Dark Eyes (song)

"Dark Eyes" (Russian: «Очи чёрные», Ochi chyornye; English translation: "Black Eyes"; Spanish translation: «Ojos negros»; French translation: « Les yeux noirs »; Portuguese translation: "Olhos Negros"; German translation: „Schwarze Augen“) is probably the most famous Russian romance song.

The lyrics were written by the Ukrainian poet and writer Yevhen Hrebinka. The first publication of the poem was in Hrebinka's own Russian translation in Literaturnaya gazeta on 17 January 1843.

In "The Book of World-famous Music: Classical, Popular, and Folk", published in 2000, the author, J.Fuld, mentions that a Soviet musicologist had reported to him that the song is not "a Russian Traditional song but a cabaret song", published in a songs book by A. Gutheil in 1897 and mentioned, at p. 131, as a "Gypsy romance based on the melody of Florian Hermann's Valse Hommage.^[1] Of the original melody author, Florian Hermann, not a single music score is known.^[2]

The most renowned and played version of this song was written by Adalgiso Ferraris, and published, when still in Russia in 1910, with German editor Otto Kuhl, as Schwarze Augen (Black Eyes).^[3][4] Ferraris then published it again in 1931 by Paris Editions Salabert, as "Tes yeux noirs (impression russe)"^[5] and with Jacques Liber, on Oct 9th, 1931.^[6][7]

Adalgiso Ferraris, an Italian-born British composer, had spent many years in Russia before 1915. The song became one of his major successes in the 1920s and 1930s, being also played by Albert Sandler, by Leslie Jeffries in 1939, and sung by Al Bowlly in 1939 with words of Albert Mellor.^[8][9] Max Jaffa also recorded it.^{[10][11][12][13]}

Ferraris's Dark Eyes was recorded by Harry Parry and his radio sextet in 1941, and that version is still played by many artists. Chet Atkins played an original interpretation of the song on electric guitar. Feodor Chaliapin also popularised the song abroad.

The song was briefly played by the Three Tenors in their 1990 concert in Rome.

Poem (original version by Hrebinka)

The following is a metrical translation (i.e. one that can be sung to the melody).

Oh, these gorgeous eyes, dark and glorious eyes,
Burn-with-passion eyes, how you hypnotise!
How I_ adore you so, how I fear you though,
Since I saw you glow! Now my spirit’s low!

Darkness yours conceal mighty fires real;
They my fate will seal: burn my soul with zeal!
But my love for you, when the time is due,
Will refresh anew like the morning dew!

No, not sad am I, nor so mad am I;
All my comforts lie in my destiny.
Just to realise my life’s worthiest prize
Did I sacrifice for those ardent eyes!.

Translation by Peter Farnbank

Another rhythmical translation which is closer to the original

Oh you dark black eyes, full-of-passion-eyes Oh you burning eyes, how you hyptontise Now I love you so, but I fear you though Since you glanced at me not so long ago.

Oh I see you now, you are dark and deep I see grief and feel that my soul will weep I see now in you a winning burning glow in my poor heart will a fire grow.

I’ m not sorrowful, I’m not repenting I accept all that my fate’s presenting All the best in life, God has given us- this I sacrifice, to you dark black eyes.

by Stefan Bogdanov

Lyrics (Chaliapin version)

from Chaliapin version

Translation by Katya from russmus.net ()

Popular culture

"Dark Eyes" has become a jazz standard.

• 1910 - Adalgiso Ferraris "Schwarze Augen" ^[14]
• 1931 - Adalgiso Ferraris "tes yeux noirs (Black Eyes) Impression Russe" ^[15]
• 1932 - Ferraris "Black Eyes" song played by Albert Sandler.
• 1933 - Krazy Kat and his girlfriend sing the song in the cartoon Russian Dressing.
• 1934 - Al Jolson sings in Russian for the film Wonder Bar.
• 1936 - In the film My Man Godfrey, Carlo (the artist-protégé of Mrs. Bullock) often began this song before being interrupted in his artistic pursuit.
• 1936 - Ismail Marzuki wrote Sundanese lyrics for the song, under the title "Panon Hideung".
• 1937 - Tommy Dorsey and his swing orchestra recorded the piece as a trombone feature.
• 1937 - The Ritz Brothers performed a parody of the song in the film On the Avenue.
• 1937 - In the finale of the film Shall We Dance, Fred Astaire dances with a group of female dancers all wearing Ginger Rogers masks, with the real Ginger hiding among them. When she blurts out the words "oci ciornie", he picks her out from among the group and begins dancing with her.
• 1938 - Maxine Sullivan recorded a swing version in Russian and English, accompanied by Claude Thornhill and members of John Kirby's sextet
• 1939 - Ferraris' "Dark Eyes" played by Leslie Jeffries in 1939 in a mix with Brahms and others.
• 1940 - Ernst Lubitsch's movie The Shop Around the Corner, based on the play La Perfumerie, features a plot line where Jimmy Stewart is tasked with selling cigarette boxes which play "Ochi Tchornye". It is mentioned frequently and is heard in the background during the cafe scene.
• 1940 - Django Reinhardt recorded three instrumental versions under the French translation "Les yeux noirs".
• 1941 - A recording of "Dark Eyes" (Ferraris) played by Harry Parry and his radio sextet was made.
• 1941 - Jack Teagarden recorded a swinging version with his sextet. His opening cadenza remains an inspiration and a challenge for any trombonist.
• 1941 - In W.C. Fields' film Never Give a Sucker an Even Break, Gloria Jean sang this song in a scene where she finally finds her Uncle Bill (played by W.C. Fields) in Russia after he jumped out of the airplane that they were taking to retrieve his bottle of alcohol.
• 1942 - In the novel The High Window by Raymond Chandler, the hero Philip Marlowe hears the song sung in a night club.
• 1942 - Spike Jones recorded a parody of this song called "Hotcha Cornya (Dark Eyes)".
• 1943 - The Warner Bros. cartoon Falling Hare used this song in a scene where Bugs Bunny unsuccessfully tries to break down an airplane door (while the airplane was in the air and running) in order to find the Gremlin who has been continuously taunting him.
• 1944 - In the Universal Pictures cartoon Ski for two, Woody Woodpecker is singing the refrain of the song while ice-skating.
• 1945 - Danny Kaye sings a comical version of the song in the film Wonder Man with lyrics modified by Sylvia Fine.
• 1945 - Mischa Auer, who played the song over and over again as Carlo in My Man Godfrey, appears as Prince Nikita Starloff, who dies after playing the first measures of the song in Rene Clair's "And Then There Were None."
• 1947 - Wingy Manone, trumpeter, and Edmond Hall, both from New Orleans, recorded a version of "Dark Eyes". Edmond Hall's clarinet-solo is a classic and Wingy Manone sang a humorous nonsense-vocal.
• 1950s - A very original interpretation of the song, for electric guitar, was played for years by Chet Atkins.
• 1951 - A Finnish version sung by Tauno Palo was used in the movie Ylijäämänainen
• 1954 - Louis Armstrong did a version called "Otchi-Tchor-Ni-Ya", which in his unique New Orleans Creole patois sounded like "Oh Cha Chunya". The words were quite different from the proper translation of the song from Russian to English.
• 1955 - Disney's Lady and the Tramp Boris (Borzoi) calls Lady "little Otchi Tchernye".
• 1957 - David Seville aka Ross Bagdasarian arranges an instrumental version before his Chipmunks fame. Pretty Dark Eyes.
• 1957- The Barry Sisters Sing Traditional Jewish Songs- (Cadence Records) "Otchi chornia" (Yiddish & English version).
• 1958 - Jazz organist Jimmy Smith performs the song as an instrumental on the live album Cool Blues.
• 1958 - Wynton Kelly performs the song as an instrumental with Kenny Burrell, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones on Piano.
• 1959 - The song is mentioned in Kay Thompson's book Eloise in Moscow, as Eloise sings it in the bath, which "Nanny loves but I had to stop because it hurt Weenie's ears".
• 1959 - The song is referenced in Robert Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers.
• 1965 - This song is performed by the Indonesian/Dutch Indo-Rockband The Tielman Brothers
• 1966 - This song is featured in the movie Batman during Bruce Wayne and Catwoman's date. Catwoman was disguised as the Russian journalist Kitka.
• 1969 - "Ja lubljú tebjá (Ich liebe dich)" sung by Alexandra on the album Sehnsucht - Ein Portrait In Musik is a version of this song.
• 1970 - Violetta Villas recorded the song which later became her signature hit in Poland. Villas recording is considered the best vocal interpretation ever of this song.
• 1973 - Sara Montiel recorded a pop-rock version in Spanish titled "Ojos Negros."
• 1982 - "Nostalgie (Nathalie)" sung by Julio Iglesias uses this song as a refrain.
• 1987 - The song gives its name to Nikita Mikhalkov's film Dark Eyes.
• 1987 - Romanian gymnast Daniela Silivaș uses the song as a part of her floor music. During the 1987 World Championships, she scored a perfect 10 to become the World Champion on floor.
• 1990 - The song is performed on the best-selling classical music album of all time, The Three Tenors in Concert and a brief part of it played by the "three tenors", Domingo, Carreras and Pavarotti in their 1990 concert in Rome.
• 1991 - The song is performed by Elya Baskin in War and Peace, a Season 2 episode of Northern Exposure
• 1994 - The song featured in The Leningrad Cowboys' Total Balalaika Show, featuring the full 160-member Alexandrov Ensemble.
• 1996 - Red Elvises feature this music with different lyrics entitled "Scorchi Chorniye" on their debut album Grooving to the Moscow Beat.
• 1999 - Sabine Azéma sings this song in the French film La Bûche.
• 2000 - A version of this song was recorded by the American band Devotchka. It is featured on their debut album SuperMelodrama.
• 2000 - Rachel Portman used this melody in the film Chocolat. It is titled "Chocolate Sauce" on the soundtrack.
• 2002 - The computer adventure game Syberia featured the chorus of the song in the last part of the game and being whistled by a lonesome janitor. The whole song is also in the game. It is sung by the NPC Helena in the Epilogue.
• 2004 - The song was used as the main theme for the TV mini-series The Mystery of Natalie Wood, a biopic about the actress Natalie Wood.
• 2004 - The song is performed by the jazz vocalist Sophie Milman on her album Milman.
• 2005 - In the 2005 film Hostel Oli (Eythor Gudjonsson) and Natalya (Barbara Nedeljakova) sing Ochi Chyornye together in the sauna.
• 2006 - A recording by Judy Morris features in the animated film Happy Feet.
• 2006 - American figure skater Sasha Cohen used this song for her short program at the Winter Olympics.
• 2006 - Swedish duo The Knife release the single "Marble House", the vocal melody of which is reminiscent of "Dark Eyes" (though possibly unintentionally so).
• 2007 - The song is performed in a scene of the David Cronenberg film Eastern Promises by a singer and accordion player Igor Outkine.
• 2007–present - Folk metal band Turisas frequently incorporate a unique interpretation of this song as a finale for their song "In the Court of Jarislief" during live performances.
• 2008 - Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir used the song as their original dance music.
• 2008 - Russian-born American gymnast Nastia Liukin used the version from the Well-Tempered Productions CD called Gypsy as arranged by Ilan Rechtman, (who is also the pianist on the recording with violinist Lara St. John) as her floor exercise music at the Summer Olympics where she won a gold medal in the Women's All-Around Final.
• 2009 - A Japanese version was used in the Hime Uta 2 character CD for Strike Witches.
• 2010 - American gymnast Rebecca Bross uses a remix of the song as her floor music. She shares the same coach as Nastia Liukin, Valeri Liukin at WOGA (who is also Nastia's father).
• 2010 - Used in the glassandahalffull productions Spots vs. Stripes advert for Cadbury's dairy milk
• 2010 - Russian singer Vitas covered this song on his album Masterpieces of Three Centuries.
• 2010 - Movie Brestskaya krepost (Fortress of War) by Aleksandr Kott.
• 2010 - Israeli artist Yoni Eilat recorded a Yiddish cover of this song for his album Tzigayner Neshume.
• 2011 - Performed by actor Benoît Poelvoorde in the restaurant scene in the French Movie Les Émotifs anonymes
• 2012 - Russian figure skater Elizaveta Tuktamysheva uses the piece for her free skate/long program
• 2012 - Leuven (Belgium) based band Awesomesauce covered the song at one of their concerts.
• 2015 - A gypsy band covered the song live in the Budapest episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.

See also

• Dark Eyes, a Russian music compilation album that includes Dark Eyes
• The Red Army Choir, compilation album that includes Dark Eyes

References

1. ↑ James J. Fuld. The book of world-famous music: classical, popular, and folk - Courier Dover Publications, 2000. - P. 417 (see also notes at p. 684).
2. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=EVninY59ul0C&pg=PA684#v=onepage&q&f=false
3. ↑ Schwarze Augen Black Eyes by Ferraris
4. ↑ OCLC World Cat Reference - Schwarze Augen, Adalgiso Ferraris
5. ↑ http://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=author:%22Ferraris,%20A.%22&formQuery=author:%22Ferraris,%20A.%22
6. ↑ https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5qknYkfxODxS2J2U0ROa1ZudzQ/view?usp=sharing
7. ↑ https://books.google.com/books?id=YzBjAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA1110&lpg=PA1110&dq=liber+music+%22black+eyes%22+ferraris&source=bl&ots=SSzmGwXmWt&sig=DBm8fPDt7F7C4WaIeAKfIdWcqaA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lwZMVLPiDsja8AGP_IHQBw&ved=0CDgQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=liber%20%22black%20eyes%22%20ferraris&f=false
8. ↑ http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/publication/50013425
9. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/song/dark-eyes-mt0048800677
10. ↑ http://www.45worlds.com/vinyl/album/sall863
11. ↑ Albert Sandler, shown here in a British Pathe film of 1932
12. ↑ Leslie Jeffries here in a British Pathe film of 1939
13. ↑ Al Bowlly - Dark Eyes
14. ↑
15. ↑ Editions Salabert, Paris

External links

• Dark Eyes aka Les Yeux Noirs on Softpanorama
• Russian Music on the Net Translation was taken from this site
• Djangopedia description of song Includes chart. This is for Les yeux noirs, the French version of the song.
• English version
• Pretty Dark Eyes by David Seville