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Аркадий Островский

[b]Arkady Ostrovsky[/b] (25 [i]{O.S. 12}[/i] February 1914, Syzran, Simbirsk Governorate, Russian Empire — 18 September 1967, Sochi, USSR) was a Soviet composer and songwriter of Jewish descent, an Honored Art Practitioner of the RSFSR (1965), and uncle of American piano technician [url=https://discogs.com/artist/6954137]Alexander Ostrovsky[/url] (1937—2015). He authored numerous critically acclaimed songs for leading Soviet singers like [url=https://discogs.com/artist/805293]Muslim Magomaev[/url], [url=https://discogs.com/artist/716097]Iosif Kobzon[/url], [url=https://discogs.com/artist/776846]Oleg Anofriev[/url], [url=https://discogs.com/artist/1149969]Valery Obodzinsky[/url], and [url=https://discogs.com/artist/820386]Edyta Piecha[/url], including the 1965 non-lexical vocalize [i]I'm Glad Cause I'm Finally Coming Back Home[/i] sung by [url=https://discogs.com/artist/811762]Eduard Khil[/url], which went viral on YouTube in 2011 as a "Trololo" meme. Arkady Ostrovsky died at only 53 from a severe perforated ulcer in a Sochi hospital on the Black Sea coast, where he attended an inaugural opening ceremony for [i]Red Gilliflower[/i] ("Красная гвоздика") music festival, and buried in Moscow. In February 2004, on his 90th anniversary, Ostrovsky's memorial star was inaugurated at the [i]Star Square[/i] in front of [url=https://discogs.com/label/663157]"Russia" Concert Hall[/url]. Born into a prosperous Jewish family, Abram was the son of Ilya Ilyich Ostrovsky, a music shop owner, piano tuner, and chairman of the local Jewish Assembly in Syzran. His elder brother, Rafail Ilyich Ostrovsky (1905—1989), also became a keyboard instruments technician. As Abram grew older, he adopted a more Slavonic name, "Arkadiy," to avoid antisemitic discrimination. The family relocated to Saint Petersburg (then Petrograd) circa 1927, where Arkady's father became chief piano technician at [url=https://discogs.com/label/1513139]Leningrad Conservatory[/url]. Ostrovsky studied as a blacksmith at a professional technical school before pursuing music; by 1930, he enrolled in the Central Musical College. Between 1935 and the beginning of the [i]Great Patriotic War[/i] (WWII Eastern Front) in July 1941, Arkady Ostrovsky played accordion in [url=https://discogs.com/artist/4759377]Emil Kemper[/url]'s [url=https://discogs.com/artist/4721613]Leningrad Jazz Orchestra[/url]. Ostrovsky spent most of the wartime in Novosibirsk, where he began composing. From 1940 to 1947, he served as a pianist and accordionist in [url=https://discogs.com/artist/807822]Leonid Utyosov[/url]'s renowned [url=https://discogs.com/artist/1495196]Variety Jazz Orchestra[/url], often arranging scores for the ensemble. In 1956, Arkady Ostrovsky relocated to Moscow. He gained nationwide acclaim as a songwriter by the early 1960s, particularly renowned for children's songs. Like many other musicians, writers, and cartoonists deemed by the Soviet government as potentially "unreliable" for ideological reasons — or Jewish origins, in Arkady's case — Ostrovsky proliferated in children's art with fewer restrictions and censorship than any adult-oriented genre. Many of his songs became staples of Russian-speaking kids' vocal repertoire, such as [i]May There Always Be Sunshine[/i] ("Пусть всегда будет солнце") and [i]Tired Toys are Sleeping[/i] ("Спят усталые игрушки") lullaby on [url=https://discogs.com/artist/2396053]Zoya Petrova[/url]'s lyrics — an opening theme from a long-running Soviet-Russian TV program [i]Good Night, Little Ones![/i] ("Спокойной ночи, малыши!"). According to later interviews with the composer's son, Russian scientist [url=https://discogs.com/artist/13917220]Mikhail Arkadyevich Ostrovsky[/url], his accidental posthumous viral hit, [i]I'm Glad As I'm Finally Coming Back Home[/i] ("Я очень рад, ведь я наконец возвращаюсь домой"), also known as simply [i]Vocalize[/i] ("Вокализ"), was written on a bet with Ostrovsky's close friend and collaborator, poet [url=https://discogs.com/artist/805322]Lev Oshanin[/url]. After one of their arguments, frustrated Arkady composed the tune to prove he could make a great song without any lyrics. With its uplifting and rollicking melody, Ostrovsky commissioned [url=https://discogs.com/artist/811762]Eduard Khil[/url] to record the song with the [url=https://discogs.com/artist/1055021]All-Union Radio Variety Orchestra[/url]. However, conductor [url=https://discogs.com/artist/1712509]Yury Silantiev[/url] objected, insisting the song needed proper lyrics. He suggested poet [url=https://discogs.com/artist/820400]Vadim Semernin[/url], with whom Ostrovsky previously collaborated on [url=https://discogs.com/artist/817250]Maya Kristalinskaya[/url]'s song [i]Stork[/i] ("Аист"). The resulting text about Wild West cowboy didn't pass ideological censorship, and the song remained a "pure" acapella; the only remnant of Severnin's unused lyrics was in its full title.

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Аркадий Островский

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