Chizhik-Pyzhik

"Chizhyk-Pyzhik" (Russian: Чи́жик-Пы́жик) is a Russian comic folk song.

Text and origin
Original Transliteration Translation[1]

Чижик-пыжик, где ты был?
На Фонтанке водку пил.
Выпил рюмку, выпил две –
Закружилось в голове.

Chizhik-Pyzhik, gdje ty byl?
Na fontankje vodku pil.
Vypil rjumku, vypil dvje –
Zakruzhilosj v golovje.

– Siskin-piskin, where were you?
– On the Fontanka drinking vodka!
I drank one glass, I drank two.
Then my head began to spin!

The origin of the song in unclear. According to one urban legend, the rhyme refers to the students of the Imperial School of Jurisprudence, who frequented a pub belonging to the merchant Nefedov on the Fontanka Quay in Saint Petersburg. The school was founded by Duke Peter of Oldenburg in the nearby house number 6. The students of the college wore uniforms with yellow and green colours, which resembled the colours of the bird called siskin (Russian: чиж, romanized: chizh; hypocoristic Russian: чижик, romanized: chizhik, and hats from fur of young reindeer (Russian: пыжик, romanized: pyzhik). Because of that, they were nicknamed Chizhiks-Pyzhiks.[2]

Melody
\header { tagline = ##f } \layout { indent = 0\cm } kords = \new ChordNames { \set ChordNames.midiInstrument = #"acoustic guitar (nylon)" \chordmode { \time 2/4 \repeat volta 2 { f,2 | g,:m | c, | f, } } } melody = \relative c'' { \set Staff.midiInstrument = #"clarinet" \time 2/4 \key f \major \repeat volta 2 { a8 f a f | bes a g4 | c,8 c c d16 [(e)] | f8 f f4 \bar ":|." } } % As found in Rappaport (2016) (Kirkman & Ivashkin) verse = \lyricmode { Чи -- жик- пы -- жик, где ты был? На Фон -- тан -- ке во -- дку пил } verseR = \lyricmode { Вы -- пил рюм -- ку, вы -- пил две За -- кру -- жи -- лось в_го -- ло -- ве. } \score { \layout { } << { \kords } { \melody } \addlyrics { \verse } \addlyrics { \verseR } >> } \score { \unfoldRepeats { << \melody \\ \kords >> } \midi { \tempo 4=80 \context { \ChordNames midiMaximumVolume = #0.6 } } }
From Rappaport 2012.

Its extremely simple melody is suitable for teaching small children to play piano (with a more suitable nursery rhyme text).[3]

Several Russian classical composers, including Dmitri Shostakovich,[1] Sergei Prokofiev,[4] Isaak Dunayevsky[5] and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov,[6] were inspired by "Chizhik-Pyzhik".

Statue
Statue of Chizhik-Pyzhik near the First Engineer Bridge

In 1994 in Saint Petersburg, one of the city's 1990s' yearly festivals of satire and humor Golden Ostap was held, bearing the name of a most popular main character of the 20 century Russian language Soviet humorous / satirical prose Ostap Bender, an ingenious conman mastermind from two filmed novels by Ilya Il'f and Evgeniy Petrov The 12 Chairs and The Little Golden Calf. The festival attracted leading Russian humorous authors and comedians and marked its presence in the city by public events including installation of pieces of public art. These over the years included the statue of Ostap Bender next to Arts Square, the memorial plaque to The Nose from Nicholai Gogol's eponymous story and the little siskin statue on the Fontanka, the latter suggested by a Saint Petersburg-born writer known since 1960s Andrei Bitov.[7] These moves were supported by the municipal authorities of Saint Petersburg, and a bronze statue of Chizhik-Pyzhik[8] was installed just opposite the former School of Jurisprudence. The statue perches on a ledge in the embankment, in the proximity of the First Engineer Bridge.[9]

The statue was designed by Georgian screenwriter and director Revaz Gabriadze, and it is one of the smallest statues in Saint Petersburg. Its height is 11 centimetres and weighs almost 5 kilograms.[10] The statue was stolen several times; the local museum has reportedly several copies of the statue for replacement.[2]

See also

References
  1. Rappaport, Gilbert C. (2012). "Five Satires (Pictures of the Past) by Dmitrii Shostakovich (op. 109)". In Andrew Kirkman; Alexander Ivashkin (eds.). Contemplating Shostakovich: Life, Music and Film. Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate. pp. 53–54. ISBN 978-1-4094-3937-0.
  2. Gus Peters (24 August 2012). "St. Pete's Lucky Bird Statue: Chizhik-Pyzhik". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  3. Яценко Т В, "Музыка для детей. Самоучитель игры на фортепиано и клавишных в сказках и картинках", 2003, ISBN 5459016959, pp.107–108 (in Russian)
  4. "С. С. Прокофьев: материалы, документы, воспоминания". 1956.
  5. Михеева, Людмила (1963). "Исаак Осипович Дунаевский, 1900–1955: краткий очерк жизни и творчества".
  6. Р. X. Зарипов [R. X. Zaripzariov]. "Творчество и Кибернетика – Моделирование в Музыке" [Creativity and Cybernetics – Modelling in Music] (in Russian).
  7. "Чижик-Пыжик на Фонтанке – маленький, но очень гордый птица | Гид по Петербургу 2020". Гид по Петербургу (in Russian). 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  8. "Чижик-Пыжик на Фонтанке – история, аудиогид, интересные факты". Путеводитель по Петербургу (in Russian).
  9. "Туристический Петербург, малая скульптура – "Чижик-Пыжик" где он находится и что это такое, гостиницы города, заказ и бронирование, авиабилеты, ж\д билеты, горящие путевки, история Петербурга, путеводители и события". 2007-09-29. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  10. "The Statue of Chizhik-Pyzhik". st-petersburg.guide. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
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