After you have read the text

I. Answer the following questions about the text.

1. When did the idea of improving the accordion come to Yuri Kazakov?

2. Why did this idea come to him?

3. When did the new accordion designed by Yuri Kazakov appear?

4. Which innovations did his accordion have?

5. How many countries did Kazakov visit with his new accordion?

6. How much does Yuri Kazakov’s accordion weigh?

7. Why is the improvement of the accordion so important?

8. What musical instrument was Bach's “Toccata” originally written for?

9. Who is the author of the Concerto for Accordion and Symphony Orchestra, performed by Kazakov?

10. Do other performing accordionists play the Kazakov-designed accordion?

11. How long has Kazakov been on the stage?

12. Are there many accordion players in our country?

13. What does Yuri Kazakov say about his visit to Italy?

14. Why was he impatient to go there?

15. What was the opinion of the Italian specialist about the Russian accordion?

2. Choose the correct word.

1. He can play (complicated, impatient, possible) works.2. Yuri Kazakov (made, meant, improved) the accordion. 3. It is possible now to vary the (notes, features, chords) in the left keyboard. 4. It took him 18 (months, weeks, years) to make the accordion. 5. “Toccata” was (mainly, incidentally, originally) written for the organ. 6. Self-instruction manuals are not (covered, issued, produced) very often. 7. Kazakov's accordion sounds like an (piano, organ, clavichord). 8. “I like this music very much”, he (exclaimed, appeared, retained).

3. Select the correct meaning of the words.

1) astounding а) клавиатура

2) preset b) восклицать

3) keyboard c) продолжать

4) delight d) готововыборный

5) Jupiter е) изменять

6) keep on f) сохранять

7) timbre g) удовольствие, наслаждение

8) vary h) сцена

9) design i) добавлять

10) add j) тембр

k) аккорд

l) Юпитер

m) проект

n) сложный

о) поразительный

4. Give an oraly annotation of text A.

5. Describe the strongest impression ever produced on you by the accordion performance.

6. Read and retell text B.

Text b russian guitar

The guitar first came to Russia about the middle of the 18th century. By the 1830’s it was already popular everywhere. This was a seven-string guitar and the person who made it famous was the talented musician Andrei Sikhra (1773-1850). He was a teacher, composed several guitar works and developed his own school of guitar playing.

Among his pupils the most famous was Mikhail Vysotsky (1791-1837). He also composed for the guitar and did arrangements of Russian folk songs which are still played today.

The seven-string Russian guitar was very popular. It was easier to play than the six-string guitar, and was also used to accompany songs. But the six-string guitar was also popular and the most famous guitarist who played it was Maxim Sokolovsky (1818-1883).

Russian literature – poems by Pushkin and Lermontov and works by L. Tolstoy and A. Ostrovsky – reflected the guitar’s popularity. In the second half of the 19th century the piano became very popular and the guitar was not now heard in the concert halls. But it remained in the hearts of the Russian people.

At the beginning of the 20th century interest in folk instruments grew. The guitar again became popular. However, it was a great guitarist Andres Segovia (Spain) who contributed much to its popularity. His concerts in 1926, 1927 and 1935-36 seasons were a great success.

Segovia was not only a virtuoso who played the guitar beautifully. He showed the big repertoire. His concerts raised interest in our country in the six-string guitar (before it the seven-string guitar was more popular then). Music school directors wanted to teach to play the guitar in their schools. But there were too few teachers who could do it.

One of the first graduates (in 1935) of the Music School in Moscow was Alexander Mikhailovich Ivanov-Kramskoy (1912-1973) who became the most popular guitarist and teacher. He also wrote a number of teaching books. He made much to make the six-string guitar popular in our country. He was the first guitarist who received the title of Honoured Artist of the RSFSR.

During the Great Patriotic War soldiers took their guitars with them to the front. The guitar became a soldier too. Its voice was heard during the short breaks between battles. The guitar helped the soldier to fight.

After the war guitar classes were started at a number of music schools. Soviet composers began to write guitar music. Over the last 30 years interest in the guitar has again grown. Concerts by Russian and foreign guitarists are always a success. Today the guitar is young people’s favourite instrument. It can be heard everywhere.