A brief history of ensemble 
“Cossack Circle”

The debut of the ensemble took place on February, 23, 1987. The “Cossack Circle” was formed from the participants of the folklore studio lead by Andrei Kabanov, a recognized authority in folklore and traditional culture of Cossacks, musicologist and ethnographer, an enthusiastic collector of the musical riches of the Cossack lands.

There are more than three hundred songs of Cossacks of Don, Kuban, Terek and Siberia in repertoire of ensemble. Both professional ethnomusicologists, and members of ensemble collected those songs during folklore expeditions to the Cossack areas.

This repertoire is based on historical, military, lyrical and epic songs, with complex polyphonic and rhythmic structure, as well as improvisational interaction of performers. Cossacks "play" their songs, again and again experiencing the events of their history. The aspiration to play a song how it sounds in living tradition, keeping all characteristic performing methods is the distinctive feature of the ensemble “Cossack Circle”. That’s why the expeditions to the Cossack stanitsas, meetings with the true masters of the Cossack singing, careful listening, decoding and studying of the "field" records became a key rule in ensemble’s activity.

Ensemble tours with concerts in Russia and abroad, and is well-known to those who appreciate authentic folklore sound.

Listen to some samples of songs performed by the "Cossack Circle"

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