Alexander Yakovlevich Rosenbaum PAR (russian: link=no, Александр Яковлевич Розенбаум, ''Aleksandr Jakovlevič Rozenbaum'') (born September 13, 1951) is a Russian

bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise t ...

from

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. Graduated from the First Pavlov State Medical University of St. Peterburg in 1974, Rosenbaum worked in the medical field for four years. His musical education consists of piano and choreography courses at a musical school. In 1968, while still a student, Rosenbaum started writing the songs for which he is famous. His early songs were for student plays, but he soon also wrote for rock groups and started performing as a singer-songwriter in 1983, sometimes under the pseudonym "Ayarov". Among his most famous songs are the ones about

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, the

Soviet–Afghan War The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan from 1979 to 1989. It saw extensive fighting between the Soviet Union and the Afghan mujahideen (alongside smaller groups of anti-Soviet ...

Cossack The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

s, and

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

. Songs such as "Gop-Stop" (a comedy about two gangsters executing an unfaithful lover) and "Vals-boston" ( The Boston Waltz) are popular across Russian social groups and generations. Rosenbaum is an accomplished guitarist and accompanies himself on either a six- or twelve-string acoustic guitar, using the

Open G tuning Among alternative tunings for the guitar, an open G tuning is an open tuning that features the G-major chord; its open notes are selected from the notes of a G-major chord, such as the G-major triad (G,B,D). For example, a popular open-G tuning ...

adopted from the Russian seven string guitar. His attitude toward the criminal song genre can best be illustrated by his own words:

Titles

On May 16, 2001, by president Putin's decree, Rosenbaum was awarded the title of

People's Artist of Russia People's Artist of the Russian Federation (russian: Народный артист Российской Федерации, ''Narodnyy artist Rossiyskoy Federatsii''), also sometimes translated as National Artist of the Russian Federation, is an h ...

, probably the highest title in the artistic field of activity in Russia.

Songwriting and performing characteristics

Rosenbaum sometimes employs peculiar musical time signatures and patterns in his songs, striving to sound fresh and unique – a bit atypical for a songwriter that employs gangster and criminal slang elements in his lyrics. Though many of his songs are elaborate in their instrumentation, the stress is placed on the primary melodies of his songs and their messages, as is usually the case in bard music. However many prominent Russian bards shun Rozenbaum and refuse to count him in as a member of their community. While bards used to be treated as outcasts and their music was drawn underground through the years of Soviet regime, Rozenbaum enjoyed official approval long before collapse of the Soviet Union with its tight ideological censorship. "Bard Song Anthology" by Dmitry Sukharev ("Бардовская песня. Антология", сост. Дмитрий Сухарев, ) widely acclaimed as 'Bible' of Russian bard movement, listing nearly every author of every song, doesn't even mention his name. His lyrics are quite often heart-wrenching, telling stories of people in insufferable pain, suffering implacable fates, and of love powerful enough to enslave a man. He sees himself not so much as a critic, but a true patriot who sees the worst sides of his country, but loves its people still. He has stated that his wide lyrical scope is due to his being a sort of medium. For example, he wrote many crime-related songs using their jargon, but he never lived the criminal life in reality. Similarly, many of his songs about the Cossacks were written without the benefit of ever having a single relative from that community. Rosenbaum's most popular and culturally relevant song to-date, and his greatest hit, is "Vals-Boston" (Russian: Вàльс-бостòн), which translates to "The Boston Waltz." The title refers to a dance called the American Waltz, or alternatively the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

2000s

Political career

On December 7, 2003, Alexander Rosenbaum took office as a member of the Russian parliament ( the fourth Duma) for ''Yedinaya Rossiya'' and deputy chairman of the State Duma Culture Committee. When asked by a journalist about what he had to sacrifice to be able to run for MP, Rosenbaum answered: He was not listed as an MP in the fifth Duma. He is also a supporter of

Yisrael Beiteinu Yisrael Beiteinu ( he, יִשְׂרָאֵל בֵּיתֵנוּ, russian: Наш Дом Израиль, lit. ''Israel Our Home'') is a secularist, nationalist right-wing political party in Israel. The party's base was originally secular Russia ...

Israeli political party and sang the theme tune for the party in the 2009 Israeli legislative election. Rosenbaum expressed support for the

annexation Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

in 2014, and stated, "Crimea is ours." For this he was banned from entering

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. Crimea is since March 2014 under dispute by Russia and Ukraine.

Business

Rosenbaum is co-owner of a growing (as of 2007) network of beer-halls in Saint-Petersburg, called "Tolstiy Frayer". The name has a humorous, as well as gangster slang air to it and can roughly be rendered as "Fat patsy". The name is a reference to one of Rosenbaum's songs.

Discography

*
Pamyati A. Zvezdina-Severnogo
' (''In memory of A. Zvezdin-Severny''; April

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

) * ' (''New Songs''; November 1983) * ' (''Epitaph'';

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

) * ' (''My

Courtyards A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...

'';

) * ' (''Paint Me a House'';

) *
Doroga dlinoyu v zhizn
' (''The Life-long Road'';

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

) * ' (''

Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

Songs'';

) * ' (''Anathema'';

) * ' (''A New-York Concert'';

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

) * ' (''Gop-stop''; 1993) * ' (''Hot Ten'';

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

) * ''A. Rozenbaum i "Bratya Zhemchuzhniye" 11 let spustya'' (''A. Rosenbaum and the "Zhemchuzhnye Brothers", 11 years after'';

) * ''Veshchaya sudba'' (''Prophetic Fate'';

, compilation) * ' (''Nostalgia'';

) *
Vyalotekushchaya Shizofreniya
' (''

Sluggishly progressing schizophrenia Sluggish schizophrenia or slow progressive schizophrenia (russian: вялотеку́щая шизофрени́я, translit=vyalotekushchaya shizofreniya) was a diagnostic category used in the Soviet Union to describe what was claimed to be a for ...

''; December

) * ''Byloye i diski'' (''The Past and the Disks''; volumes 1, 2 and 3) * ''Antologiya 1. '' (''Anthology 1. A Home Concert'';

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

) * ''Antologiya 2
Posvyashcheniye posvyashchayushchim
' (''Anthology 2. Devoted to the Devoters''; 1983) * ''Antologiya 3. '' (''Anthology 3. A Concert in

Vorkuta Vorkuta (russian: Воркута́; kv, Вӧркута, ''Vörkuta''; Nenets for "the abundance of bears", "bear corner") is a coal-mining town in the Komi Republic, Russia, situated just north of the Arctic Circle in the Pechora coal basin at ...

'';

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

) * ''Antologiya 4
Kontsert na LOMO
' (''Anthology 4. A Concert at LOMO'';

) * ' (''Pink Pearls''; August–November

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

) * ' (''On Plantations of Love''; March–May 1996) * ' (''A Birthday Concert''; September 1996) * ' (''The Return to Argo''; February

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

) * ' (''July Heat''; November

) * ''Luchshiye pesni'' (''The Best Of'';

–

, compilation) *
Transsibirskaya magistral
' (''

Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the ea ...

'' 1999) * ''Odinokiy volk'' (''Lonesome Wolf''; 2001, compilation) * ' (''Real Soldier''; April

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

) *
Staraya gitara
' (''Old Guitar''; 2001) * ''Ya lyublyu vozvrashchatsya v svoy gorod...'' (''I Love Coming Back to My Town…''; 2003) * ' (''Strange Life''; 2003) *
Ya vizhu svet
' (''I See the Light''; December

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

) * ' (''Fellow travellers''; October 2007) * ' (''The Dream of an Underworld Poet'' November

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

) * ' (''Unbuttoned Shirt'' November

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

) * ' (''Coast of pure brotherhood'' with

Grigory Leps Grigory Viktorovich Lepsveridze (russian: link=no, Григо́рий Ви́кторович Лепсверидзе, ka, გრიგორი ვიქტორის ძე ლეფსვერიძე), known as Grigory Leps (born 16 July ...

;December

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

) * ' (''

Metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

''; December

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

) *
Simbioz
' (''

Symbiosis Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...

'';

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

)'' (collection of poems performed by the author)'' * ' (''

Rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular recu ...

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

'';

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

)

Films about Alexander Rosenbaum

— *

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

— *

— * 1996 — *

— *

— * 2003 — "The Philosophy of the Way" 20 years later ( and ) * 2004 — *

— *

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

— *

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

— *

—

References

External links

Rozenbaum.ru
– Official site, includes many recordings and lyrics.
Duma.gov.ru
– State Duma official site *
Apple Music - Alexander Rosenbaum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenbaum, Alexander 1951 births Living people Musicians from Saint Petersburg People's Artists of Russia Russian bards Russian chanson Russian Jews Singers from Saint Petersburg Soviet songwriters Soviet male singer-songwriters Russian male singer-songwriters 20th-century Russian male singers 20th-century Russian singers Fourth convocation members of the State Duma (Russian Federation)