''To ostatnia niedziela'' ( pl, The Last Sunday; 1935) is one of the long-time hits of

Jerzy Petersburski Jerzy Petersburski (1895–1979) was a Jewish Polish pianist and composer of popular music, renowned mostly for his Tangos, some of which (such as '' To ostatnia niedziela'', ''Już nigdy'' and ''Tango Milonga'') were milestones in popularizatio ...

. A nostalgic

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

with lyrics by Zenon Friedwald describing the final meeting of former lovers just before they break up, it was performed by numerous artists and gained the nickname of ''Suicide Tango'', due to its brooding lyrical content.

Other versions

In 1937, a Russian version was written by and performed by singer backed by the State Radio Committee Jazz Band, led by pianist

Aleksandr Tsfasman Alexander Naumovich Tsfasman (russian: Александр Наумович Цфасман; born December 14, 1906 - died February 20, 1971) was a Soviet Jazz pianist, composer, conductor, arranger, publisher and activist. He was an important figur ...

, under the title of ''Wearied Sun'' (russian: Утомлённое солнце, ''Utomlyonnoye solntse''). After the war the song remained largely successful and was one of the symbols of pre-war music in Polish popular culture. Performed by, among others,

Mieczysław Fogg Mieczysław Fogg (born Mieczysław Fogiel; 30 May 1901, Warsaw3 September 1990, Warsaw) was a Polish singer and artist. His popularity started well before World War II and continued well into the 1980s. He had a characteristic way of staying v ...

and

Piotr Fronczewski Piotr Fronczewski (born 8 June 1946 in Łódź, Poland), is a Polish actor and a cabaret and theatre singer. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most popular actors of his generation. Life and career He was born to a Polish mother, Bogna D ...

, it appeared in a number of films, including: *

Andrei Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky Andrei Sergeyevich Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky (russian: link=no, Андрей Сергеевич Михалков-Кончаловский; born 20 August 1937) is a Russian filmmaker. He has worked in Soviet cinema, Soviet, Cinema of the United S ...

's ''

Siberiade ''Siberiade'' (russian: Сибириада, translit. ''Sibiriada'') is a 1979 Soviet historical drama film directed by Andrei Konchalovsky and produced by Mosfilm. The four-part epic spans much of the 20th century. Themes The film comb ...

'' (

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

), *

Yuri Norstein Yuri Borisovich Norstein, PAR (russian: link=no, Ю́рий Бори́сович Норште́йн; born 15 September 1941) is a Soviet and Russian animator best known for his animated shorts ''Hedgehog in the Fog'' and '' Tale of Tales''. Sinc ...

's acclaimed '' Tale of Tales'' of the same year, *

The Parrot Speaking Yiddish ''The Parrot Speaking Yiddish'' (russian: Попугай, говорящий на идиш) is a 1990 Soviet adventure film directed by Efraim Sevela. Plot The film tells about the lack of sleep and his adventures during the Second World War. Th ...

(1990) directed by

Efraim Sevela Efim Drabkin ( rus, Ефим Евелевич Драбкин), better known by his pen name Efraim Sevela (russian: link=no, Эфраим Севела, he, link=no, אפרים סבלה) (8 March 1928, Babruysk, Belarus18 August 2010) was a Soviet w ...

, * ''

Schindler's List ''Schindler's List'' is a 1993 American epic historical drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Steven Zaillian. It is based on the 1982 novel '' Schindler's Ark'' by Australian novelist Thomas Keneally. The film ...

'' (1993), *

Krzysztof Kieślowski Krzysztof Kieślowski (; 27 June 1941 – 13 March 1996) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He is known internationally for ''Dekalog'' (1989), ''The Double Life of Veronique'' (1991), and the ''Three Colours'' trilogy (1993 –1994) ...

's award-winning '' Three Colors: White'' (

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 sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson Ma ...

), *

Nikita Mikhalkov Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov (russian: Никита Сергеевич Михалков; born 21 October 1945) is a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers' Union. Mikhalkov is a three-time laureate of the ...

's ''

Burnt by the Sun ''Burnt by the Sun'' (russian: Утомлённые солнцем, translit. ''Utomlyonnye solntsem'', literally "wearied by the sun") is a 1994 film by Russian director and screenwriter Nikita Mikhalkov and Azerbaijani screenwriter Rustam ...

'' (1994) The Russian title of the song also became the namesake for the latter film. There exist a famous contemporary recording of the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist

Gidon Kremer Gidon Kremer ( lv, Gidons Krēmers; born 27 February 1947) is a Latvian classical violinist, artistic director, and founder of Kremerata Baltica. Life and career Gidon Kremer was born in Riga. His father was Jewish and had survived the Holo ...

. Also the Ukrainian version written by exists. A pop-rock version was used for the trailer of '' Atomic Heart''.

Lyrics (polish)

Lyrics (russian)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:To Ostatnia Niedziela Polish songs Polish-language songs 1935 songs Russian songs Tangos Tango in Poland