Don Kosaken - Stenka Rasin (1970)

Stepan (Sten'ka) Timofeyevich Razin (1630 – 1671) was a Cossack leader who led a major uprising against the nobility and Tsar's bureaucracy in South Russia.

Razin originally set out to loot villages, but as he became a symbol of peasant unrest, his movement turned political. Razin wanted to protect the independence of the Cossacks and to protest an increasingly centralized government. The Cossacks supported the tsar and autocracy, but they wanted a tsar that responded to the needs of the people and not just those of the upper class. By destroying and pillaging villages, Razin intended to take power from the government officials and give more autonomy to the peasants. However, Razin’s movement failed and the rebellion led to increased government control. The Cossacks lost some of their autonomy, and the tsar bonded more closely with the upper class because both feared more rebellion. On the other hand, as Avrich asserts, “[Razin’s revolt] awakened, however dimly, the social consciousness of the poor, gave them a new sense of power, and made the upper class tremble for their lives and possessions.”
At the time of the Russian Civil War, the famous writer and White emigre Ivan Bunin compared Razin to Bolshevik leaders, writing "Good God! What striking similarity there is between the time of Sten'ka and the pillaging that is going on today in the name of the 'Third International.'"

Don Cossacks were Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don.

This album is a best of compilation of the "Don Kosaken Chor", referring to these historical issues, featuring 15 tracks recorded between 1954 and 1970.

Tracklist:

1. Stenka Rasin 5.25
2. Still ruht der See 2.05
3. Zwei Kosakenlieder 2.09
4. Reitermarsch 2.02
5. Hindulied 3.45
6. Der Kuckuck 2.35
7. Ave Maria 2.59
8. Legende von den 12 Räubern 6.38
9. Matrosenlied 2.17
10. Alter Walzer 5.51
11. Lescinka (Kaukasische Melodie) 3.59
12. Russischer Tanz 1.55
13. Lied vom Terek Fluss 4.33
14. Die Wolga entlang 4.09
15. Guten Abend, gut‘ Nacht 2.10

Don Kosan - Stenka Rasin (1970)

(256 kbps, small front cover included