Russian Lullabies

October 28, 2005 8:53 PM

My close friends are about to finalize their adoption of a baby from Saratov, Russia. The baby has spent some time in an orphanage in Saratov, and I think a nice gift for him would be a CD of songs that might have been sung to him during his infancy. Can anyone recommend a good source for Russian children's music?
posted by nixxon to media & arts (6 comments total)

Some Russian childrens' songs here:
http://www.russia-in-us.com/Children/

Someone who had a similar idea:
http://www.mkellymusic.com/
posted by tangerine at 9:33 PM on October 28, 2005

This is a site I've ordered from before that appears to be reliable.

This link is to the search for "lullaby" in Russian. The good thing is you can listen to many of the CDs before you buy (or, with the necessary skills, you can just... well, I leave that up to you). Just click on the little media player icons (there's also a "switch to English" link at the top of the page in case it comes up in Russian).
posted by Krrrlson at 9:49 PM on October 28, 2005

P.S. I think your opinion of Saratov orphanages may be a little high if you think someone routinely took the time to sing lullabies to this baby... so English melodies will work just as well.
posted by Krrrlson at 9:51 PM on October 28, 2005

There is always David Grisman and Jerry Garcia's version of Irvin Berlin's "Russian Lullaby". Not in Russian, but it is a nice song.
posted by terrapin at 6:08 AM on October 29, 2005

You might try music from Cheburashka cartoons. You can listen to some low-bitrate samples of the music at:
http://chebur.hobby.ru/music.html

The site is in Russian, but the links should be self-explanatory. The song К сожалению, день рождения..., about how sad it is that birthdays only come once a year, is particularly well-known (either that or it was just the favorite of my Russian instructor).
posted by komilnefopa at 11:46 AM on October 29, 2005

Thanks for all the helpful replies!
posted by nixxon at 7:51 AM on October 30, 2005