Lieutenant Kijé and Abigail Washburn: Difference between pages

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{{Infobox musical artist
<!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:Kije.jpg|thumb|200px|Soviet poster advertising the 1934 film.]] -->
|Name = Abigail Washburn
|Background = solo_singer
|Img = Fls-abbywashburn.jpg
|Img_capt = Abby Washburn at Merlefest 2007
|Img_size =
|Birth_name =
|Born = {{Birth date and age|1979|11|10|df=yes}}
|Origin = [[Evanston, Illinois]]
|Years_active =
|Instrument = [[Singer|Vocals]], [[Clawhammer]] [[Banjo]]
|Genre = [[Americana]]<br />[[Old-time music]]
|Label =
|URL = [http://www.abigailwashburn.com www.abigailwashburn.com]
}}


'''Abigail Washburn''' (born [[November 10]], [[1979]] in [[Evanston, Illinois]]) is an American [[clawhammer]] [[banjo]] player and singer. She performs and records as a soloist, as well as with the [[old-time music|old-time]] bands [[Uncle Earl]] and [[Sparrow Quartet]].
'''''Lieutenant Kijé''''' ([[Russian language|Russian]]: Поручик Киже, ''Poruchik Kizhe'') is a novella by the Soviet author [[Yury Tynyanov]] (1894–1943) published in 1927. The plot is a [[satire]] on the [[bureaucracy]] of Emperor [[Paul I of Russia]]. In each episode, the Emperor's subjects faithfully go through the motions to follow his orders.


Washburn was born in suburban [[Chicago]], but spent her elementary and part of her junior high school years in a suburb of [[Washington, D.C.]]. She attended high school in [[Minnesota]], then attended [[Colorado College]], where she was the school's first East Asian studies major. Following this, she spent some time living in China. She then spent three years in Vermont before moving to [[Nashville, Tennessee]].<ref>http://www.popmatters.com/music/interviews/washburn-abigail-051021.shtml</ref>
Kijé's name is based on a Russian pun. The fictional lieutenant is "born" when the Emperor mishears a phrase in a military order "Подпоручики же..." ("And the lieutenants, who...") as "Подпоручик Киже..." (a nonsense name, translated by [[Mirra Ginsburg|Ginsburg]] as "Lieuten. Nants...") and the Emperor assigns Kijé to guard duty. When an advisor identifies the one who shouted "Help!" under the Emperor's window one night as Kijé, the lieutenant is flogged and marched off to Siberia. A maid-in-waiting is distressed to hear that her lover has been exiled, so the Emperor reinstates Lt. Kijé and has him marry her. They have a child, and Kijé steadily rises through the ranks. The Emperor finally summons General Kijé to receive appropriate decorations; but, before this can happen, the general is "killed in battle" and is buried with full military honors, receiving his medals posthumously.


In Tennessee, she met [[KC Groves]], one of the founding members of the band [[Uncle Earl]]. She entered a songwriting contest at [[MerleFest]] (a bluegrass festival in [[North Carolina]]) with her song ''Rockabye Dixie'' and won second place, and the attention of the [[Nettwerk]] recording label. Her first solo album, entitled ''Song of the Traveling Daughter'', was produced thereafter by [[Béla Fleck]], and includes the playing of Ben Sollee, a Louisville cellist, and Jordan McConnell, the guitarist for the Canadian traditional/soul fusion band [[The Duhks]]. Washburn speaks [[Standard Mandarin|Mandarin]], and the recording includes two songs in that language.
The story was made into a film, directed by [[Aleksandr Fajntsimmer]], which is now remembered primarily for its music, which was the first instance of Prokofiev's new simplicity.


Washburn returned to China in 2005 with a group called the [[Sparrow Quartet]]<ref>[http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2008/04/abigail-washburn-announces-new-album-extensive-tou.html Abigail Washburn announces new album, extensive tour :: Music News :: Articles :: Paste<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>, composed of Sollee, Fleck and [[Grammy]]-nominated fiddler [[Casey Driessen]], with whom she has recorded an EP.
==Suite from ''Lieutenant Kijé''==
[[Sergei Prokofiev]] composed music to the film ''Lieutenant Kijé'' in 1933. Prokofiev compiled a suite from the film music, in which form it has found the most popularity. The suite exists in two versions, one using a voice and the other using a [[saxophone]]. The music has also been used as the score for a ballet by the [[Bolshoi Ballet]] company. The troika is perhaps the best known movement, frequently used in films and [[documentaries]] for [[Christmas]] scenes and scenes involving [[snow]]. This motif from the suite was also used in the song ''I Believe In Father Christmas'' by the english pop group [[Emerson, Lake and Palmer]].


According to an interview on [[Woodsongs|Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour]], Washburn decided to learn to play the banjo after hearing a recording of [[Doc Watson]] singing and playing [[Clawhammer|clawhammer]] style banjo on the traditional [[Shady Grove (song)|"Shady Grove"]]. She also credits her experience in China, and the way in which the Chinese were delving into their own culture as inspiring her to explore her own cultural roots.<ref name="woodsongs">{{cite episode
==Movements==
| title = [http://www.woodsongs.com/showdetailspage.asp?SN=485 Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet]
The suite, in five movements and lasting 20–25 minutes, broadly follows the plot:
| series = Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour
#Kijé's Birth: Emperor Paul, listening to a report, mishears a phrase and concludes that the lieutenant exists. He demands that "Kijé" be promoted to his elite guard. It is an offence to contradict the [[Tsar]], so the palace administrators must invent someone of that name.
| serieslink = Woodsongs
#Romance. The fictional lieutenant falls in love. The [[double bass]] has an appropriately ghostly quality.
| airdate = 2008-05-19
#Kijé's Wedding. Since the Tsar prefers his heroic soldiers to be married, the administrators concoct a fake wedding. The [[vodka]] that the Tsar approves for this event is very real.
| number = 485}}</ref>
#[[Troika]]. The [[fairy-tale]] quality of the story is illustrated by a three-horse open sleigh.
#Kijé's Burial. The administrators finally rid themselves of the non-existent lieutenant by saying he has died. The Tsar expresses his sadness, and the civil servants heave a sigh of relief.


==Premiere==
==Discography==
*''Song of the Travelling Daughter/Here in this Room'' EP (2004)
1937, [[Paris]] (hence the French spelling of "Kijé")
*''Song of the Travelling Daughter'' (2005)
*''The Sparrow Quartet'' EP (2006)
*''Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet'' (2008)


===with Uncle Earl===
==Instrumentation==
*''She Waits for Night'' (2005)
[[Baritone|Baritone voice]]
*''Waterloo, Tennessee'' (2007)


==References==
2 [[flute]]s, [[piccolo]], 2 [[oboe]]s, 2 [[clarinet]]s, [[tenor saxophone]] (sometimes performed on bassoon), 2 [[bassoon]]s, 4 [[horn (instrument)|horns]], 2 [[trumpet]]s, [[cornet]], 3 [[trombone]]s, [[tuba]], 3 percussionists ([[cymbal]]s, little [[bell (instrument)|bells]], [[triangle]], [[bass drum]], [[snare drum]], [[tambourine]]), [[harp]], [[piano]] or [[Celesta|celeste]], and [[string instrument|strings]].
{{reflist}}

==Recordings==
* [[Chicago Symphony Orchestra]], conducted by [[Claudio Abbado]] in February 1977, with [[Adolph Herseth]] as solo trumpet, reproduced on CD by [[Deutsche Grammophon]] in 1995.
* [[Chicago Symphony Orchestra]], conducted by [[Fritz Reiner]].
* [[Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra]], conducted by [[Seiji Ozawa]].
* [[Radio Filharmonisch Orkest|The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra]], conducted by [[Antal Doráti]].

==Uses in other media==
===Film===
* The [[1958]] British movie ''[[The Horse's Mouth (film)|The Horse's Mouth]]'', directed by [[Ronald Neame]] from the novel by [[Joyce Cary]], uses the suite for its soundtrack.
* The suite is used in the 1975 [[Woody Allen]] film ''[[Love and Death]]''.
* The melody for ''Kijé's Wedding'' is used in the 1988 film ''[[Crossing Delancey]]''.
* [[Vladimir Cosma]] uses nearly untouched melody from ''The Birth of Kijé'' in the theme ''Remembering the Hills'' from his score to [[Yves Robert]]'s 1990 film ''[[My Father's Glory|La Gloire de mon père]]''.
* Part of the Wedding movement is used in the 1991 movie ''[[Doc Hollywood]]'' directed by [[Michael Caton-Jones]] and starring [[Michael J. Fox]].

===Popular music===
* [[The Free Design]] jazzed up and added lyrics to the Troika theme in their song ''Kijé's Ouija''.
* A part of the Troika movement is used in the 1974 song ''[[I Believe in Father Christmas]]'' by [[Greg Lake]].
* [[Sting (musician)|Sting]] used the melody from the Romance of ''Lieutenant Kijé'' in the chorus of his 1985 song ''[[Russians (song)|Russians]]''.
* [[Danny Elfman]] used an excerpt from the Troika theme for the [[Oingo Boingo|Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo]] song "The Rocketmen".
* [[Blood sweat and tears|Blood, Sweat & Tears]] used the melody from the Romance as one of several themes from other works woven into their arrangement of the song ''40,000 Headmen'', on the album ''[[Blood, Sweat & Tears 3|Blood, Sweat & Tears 3]]''.

== Parallel characters ==
The story of Kijé—the conveniently invented fictitious war hero, who ultimately must die as a victim of his own success—is frequently referenced and parodied in popular culture.

[[George Orwell]]'s 1949 novel ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'' contains a brief passage in which the protagonist, [[Winston Smith]], a worker at the [[propaganda]]-producing [[Ministry of Truth]], creates a fictitious hero "Comrade Ogilvy", a man dedicated to [[Oceania (Nineteen Eighty-Four)|Oceania]] (the novel's totalitarian regime) who "dies" in the line of duty.
[[Poul Anderson]]'s 1953 novelette ''Sam Hall'' features a disgruntled bureaucrat who creates fake records about a rebel named Sam Hall (after [[Sam Hall (folk song)|the song]]) who fights against the totalitarian government.

Lieutenant Kijé is parodied in the first season episode of ''[[M*A*S*H (TV series)|M*A*S*H]]'', [[Tuttle (M*A*S*H)|Tuttle]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://groups.google.com/group/alt.tv.mash/msg/74dfaf244d3daec5|title=Re: Tuttle = Kije?|last=Gelbart|first=Larry|date=July 28, 2008|work=alt.tv.mash|publisher=Google Groups|language=English|accessdate=2008-07-28}}</ref>, also in the war hero "Schumann" from ''[[Wag the Dog]]'' (1997), and obliquely in the ''[[Brazil (film)|Brazil]]'' (1985) opening sequence.

In her novel, ''Eclipse of the Century'' (1999), Jan Mark presents a deserter from the [[Armed Forces of the Russian Federation|Russian army]] who renames himself Lieutenant Kijé, as a sign that he no longer exists.

In the eighth season episode of ''[[Seinfeld]]'', ''The Susie'' (episode #149), [[Elaine Benes]] inadvertently creates an alter ego named "Susie," whom co-workers believe is actually real. To avoid conflict, Elaine and the fictional Susie attend a conflict resolution meeting with the company president. Ultimately, Elaine rids herself of the non-existent Susie by saying she has committed [[suicide]]; a large number of guests attend Susie's funeral.

The plot line of the full length musical comedy [[Kije!]], subtitled ''a Magical Musical Fairy Tale'', revolves around an imaginary hero of that name in the mythical kingdom of Wuz. The play was selected as Carnegie Mellon University's annual Spring Musical and premiered in April 1980 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Author Scott McGregor reported that the plot came to him in a fever ridden dream state. As he slid in and out of consciousness listening to a recording of Prokofiev's Orchestral Suite his mind combined a brief description from the record jacket with images derived from some ''[[Wizard of Id]]'' comic strips by [[Johnny Hart]] he had viewed earlier that day. The storyline was written down after the sickness ebbed. Lyrics, written by [[Arthur T. Benjamin]], and Music, composed by [[Arthur Darrell Turner]], were added later, enabling the play to win the 1980 contest.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
*[http://www.abigailwashburn.com/ Abigail Washburn official site]
*[http://people.nnu.edu/wdhughes/troika2.mid MIDI for Troika]
*[http://www.cluas.com/columns/beijing-beat/china-abigail-washburn.htm Article on Abigail Washburn's close relationship with China]
*[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5960899000870748608 Original film ''Lieutenant Kizhe''] with English subtitles, at Google Video
*[http://www.gluckman.com/Bluegrass.html Bluegrass Over Beijing], by Ron Gluckman
*[http://www.archive.org/details/LieutenantKizhe_0 Original film ''Lieutenant Kizhe''] with English subtitles, at Internet Archive
*[http://www.popmatters.com/music/interviews/washburn-abigail-051021.shtml Abigail Washburn interview] from Popmatters
*[http://www.sprkfv.net/journal/three13/creating.html Kevin Bartig ''Creating the Lieutenant Kijé Suite''.] Discussion of relation between Prokofiev's film score and the suite
*[http://www.myspace.com/Abigailwashburn Official Myspace]
*[http://www.smcgregor.com/kije Original musical comedy ''Kije!'' by Scott L. McGregor, Lyrics by Arthur T. Benjamin, Music by Arthur Darrell Turner] Downloadable video, music, script and production notes.
*[http://www.facebook.com/pages/Abigail-Washburn/6849234642 Official Facebook Page]


===Listening===
[[Category:Suites by Sergei Prokofiev]]
*[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15182651 Abigail Washburn at NPR Music]
[[Category:Film scores by Sergei Prokofiev]]
*[http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4840756 Audio interview from National Public Radio ''Morning Edition'' program]
[[Category:Russian culture]]
*[http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009X7704 Audio samples from ''Song of the Traveling Daughter'']
[[Category:Soundtracks]]


{{DEFAULTSORT:Washburn, Abigail}}
[[de:Leutnant Kishe]]
[[Category:American singers]]
[[ja:キージェ中尉]]
[[Category:American banjoists]]
[[sl:Poročnik Kiže]]
[[Category:Old-time musicians]]
[[Category:People from Evanston, Illinois]]
[[Category:1979 births]]

Revision as of 02:11, 11 October 2008

Abigail Washburn

Abigail Washburn (born November 10, 1979 in Evanston, Illinois) is an American clawhammer banjo player and singer. She performs and records as a soloist, as well as with the old-time bands Uncle Earl and Sparrow Quartet.

Washburn was born in suburban Chicago, but spent her elementary and part of her junior high school years in a suburb of Washington, D.C.. She attended high school in Minnesota, then attended Colorado College, where she was the school's first East Asian studies major. Following this, she spent some time living in China. She then spent three years in Vermont before moving to Nashville, Tennessee.[1]

In Tennessee, she met KC Groves, one of the founding members of the band Uncle Earl. She entered a songwriting contest at MerleFest (a bluegrass festival in North Carolina) with her song Rockabye Dixie and won second place, and the attention of the Nettwerk recording label. Her first solo album, entitled Song of the Traveling Daughter, was produced thereafter by Béla Fleck, and includes the playing of Ben Sollee, a Louisville cellist, and Jordan McConnell, the guitarist for the Canadian traditional/soul fusion band The Duhks. Washburn speaks Mandarin, and the recording includes two songs in that language.

Washburn returned to China in 2005 with a group called the Sparrow Quartet[2], composed of Sollee, Fleck and Grammy-nominated fiddler Casey Driessen, with whom she has recorded an EP.

According to an interview on Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour, Washburn decided to learn to play the banjo after hearing a recording of Doc Watson singing and playing clawhammer style banjo on the traditional "Shady Grove". She also credits her experience in China, and the way in which the Chinese were delving into their own culture as inspiring her to explore her own cultural roots.[3]

Discography

  • Song of the Travelling Daughter/Here in this Room EP (2004)
  • Song of the Travelling Daughter (2005)
  • The Sparrow Quartet EP (2006)
  • Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet (2008)

with Uncle Earl

  • She Waits for Night (2005)
  • Waterloo, Tennessee (2007)

References

  1. ^ http://www.popmatters.com/music/interviews/washburn-abigail-051021.shtml
  2. ^ Abigail Washburn announces new album, extensive tour :: Music News :: Articles :: Paste
  3. ^ "Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet". Woodsongs Old-Time Radio Hour. Episode 485. 2008-05-19. {{cite episode}}: External link in |title= (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)

External links

Listening

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