Russian. “We didn’t understand anything except the word“ Comrade Mauser ”. Everyone understood this. And it caused a huge ovation ... He was a wonderful man, a wonderful, great guy, and he read so excellently! " - Eisler recalled in April 1958.

He was captivated in Mayakovsky by something that was more than once encountered in Brecht - the dialectical interweaving of heroism and satire, edification and smile, seriousness and irony. Eisler proudly informed Notowitz that in compositions based on Mayakovsky's poems, he tried to capture the living impact of the poet's powerful oratorical intonation. It was about the music for the play "Storm", played for the first time in 1957, based on the play by V. Bill-Belotserkovsky. The "core" of the musical score was composed of songs based on Mayakovsky's verses. The play, staged by W. Langhoff, reminded Berliners of the heroism of the Russian Bolsheviks in 1919. Ernst Busch acted as chairman of the Ukom. The final mourning scene made a tremendous impression: the chairman of the committee was killed by a bandit bullet, but from all ends of the auditorium, from a dozen mouthpieces, his invocative songs continue to sound, recalling the greatness of the feat for the glory of the revolution. Thanks to the songs of Eisler - Mayakovsky in a brightly impressive performance by Ernst Bush, the director elevated and romanticized the memory of long past events in the district town of Bataysk. Bush's metallic, sonorous voice, amplified by radio reproducers, reigned supreme over the entire theatrical performance, as if inspiring it with conquering revolutionary romance. Eisler spoke of Ernst Bush's “inimitable, brilliant” art, which manifested itself in the performance of battle songs based on Mayakovsky's verses: “There is not a single person in the world who could sing better. He sings these songs perfectly, because he understands them correctly. "

A year after The Storm, the Volksbühne Theater staged Mayakovsky's satirical play The Bathhouse “in six scenes with the participation of the circus and fireworks” staged by Moscow director NV Petrov. And again, Eisler's battle song-zong "March of Time" to the verses of Mayakovsky (with the famous refrain "Time, forward!") Became the decoration of the performance.

Soon, Ernst Bush's gramophone record "Songs of Eisler - Mayakovsky" was published, which included: "Left March", "Song of the Subbotnik" and the song "Forward, Bolshevik" - from "Storm", as well as "March of Time" - from " Baths ". Then the song-march "The regiments are coming" appeared, which the author dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the Soviet Army. With this new series of his Kampflieders, Eisler decisively denied the opinion that he had allegedly fundamentally abandoned the poster-marching traditions of the past. With a new for him gravitation towards the sublime and quiet lyrics in the spirit of the classical Lied, the composer did not want to give up the energetic marching that was close to his heart. In the "Left March", in the "Song of the Subbotnik" again, as in the old years, the chased tread of "Eisler's basses", measuredly beat off with sharp jolts, dominates, the sculptural clarity of the minor melody, instantly ...<…>

There is only one important circumstance that distinguishes the new Kampflieder of the mature Eisler: instead of a formidable denunciation of the old world, here in the foreground is the approval of the ideas of revolutionary feat, the glorification of the courage and dedication of the victorious people. In these songs, the modern critic heard "the breath of that great storm that shook humanity forty years ago, cleansing it of filth."

So, at the end of his career, Eisler returned to his former marching tradition for the last time, once again gaining recognition as a popular songwriter. Songs to verses by Mayakovsky in the interpretation of Bush sounded far beyond ...<...>
"

Addition:

See also songs by Hans Eisler to words by Vladimir Mayakovsky performed by Ernst Busch.

Reading the verse "Left March" by Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky, you involuntarily pay attention to its unusual size. This work was written in 1918. The newly created Soviet state asserted its independence, engulfed in war both internally and externally. The motley army was tired of endless hostilities and needed spiritual support more than ever.

It was for this purpose that this poem was written. Every line of his calls the soldiers to take decisive action. Mayakovsky was an ardent supporter of the 1917 revolution and considered the new state the best and just. At the same time, he understood that internal disagreements and strife could do more harm to this state than external enemies. This is evidenced by his question: "Who is walking right there?" The poet seems to be hinting at many different political movements that opposed the revolution. While idealizing the revolution, Mayakovsky could not foresee that it would prove to be a huge step backward for the Russian economy.

The text of Mayakovsky's poem "Left March" can be downloaded on our website for a literature lesson in class. You can also learn this work by heart in full online, preparing for themed poetry evenings.

Turn around on the march!
Verbal is not a place for slander.
Hush, speakers!
Your
word,
comrade mauser.
Enough to live by the law
given by Adam and Eve.
We will drive the history nag.
Left!
Left!
Left!

Hey blue-blouses!
Reite!
Over the oceans!
Or
at the battleships in the raid
stepped sharp keels ?!
Let be,
grinning at the crown
heaves the British lion howl.
The commune cannot be subdued.
Left!
Left!
Left!

There
beyond the mountains of sorrow
there is no end to the sun.
For hunger
beyond the sea
step million print!
Let the gang surround the hired
steel pouring out ley, -
Russia will not be under the Entente.
Left!
Left!
Left!

Will the eagle's eye fade?
Shall we stare at the old?
Support
at the throat of the world
proletariat fingers!
Chest forward brave!
Paste the sky with flags!
Who is walking right there?
Left!
Left!
Left!

"Left March" Vladimir Mayakovsky

Turn around on the march!
Verbal is not a place for slander.
Hush, speakers!
Your
word,
comrade mauser.
Enough to live by the law
given by Adam and Eve.
We will drive the history nag.
Left!
Left!
Left!

Hey blue-blouses!
Reite!
Over the oceans!
Or
at the battleships in the raid
stepped sharp keels ?!
Let be,
grinning at the crown
heaves the British lion howl.
The commune cannot be subdued.
Left!
Left!
Left!

There
beyond the mountains of sorrow
there is no end to the sun.
For hunger
beyond the sea
step million print!
Let the gang surround the hired
steel pouring out ley, -
Russia will not be under the Entente.
Left!
Left!
Left!

Will the eagle's eye fade?
Shall we stare at the old?
Support
at the throat of the world
proletariat fingers!
Chest forward brave!
Paste the sky with flags!
Who is walking right there?
Left!
Left!
Left!

Analysis of Mayakovsky's poem "Left March"

One of the reasons why the revolution of 1917 took place in Russia, historians call the senseless and bloody First World War, into which the country was drawn because of the vanity of Tsar Nicholas II. However, even after the change of power took place in the country, the war did not end. Until 1919, the Entente troops tried to conquer Russia, believing that a very convenient moment had come for this - the country, torn apart by internal strife, weakened so much that it could no longer give a worthy rebuff to its enemies. The year is 1918, one of the most difficult years in the life of the new Soviet state. The government headed by Lenin is not recognized by any country, therefore there can be no talk of concluding a peace agreement. Only one thing remains - to fight and defend the independence of Russia with arms in hand. It was during these days that Mayakovsky wrote his famous poem "Left March", designed to strengthen the fighting spirit of the motley and scattering Russian army.

Talking about the history of the creation of this work, the poet admitted that it was written in literally half an hour, while the author was driving in a cab to meet with the St. Petersburg sailors. Hence such an unusual poetic form, and the constantly repeated refrain: “Left! Left! Left! " Mayakovsky needed to strengthen the fighting spirit of the soldiers, who were tired of the war and hoped that after the revolution it would end. After the victory of the proletariat, no one wanted to fight, since the soldiers and sailors recruited into the tsarist army from ordinary peasants dreamed of returning home and receiving the promised land. Convincing them of the need to return to the front was precisely the task of the poet.

Today it is difficult to judge how successfully Mayakovsky coped with it. However the poem "Left March" is a vivid example of propaganda poetry of that time... Each line of the piece is a call to action, and the author explicitly declares that it is time to take decisive action. "Your word, Comrade Mauser," Mayakovsky declares, hinting that it is impossible to defeat enemies with empty chatter, while arguing that "the commune cannot be subdued." The author calls on the army to "print a step" in order to secure "the fingers of the world on the throat of the proletariat" as soon as possible. And in this appeal there is no bloodlust or fanaticism, since the newly acquired freedom of the country, which the poet sincerely considers the best and just, is at stake.

At the same time, Mayakovsky understands that he will have to fight not only with external, but with internal enemies. Therefore, in the poem, he sarcastically asks: "Who is walking right there?", Pointing to the numerous political trends opposing the revolution. The poet is convinced that disagreements among soldiers and sailors in this difficult period may turn out to be even more dangerous than all sorts of intrigues of the Entente. And it turns out to be right, since after the end of the First World War in Russia, the civil war continues for several more years.

Sure, in 1918 Mayakovsky still idealizes the revolution, although he understands that it is turning into a bloody carnage... However, the author is convinced that human sacrifice is an inevitable tribute that should be paid in order to give life to other people, free and happy. In fact, the revolution, with its good intentions and quite sound ideas, is destined to turn into a farce and throw Russia back in economic development about a century ago. But until such sad consequences of the coup, Mayakovsky will not be destined to live, and until the very last day he will believe in the triumph of socialist justice.