Real World Records

The Wild Field

This is an album of peasant songs from southern Russia, specific to an area known as "the wild field" because it has no natural barriers and over the centuries has been ravaged by invaders and marauding Tartars.

The songs all date from before the 1917 Revolution. Most have been handed down generation by generation over several centuries and are now sung by workers on collective farms. Almost entirely vocal, the complex polyphonic harmonies build a web of rich, sonorous melodies.

Reviews

‘…as deep as the Russian soul, as expansive as the vast spaces of Russia itself…’

Press review from: Washington Post (USA)

‘...a powerful, primitive sound, full of vibrant and complex polyphony and elaborate ornamentation.'

Press review from: Folk Roots (UK)

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The Wild Field cover

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Also featuring Dmitri Pokrovsky Ensemble