Original version

BBC World Service Online

The Documentary

Documentaries

Factual

The Documentary Podcast

Investigating global developments, issues and affairs.

The Documentary; 24/12/2011

The Documentary: The Songs of Comrade Time

24/12/2011

The Songs of Comrade Time

BBC World Service - The Documentary, The Songs of Comrade Time

Monica Whitlock goes in search of The Children's Choir of the USSR.

The Children's Choir of the USSR sang to millions, they sang the soundtrack of their time but by 1991, this world was about to change forever.

The Children's Choir of the USSR sang to their leaders, they sang to their people, and through their songs projected a bright, happy dream of the Soviet Union to the furthest reaches of the Red Empire. 

Beautiful children and beautiful voices singing sad Russian songs, Soviet fairy tales of progress and hope, and ballads of loss and love from the Great Patriotic War. 

They could be heard and seen at great state occasions or providing the soundtrack for numerous Soviet cartoons. 

In doing so, their music shaped an entire generation's childhood - all under the direction of the forceful Victor Popov. 

Then, in 1991, the world they had sung about ceased to exist and the Soviet Union passed into memory.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Documentary

The Songs of Comrade Time

Genres

Brand

BBC World Service Online

About BBC World Service