1. Урок 4: Visual and Cultural Literacy
1. ИЗВЕСТНЫЕ МЕСТА: МОСКОВСКИЙ КРЕМЛЬ
Some people in the West tend to think
of the Kremlin more as an idea or, if
they do think of it as a physical space,
then solely as the seat of power in
Russia. But the Кремль is much more
than that—it is a large complex of
cathedrals, palaces, museums,
government buildings, parks, and even
a theatre, all surrounded by a red brick
wall with nineteen towers. The walls
and cathedrals were mainly built in the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Situated in the heart of Moscow on
Red Square, the Кремль plays a key
role in Russian history and culture.

2. The main “territory” of the Кремль is home to
several churches. In this top photo, you can see
the Cathedral of the Assumption (Успенский
собор), perhaps the most important church in
the ensemble—the coronation of Russian tsars
took place here, as did many other special
services.
In the bottom left photo you
can seen the Bell Tower of
Ivan the Great (Колокольня
Ивана Великого), and in the
bottom right photo is the
Cathedral of the Annunciation
(Благовещенский собор),
which at one point served as
the private place of worship
for the Muscovite tsars and
their families.

3. The Moscow cityscape is continually
changing—especially with the
construction on the western side of
the Москва-река of the new
financial district, with the
interesting hybrid name Москва
сити. Taken from the bridge leading
to Red Square (Красная площадь)
from the south, this top photo
offers a nice shot of three distinct
styles of architecture—and three
distinct eras—in Russian history and
culture: the Kremlin walls of the
tsarist period, the “Stalin gothic”
style of the Hotel Ukraine (now the
Radisson Royal) on the far left, and
the new “international” style of the
skyscrapers that make up Москва
сити (clearer in the more recent
bottom photos).

4. 2. ИЗВЕСТНЫЕ РУССКИE: ВЛАДИМИР ВЫСОЦКИЙ
Владимр Высоцкий
1938-1980
Vladimir Vysotsky is the most
famous of the “bard poets,”
singer/songwriters who first
emerged in the 1960s
outside the mainstream
Soviet music scene.
Vysotsky’s “official” identity
was as an actor, but he
gained much more fame for
his music, which often had
political overtones. Even
though he was never
officially recognized for his
poetry and music during his
lifetime, Vysotsky’s impact on
contemporary culture cannot
be overestimated.

5. There are so many songs by Высоцкий that
we could feature here, but we’ll stick to two
of his more iconic ones: Кони
привередливые (“Capricious Horses”),
which conveys a sense of impending doom,
and Утренняя гимнастика (“Morning
Exercise”), which pokes fun at the false
Soviet culture of uniformity. If you would
like to hear more, you can explore the
YouTube channel dedicated to him or the
Official Site of the Vysotsky Fund. This latter
site also offers you an English option, where
you can read more about Vysotsky and find
translations by his many fans.
White Nights is a film from 1985 starring Mikhail Baryshnikov (Михаил
Барышников), who plays an émigré Russian dancer who unexpectedly
finds himself stranded in the Soviet Union after a forced plane landing
there. He is united with an ex-American dancer, played by Gregory Hines,
who has defected to the USSR, and together they must work to thwart
the intentions of Soviet officials and escape abroad with the pregnant
wife of Hines’s character to save his child from being born in the USSR
(yes, that’s the plot…). Despite its cold-war tone and uneven acting, it
features a great dance piece by Baryshnikov performing to Vysotsky’s
Кони привередливые (in the presence of a young Helen Mirren!).

6. 3. ИЗВЕСТНЫЕ ХУДОЖНИКИ И ИХ КАРТИНЫ
Андрей Рублёв
(1360s-around 1430)
Андрей Рублёв is generally considered the
greatest Russian medieval icon painter.
Рублёв painted many of the icons and frescos
found in the Kremlin’s Успенский собор as
well as icons and frescos in many important
Russian churches.
Rublyov’s most famous painting is the icon of
the Trinity, which is now housed at the
Tretyakov Gallery (Третьяковская галерея).

7. These icons attributed to Рублёв can be found in the Благовещенский собор in
the Московский кремль. Тhey depict common subjects of Russian icons: on the
left, we have the annunciation (Благовещение)—the visit to the Virgin Mary by
the angel Gabriel, and on the right is the birth of Christ (Рождество Христово).

8. Апостал Павел, c. 1410
Христос Вседержитель, c. 1410

9. Андрей Рублёв is known to many
in the West as the subject of a
classic 1966 film by Soviet director
Аднрей Тарковский.
This video clip offers a montage of
many of the film’s memorable
scenes.

10. 4. ОБЪЕКТЫ КУЛЬТУРЫ: БАЛАЛАЙКА
This three-stringed, three-sided
instrument is called a balalaika
(балалайка), and it is a staple
sound in Russian folk music. It
comes in various sizes with
different pitches that correspond
to the size.

11. The балалайка is used in many
Russian folk songs, such as this one
called Тройкa, performed by
Дмитрий Калинин.
For a less traditional sound, you
might like the music of Алексей
Архиповский, a contemporary
musician who is a virtuoso on the
балалайка. Click here to watch
one of his performances.
The балалайка is an extremely
versatile instrument that can be used to
play all sorts of music—even the
Beatles