#Renaissance #Annie Haslam #progressive rock #British progressive rock #symphonic prog #classical #orchestral #1970s
"Mother Russia" is a tribute to dissident Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. His well-known novel about Soviet oppression, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, inspired the lyrics. Clocking in at nine-and-a-half minutes, "Mother Russia" opens with a string-led introduction featuring intermittent piano accents. Annie Haslam's vocals enter about two minutes into the song, and the next three minutes contain four verses that detail Solzhenitsyn's struggles, interspersed with short string and acoustic guitar interludes. The song concludes with a five-minute section comprising a three-minute instrumental interlude with wordless vocals by Haslam, followed by a repetition of the final two verses.
Like many Renaissance songs, Cornish poet Betty Thatcher wrote the lyrics and the band's guitarist, Michael Dunford, composed the music. "Mother Russia" is the closing song on Turn of the Cards, which Renaissance released in July 1974. Five months earlier, the authorities had arrested and deported Solzhenitsyn from the Soviet Union after the publication of his book, The Gulag Archipelago.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was a Russian novelist, historian, and critic of Soviet totalitarianism. In 1962, with the approval of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, he published his first novel, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, which depicted Stalinist repressions. Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature eight years later "for the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature."
From: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/renaissance/mother-russia
Like many Renaissance songs, Cornish poet Betty Thatcher wrote the lyrics and the band's guitarist, Michael Dunford, composed the music. "Mother Russia" is the closing song on Turn of the Cards, which Renaissance released in July 1974. Five months earlier, the authorities had arrested and deported Solzhenitsyn from the Soviet Union after the publication of his book, The Gulag Archipelago.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was a Russian novelist, historian, and critic of Soviet totalitarianism. In 1962, with the approval of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, he published his first novel, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, which depicted Stalinist repressions. Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature eight years later "for the ethical force with which he has pursued the indispensable traditions of Russian literature."
From: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/renaissance/mother-russia
