– the creative imagination of Szklarski, or a well-thought out sociotechnical project?
There are 2 reasons to include the following text. First, it is simply a loud and yet unexplained (as regards the reasons and the real inspirers and actual performers?) assassination of the “Crocus City Hall” within the large Moscow. The second is any reflections that have caused me to watch and perceive to an interview with a sociologist, Alan Mamieev commenting on the assassination in “Krokus” ( https://www.youtube.com/embed/nOYEbSgq1D4 This prompted me to get to know the work of the stone group "Piknik", whose performance brought together more than 6000 fans of the band in tragic, as it turned out, on 22 March 2024.
——————
A "mystic" group that became "infamously known". 8 hits “Piknika”
After more than 40 years of creative activity, the Petersburg group "Piknik", considered 1 of the "legends of Russian rock", gained the position of "infamously known". The terrible events took place on 22 March 2024 in the Moscow Oblast in the Crocus City Hall performance hall virtually minutes before the musicians left for the stage.
"Piknik", whose leader and songwriter is Edmund Skliarska since 1981, stands out for its grim, mystical aesthetics. Against the background of what happened, there were “interpretors of meanings” who saw ominous divinations in the group's texts and images and rushed to accuse the group of “making trouble.” Rationally, it is clear that musicians have nothing to do with it. Any another group or contractor could take the place of "Piknik".
The group has been operating successfully for many years, gathering an intelligent audience at their concerts. Unfortunately, individual only learned about this in a sad context, although little-known bands do not appear on objects that can accommodate more than 6000 spectators. On the Internet, I met with many comments: “Who is this”, “The first time I hear it.” Channels like mine have been designed to answer specified questions. On the 1 hand, writing about music on specified a tragic background seems not very accurate, but on the another hand, people who went to “Krocus” came there especially for “Piknik”, meaning they loved this band. It is worth mentioning the work of Edmund Skliarski and his band, for example for the memory of those for whom the unsuccessful performance turned out to be the last.
“Mystic” Russian rock: shaping the creative image of “Piknik”
The black colours of costumes, dark glasses, symbols and signs are components of the phase image, organically intertwined with climatic music aesthetics. The group uses different musical instruments and reaches for electronic-synthetic sound. Disputable, full of first images texts address worldview and philosophy.
The unique appearance of the group is mostly due to its lIder Edmund Sklilarski, reflect his creative world.
Skliarski was not the group's founder, he joined an already existing group, making it a field for his creative experiments.more
The band's origins date back to 1978, formed from an amateur band "Orion", formed by students of Leningrad University of Technology. Many russian stone characters have completed this educational institution with a rich tradition of amateur performances. The group joined Leningrad stone club, whose associate was a postgraduate of the same Polytechnician, Edmund Skliarski, who managed to play in the groups "Surprise" and "Labirynt".
In 1981, Skliarska was invited to the “Piknik”, debuted in the group on the Leningrad stone club stage, the band's composition shortly changed Cardinally. This is how the group's past begins in the form in which it was appreciated and loved by a wide audience.
Edmund Mieczislawowicz is simply a native Leningradian, grandson of a prominent russian scientist, a well-deserved activist of the discipline of Felix Skliarski. He was born on 26 September 1955 in the Russian-Polish household of mining engineer Mieczysław Feliksowicz Szklarski and the conservatory teacher. From childhood, the boy spoke 2 languages.
After receiving serious education by parents as an engineer of atomic power plants at the University of Technology's Electromechanical Department, but according to his passion, and further his way of life and profession, he followed in the footsteps of his mother, Irina Sergeyevna, who taught piano. The future leader “Piknik” studied at the music school in the class of this instrument.
The musical foundation on which interest in creativity and writing was born was a reasonably standard set for a 1960s teenager fascinated by abroad stone music – The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Animals
The second hobby of Sklilarski was painting. From childhood he loved drawing and inactive paints in the kind of surrealism and symbolism and organizes exhibitions.
In creativity, painting and music are closely linked. In the songs of the group Picnik they mention to the works of large artists, the group is inspired by the paintings of Rene Magritte and Salvador Dala.
The artistic incarnation of Skliarski was reflected in the visual component of the group, he created covers of the albums "Piknik".
At an early stage, like many russian stone bands, The picnic was criticized until it even came on the list of “forbade groups”.
In the 1990s a logo appeared, which became an integral part of the image.
According to 1 version, the logo refers to the Chinese sign ‘zhen’ meaning a person. The stylized hieroglyph is simply a central component of the 1995 album's design, entitled "Zeń-Sheń". According to another version, the logo simply plays the initials of the leader E. Sz.
According to Skliarski himself, the logo had no peculiar meaning. Given the fact that most Western stone bands have a logo, the musicians “Piknik” decided to invent their own in 1990, they gathered and created.
“Well, how was it born? Paper and pencil, ‘it corresponds’, ‘it does not respond’. No extra elements. And now we are told that it looks like this and this” –
– says Edmund Mechyslavovich.
"Piknik" has changed respective times. Since 2008, an crucial position of the team's keyboardist fills the boy of a frontman, Stanislaw Edmundovich Skliarski. Alina's daughter, poet and screenwriter besides participate in the band's life.
more
In the beginning of the fresh century, the band definitely took on the position of 1 of the leading Russian stone groups. Their songs were broadcast on "Our Radio". "Piknik" only released most of its most recognizable hits in media space in the 3rd decade of its existence – in the 2000s.
The group's discography presently includes 24 studio albums, apart from collections, tributes and singles.
There are frequently interesting stories behind the songs “Piknik”. Their author, Edmund Mechyslavowicz Skliarski, is characterized by the process of writing as parallel “invisible life”.
‘Hieroglyph’
In 1986, “Piknik” released his 3rd full album, “Hieroglyph”. During this period the group collaborated with Leningrad Philharmonic, the album was released on vinyl album “Melody”.
The title song with the same title will stay a “visit” of “Piknik” until the beginning of the 21st century.
It was based on a text that Edmund arranged inactive in school. The impulse to compose was the communicative read in the weekly “Cross”. The author's name was not preserved in the memory of Edumand Miechysławowicz, but after reading it in Skliarski's head the future hit conviction "My name is simply a erased hieroglyph". The remainder of the text was inspired by my cognition of Lao Tzu philosophy.
Gradually, the lyrics picked up the tunes. The poem was short, clearly not adequate for the song, so while working on the composition it was supplied with solid atmospheric music bridges.
‘Giant’
From the beginning of the work of “Piknik” it is worth recalling the composition “Olbrzym”, published on the second album “Dance of the Wolf” in 1984.
It was thanks to this composition that the group was loudly informed about itself. Against the background of “disfavor and bans”, she was paradoxically included in the Leningrad paper “Smena” (“Change”) chart. "Olbrzym" closed the first 10 tracks.
The beginnings of the song besides date back to erstwhile I was in school. Skliarski composed him as a seventh grade student; Edmund Meczysławowicz explains the lyrical and romanticist character of the composition in a young age:
“Today, unfortunately, I would not compose specified a song. But at school, there was specified a romanticist state that he allowed... No, well, things are harder now, and those words would most likely have been arranged differently, even if they were the same words. And the song would look different. “Olbrzym” may not be the only one, but the first song about love...”
– said the frontman “Piknika”.
‘Egyptianin’
After crossing the “thousand years” “Piknik” sang about “Egyptian”:
“It is as if I were an Egyptian, and the sun and the heat are with me”
The roots of creativity go back to childhood. Edmund Skliarski for the remainder of his life remembered the impression he had had during his first visit to the Egyptian area in Ermitaz. Being surrounded by bizarre hieroglyphs and mummies, the kid experienced fear, which later turned into a visual interest in this culture. The impressions of childhood captured in emotional memory were embodied in poetic verses and images.
The song was a 2001 album title.
Initially, while preparing a fresh album, the group did not plan to put "Egyptian" on it. The album's working title was: "Million in a bag" – from the track beginning the list of tracks. "Egyptianin", who was played at the group's concerts, loved the audience and decided not only to include the hit on another album, but besides to put the composition in the spotlight.
During the performance of the “Egyptian”, a unique instrument is used, invented and designed by Edmund Mieczysławowicz himself.
"Takes part in the song "Egyptianin" and we call it "new Egyptian" due to the fact that the instrument is electric"
– Skliarski told about his invention. (Remember that by education he is an electromechanical engineer.)
‘Violet Black’
On the album “Egyptianin” 1 of the “visitaries” of the group was released, which I utilized in the colours of the publication – “Pviolet-black”. The song's past dates back to Skliarski's artistic work. This was, according to his daughter, in the early 1990s – in 1993. The musician, poet and artist decided to paint the painting in purple-black colors, but the painting did not come out, but the song worked. The visual image, not embodiled with a brush, after any time took form in poetic lines.
"Purple-Black" is simply a millennium hit. The song recorded in 2000 gained popularity even before appearing on the album. "Our Radio" started the song and it entered the hit list of "Hot 12". In 2008, this hit “Piknik” was included in the TOP top 5 songs of the decade according to the radio station.
‘Kingdom of the crooked’
Edmund Szklarski besides worked as a movie composer. "Piknik" recorded soundtracks for films and series. In 2005, a title song of the album released in the same year "Kingdom of Curves" appeared on television.
The fresh by Vitali Gubariev, screened in the russian Union, has nothing to do with it, or alternatively has almost nothing to do with it. His name, which became a unchangeable phrase, prompted Skkiarski only to consider how 1 word changes the essence:
"If you remove 1 word from the title, you will get a somewhat different world, which is interpreted somewhat differently."
The series utilized this song was besides called “Kingdom of Curves”. The mystical detective adventure with Andrei Krasko in the lead function was filmed by manager Alexander Jakimczuk. It's a peculiar case erstwhile the film's name came from a song, not a song from a movie.
The “Kingdom of the Lean” Skliarski wrote 2 years before the premiere of the series, without mention to any plot. erstwhile the composition was recorded and the video was shot, Skliarskia received an offer from the film's creators: the creators of the series so much liked the song and adapted to its temper that they decided to name the 8-section movie "Kingdom of Curves".
In 2005, the group “Piknik” released the album “Kingdom of Curves”.
"I cut my girl out of bark."
The album “Kingdom of Curves” featured the following track:
"And walked the world, whistling and stroking a girl out of bark."
The song became 1 of the most recognizable, went on the antenna “Our Radio” and remained in the ears of many.
‘Exit from mouse trap’
Two years after successful cooperation with Skliarski at the “Kingdom of the Leans” Jakimczuk invites him as a composer to the series “The Law of Mouse Traps”.
In 2007, “Piknik” released a song with a akin title “From a Mouse Trap”. It became the starting track of the new, 16th in the authoritative discography of the album "Obscurantism and Jazz".
The song “From Mouse Trap” was included in the soundtrack of the series, and the song itself was shot by the video manager Ufa Igora Troszczenko. Pictures were shot in the summertime of 2007 on the Black Sea coast.
‘From Korea to Karelia’
As a individual born in Pietrozavodsk, it would be unusual for me to forget the song with the mention of my region in the title “From Korea to Karelia” included in the album “Obscurantism and Jazz”. According to Skliarski, the toponyms in this case have no peculiar meaning, they were chosen due to their co-sounding, it is simply a word game.
“Sometimes there is simply a phrase or a word game that you can’t get free of unless you compose a song (another 1 of this series: “either in Oklahoma or in Chochłoma)” –
Says the author.
Black March 2024
In early March this year, the group “Piknik” released a fresh track “Do not be afraid of anything”.
“Nothing, fear nothing
No fire, no ringing shadow
Wash your blood in the morning
And shake the coming day.”
It was this four-line after the tragedy that became the subject of discussion and criticism, considered prophetic. The explanation of the texts of the Russian stone representatives is specified a task, if you want, you can always find 101 in them. meaning, "wash yourself with blood" lines are not different for Russian stone poetry.
As far as I am concerned, on the contrary, in these verses they sing that 1 must live on and prosecute the goal, no substance what. The phrase “Nothing to fear” repeated like a mantra is actually an existential motto.
"Piknik" addressed the victims with another song "For innocently killed". The song is not new, it is already 30 years old since the premiere, it was released on the album “A small Fire” in 1994. The song, which gained tragic significance, was republished on the group's website and YouTube channel with a commemorative context.
While in the epicentre of tragic events, the musicians did not stay away. After news of the successful evacuation of “Piknik” it was reported that the drummer of the band Ilzzi Junusov and 1 of the cameramen who were to movie the concert, they refused to leave the building and aid evacuate people.
“The words that may resurrect and someway comfort me, I think, have not yet been found, specified words have not yet been invented”
– thus concluded his short speech by Edmund Skliarska – addressing the audience on the "day of mourning" on 24 March. The musician expressed his condolences and called the tragedy “totally pointless”
Skliarski has always been a small-talking man, giving comments and interviews with his characteristic “petersburg” intelligence.
It turned out that the squad working with the “Piknik” did not manage without losses. The life of Ekaterina Kushner, assistant manager of the group Yuri Czernyszewski, was interrupted in ‘Krokus’. Ekaterina was liable for selling accessories before an unfortunate concert. After what happened, for a long time they couldn't get in contact with the girl, tragic news came only on the 3rd day.
Another performance in the artwork “Piknik” is planned for 27 March at home, in the household Petersburg, in the performance Hall “Oktiabrska”. 1 could suspend performances and take a break – specified opinions were logically expressed on the Internet, but Skliarska decided differently. The position of the event was changed, giving the performance a charity-rememory character, allocating all funds to aid victims.more
The performance in St. Petersburg began with a minute of silence. Participants of the event reported that they met people who survived the “Krokus” and especially arrived from Moscow for another performance of their favourite band. Is this not an indication that music unites and allows you not to lose your spirit even in the most hard moments? It was in a city that survived the siege, where even in these terrible times amusement institutions operated as long as people lived.
"Piknik" is presently referred to as 1 of the most downloaded and listened to national stone bands. The 68-year-old Edmund Skliarska, half Pole by birth and Catholic by faith, is simply a resident of St. Petersburg, a head and heart Russian. Currently, the musician helps Donbas.
Such are “the chief mystics of Russian rock” who found a “black card” in their history. Mystic images, symbols and signs – all to any degree superficial, with shocking elements, but most importantly inside, “Piknik” tells about what is eternal, about good and evil.
Blessed is the memory of those whose life has been interrupted in “Krokus”.
for: https://dzen.ru/a/ZgfEuxn4pB6FmZu7
(PZ, the grease comes from the translator)
———————————————
Appendix:
Concert of the band “Piknik” in memory of the victims of the terrorist attack at “Crocus Citi Hall” held 27.03.2024 in Sankt-Petersburg
