"Bright people" - this is how they often speak of those who were born in Altai and devoted to this amazing land. This is definitely said about Vasily Vyalkov - a connoisseur and collector of folklore, a virtuoso accordion player, author and performer of songs, Honored Artist of the Altai Republic.
An artist from the people, known not only in Altai, but also far beyond its borders, Vasily Mikhailovich Vyalkov did not become more than ten years ago. The life of a 44-year-old energetic and full of strength "man-spring" was cut short by a tragedy - a helicopter crash in the Altai mountains. But his wish "Be kind!" gathers everyone for whom it is important for the "Evenings of the meeting of Vasily Vyalkov's friends" in the village of Turochak: "And to sing - how to live, and to live - how to sing".
Soul of the land of Turochak
In the large Vyalkov family, who lived in the Turochak district of the Gorno-Altai Autonomous Okrug during the Soviet era, the boy Vasily was the youngest. Even his twin sister Olga, who was born on October 1, 1964, a few minutes earlier than her brother, was even older than him. No one remembers when he first picked up the accordion. But immediately after graduation, the guy began to head the Talon village club. In 1982, the time came for conscription into the ranks of the Armed Forces of the USSR. Service in the army is two years of participation in hostilities on the territory of the Republic of Afghanistan. Among the insignia and awards on the chest of the commander of the car squad, Sergeant Vyalkov, is the medal "From the grateful Afghan people."
After demobilization, Vasily worked in a prospector's artel, worked as a driver in a driving school. But his soul sang, his hands reached out to the accordion, and in 1986 he went to study at the republican music school. Vasily returns from Barnaul to his native places with a sonorous, beautiful wife. The girl was going to study at Gnesinka, when before leaving, right on the platform, the soul of the company, an "Afghan" and the best accordion player, made an offer to her. Forgetting everything, Marina instead of Moscow goes with him. The local cafe, in which young people played a wedding in 1987, over time they refurbished and named "Kolyada". Here the hospitable hosts of the Turochak center of folk culture receive numerous guests of folklore festivals.
And Vyalkov was also the initiator of the construction of the Center of Russian Culture in his village. They built it on their own, together with children and like-minded people. It was not possible to fully realize what Vasily had planned. But today the historical and cultural center Turochak is called Vyalkovsky by amateurs and keepers of folklore traditions.
Union of like-minded people
Much of what the inhabitants of the Altai hinterland are proud of today appeared on this land due to the fact that Vasily and Marina Vyalkovs created not only a strong family, but also a strong creative union.
Difficult for everyone in our country, the 90s for the spouses were associated primarily with the birth of two daughters: Daria (1989) and Alena (1993). In 1995, Daniel was born. Through the efforts of their parents, the guys grew up safely and also became musical. And together with them, the creative brainchild of the Vyalkovs - the Yarmanka folklore ensemble - grew stronger and stronger. Piously believing that all Turochak boys and girls are talented and making no distinction between them, Vasily and Marina open the Yarmanochka children's studio.
In 1997, Vyalkov completed his studies with honors at the Altai State Institute of Arts and Culture (Omsk branch). Marina also receives a diploma in the specialty "teacher, head of theatrical collective". A new stage in the creative biography of the spouses begins. Thanks to their painstaking work and appeal to the historical and cultural origins of the Slavic people, the ethnic holiday "Kupala Night" was created. It is held annually in the village of Turochak and over time acquired the status of interregional. Vasily Mikhailovich became the author of the idea and one of the organizers of the Altai Springs festival, which, along with El Oyyn, is an event of a national scale.
Man ‒ song
The most famous songs performed by Vasily Vyalkov: "Boat", "Not for me", "In the field with a black raven", "Berry", "Varenka", "Kolyvansky coachman", "Vanyusha", "Kursk", "Lonely branch of lilac ". But both the author's and the folk repertoire of the musician did not form immediately.
While still students of a music school (class of teacher OA Abramova), Vasily and Marina began concert activities as part of the Pesnohorki folk group. When the "Abramov chicks" flew out of the nest and embarked on the path of independent professional development, they directed their efforts towards finding songs not only for themselves, but also for the members of their ensemble. Young talented musicians wanted to revive Russian folk culture in all its manifestations - in songs, dance, national costume, customs and traditions. Participants of "Yarmanka" went on folklore expeditions in Altai, recorded ancient songs and rituals. Much of this, in processing and arrangements by Vyalkov, entered the repertoire of the ensemble, which Vasily Mikhailovich directed from the moment of its creation. Marina Viktorovna, being the artistic director of the collective, headed it after the death of her husband in 2009.
The ensemble, which in the first year of its existence was awarded the title of a national collective by the RA Culture Department, performs a lot. The geography of concerts is from distant Altai villages to the Himalayas. The scale of performances - from songs by the fire to concerts in the Grand Kremlin Palace. Folklore festivals, trips to Yelets and Izvara, Shukshin readings in Srostki, concerts in Novosibirsk and St. Petersburg, the international conference “Year of the Mountains” in Germany and “Roerich's Days” in India. Talented musicians from the village of Turochak took part in the scoring of the feature film "Kostroma", which in 2001 won the first prize at a festival in Buryatia. The creative baggage of Yarmanka artists includes more than 500 songs. All these are steps towards the purposeful preservation and development of folk customs and traditions, rituals and local folklore.
Vasily Mikhailovich and Ermak Timofeevich
2004 was a significant year for the folklorists of Turochak and the Yarmanka folk group under the leadership of Vasily Vyalkov. Vyalkov's contribution to the development and preservation of the cultural heritage in his native land was marked by awarding him the honorary title "Honored Artist of the Altai Republic". Yarmanka released two CDs - Russian Songs from Altai and Yarilo.
Earlier studio recordings were made in collaboration with the Seventh Model group in 2001. The disc entitled “Not for Me” contains the song “Vanyusha”, which entered the top twenty in the final selection of the Eurovision-2002 contest.
Cooperation with Omsk musicians began with Vyalkov during his studies at the Institute of Culture. In 2007, another joint work appeared - the album "Ermak". Not only songs are associated with the name of the Cossack chieftain and the conqueror of Siberia. Vasily Mikhailovich was supposed to play his role in the opera Ermak Timofeevich, written by a friend of the family, composer Vladimir Vorozhko.
The accordion sounds over the Altai land, the voice of Vasily Vyalkov breaks the heart and soul: "Spring will not come for me …" … and Yermak is the name of his grandson, the son of Daria's eldest daughter and her husband Timofey.
Probably, this is what the Barnaul photographer A. Volobuev had in mind when he called his series of art works “The Circle of Life in Altai”.
