К 70-летию Валерия Михайловича Халилова представляем для наших иностранных читателей перевод на английский язык отрывков из книги «Валерий Халилов. Любить всю жизнь…». Автор книги Василий Цицанкин.

Инициаторами появления сокращенной английской версии книги стали Елена Ершова и Юлия Криводубова, «в знак глубокого уважения к Валерию Михайловичу Халилову, его семье, творчеству и таланту, считая, что многочисленной иностранной музыкальной аудитории, в том числе и знавшей Валерия Михайловича лично, будет интересно узнать о его жизни, о том, как формировалась его личность, оставившая столь яркий след в истории духовой музыки».

Перевод выполнен с согласия автора книги.

HOME, SWEET HOME!

"And in the meantime, life in the Khalilov's family went on as usual: Lusya and Valery would have breakfast in the morning and go to the elementary school to have lessons of Russian language and literature, mathematics, writing, and drawing. And after lunch, Lusya went with Valery, as his elder sister, to the Dzhambul School of Music. Nothing would have induced her to let her brother walk to school on his own, therefore she kept a tight hold on his hand."

"Summer vacations were a kind of motivation for children in the Khalilov family to learn school subjects and music. Some time in winter when spring was still far away, Klavdia was telling her children how they would go on summer vacations to their Grandma in the village; how they would swim in the river and go to the forest to pick mushrooms and berries. But this would happen if Lusya and Valery get at school only fives and fours (A's and B's) the highest marks. In this respect, the children envied their younger brother Sasha who, being preschool-aged, this condition did not apply to.

Mikhail Khalilov would not engage in such conversations, because he did not want his wife Klavdia and children leaving for the whole summer. But he knew perfectly well that three summer months in the open air with fresh cow milk and delicious meal cooked by their Grandma, Pelageya Sergeevna.

The mother of Valery Mikhailovich, Klavdia Vasilievna Vinogradova, was born in 1925 in the village of Novinki. The village of Novinki with only few houses was no more than 25 kilometers away from the town of Kirzhach, the administrative centre of the Kirzhach District in Vladimir Oblast. It must be said that before the revolution, every village in the Vladimir Uyezd (District) was engaged in its trade."

"Almost all the inhabitants of Novinki were cabinet-makers. Cabinet-makers were the elites who specialized in items of fine woodwork, as well as restoration of antique furniture, and therefore were considered highly paid workers compared to carpenters or joiners.

In 1925, two brothers, Vassily Yefimovich and Ivan Yefimovich Dmitriev, decided to build a house in Novinki for their families, with two separate entrances. In 1930, they moved to Moscow to work as cabinetmakers in one of the cooperatives specializing in furniture restoration."

"Later on, the Khalilov large family made this house in the village of Novinki their home.

Beginning in 1956, Klavdia with three children stayed with Pelageya Sergeevna every summer.

Of course, life in the village after a hot and sultry Dzhambul was for the children like a fairy tale. For days on end, they were swimming in the river, sunbathing in the sun, and fishing river perches, crucian carps, and roach. A small wooden bridge was thrown across the river, and they quite often jumped into the river from the bridge, much to the displeasure of the fishermen for frightening away the fish in the river. And also, Lyusya and Valery loved going to the forest for mushrooms and berries with their Mom and Grandma. Not a single time did they return from the forest with empty baskets. On the contrary, each of the children, having gathered a full basket of mushrooms and berries, tried to brag about the content of their baskets and earn praise from their Mom and Grandma.

Well, then they were making a whole variety of jam: raspberry, pear, and apple. But most of all the children liked strawberry jam for a pink scum formed on top of it while boiling. From time to time, Grandma or Mom removed this scum with a spoon and put it on a saucer, and Valery and Lyusya spread it onto pieces of white bread. They called this delicacy "homemade cakes".

Needless to say, no matter how heavy, this homemade treat was taken back to Dzhambul at the end of the summer season for the dear husband and daddy. Often, traditional tea parties with various homemade jams were also open for band musicians and their families."

"While working in the library of the Cultural and Educational College, Mikhail Khalilov nearly completed his research thesis for postgraduate admission, which he entitled "Musical Support for Ceremonial Events Provided by Soviet Army Bands". In preparation for adjuncture, he also read many books about composers, current trends in music, about painting, and architecture. Klavdia was enjoying doting on her husband, who was keen on entering the post-graduate studies. And in his engineer regiment, he was now rightfully considered one of the most knowledgeable officers."

"However, preparing for admission to the postgraduate studies, Mikhail overlooked one important thing: each applicant had to obligatorily undergo a medical examination, and to get a conclusion: "Healthy. Fit for military service." And then, medical tests showed the development of complications associated with the pituitary adenoma of the brain.

Of course, Mikhail was aware of the problem: frequent episodes of headache have recurred recently."

But the problem was what conclusion the Army Physical Evaluation Board would make.

An so, instead of entrance exams, Mikhail Nikolayevich Khalilov was again hospitalized in the Tashkent Military District Hospital."

"His failure to pass medical examination to enter the adjuncture of the Military Band Conductor Department of the Moscow State Conservatory named after P.I. Tchaikovsky "for health reasons" was not too painful for Mikhail. After a course of hospital treatment, a real gift of fate for Captain Khalilov was rehabilitation leave, which he had already planned to spend with his family in the village of Novinki."

"After returning home from a hospital stay, Mikhail decided to make a present to his wife, which she had long asked for: a gramophone with a set of records."

"On Sundays, as a rule, the Khalilovs arranged a kind of "musical hour" with a gramophone, and Klavdia invariably put on a record with "May in Blossom" and invited her husband for a dance. And little Lyusya invited her younger brother Valery to dance with her, stealing glances at her parents, who looked at each other with love, while dancing the foxtrot unhurriedly and very smoothly. It seemed that this love of father and mother was in the air and was almost tangible. They looked at each other with loving tenderness from the first to the last sounds of the dance. With one hand, Michael held Klavdia's hand with special carefulness and the other he laid on her waist…

When the gramophone appeared in the Khalilov's house, not a single party was complete without music. It became a good tradition to have tea parties with a gramophone playing some popular tune. Some guests would dance, others listen to music. It was then that Mikhail had begun pursuing a new hobby: collecting gramophone records."

"On the last evening before family departure for Mikhail to go through rehabilitation, band musicians came to their conductor for a traditional tea party with food and homemade jam."

"The guests enjoyed being engaged in dinner-time coversations or discussing local news in a warm friendly atmosphere of the evening.

"And now, dear friends, let's drink a toast." Klavdia smiled, and after a short pause while she was cheered by the guests, said: "Dearest and closest friends of mine and my husband! Life moves so fast that we sometimes do not cherish what surrounds us. There is always such a rush that we are sometimes unfair to our families and colleagues and do them injustice. But each of you sitting here today has families, close people, work colleagues, and companions in the service. Let us make it so that each of us here does only good to men, does good deeds and never does ugly deeds!"

After a farewell tea party, guests listened to music, sang and danced."

***

"Mikhail Khalilov's summer rehabilitation leave had passed like one day. He saw the happy eyes of his wife, his children swimming in the river, sunbathing or playing football on the sandy river bank, and he felt happy and relieved. He was slowly realizing the implications of the diagnosis, and after talking to a doctor, a friend of Pelageya Sergeevna, he finally accepted the situation. His discharge from the army was inevitable. When it would happen, in year or two at most, was the only question.

Mikhail's rehabilitation leave quickly came to an end. On the last evening before departure, the farewell dinner with Klavdia's relatives was on the terrace of the house. The children were enjoying jam, spreading it on bread, while the adults were talking about life, politics, and what was happening in the army. Viktor, the elder brother of Klavdia, of course, knew about Mikhail's illness.

"Misha, don't worry! Even if you are discharged from the army, look, how beautiful it is here! The nature alone is enough! What about the air? Clean air! Fresh! You will come here, and we will help you build a house for your family. Right, kids?" Uncle Victor winked at the children sitting next to him, patting Valery on the back of his head.

"Yes, I have been thinking about this for a long time. Of course, we have to build our own house. It's not good to feel like your guests all the time!" Mikhail he was straightforward with his brother-in-law. "We will build our house! Well, if you help, I will be very grateful to you!"

Needless to say about the continuous moral support that Mikhail received from his wife Klavdia during rehabilitation leave.

"Mishenjka, if you are discharged from the army, it's no big deal. On the contrary, our life will change for the better!" often she would say.

"Our children will go to school in Moscow. Moscow is a huge city! And do you really think that for you there will be no work? We'll find a job for you! And not one if we try!" Klaudia gently stroked her husband's hair.

"As my Mom used to stroke his hair when he was a little boy", thought Mikhail, "but what a coincidence: both his Mom and wife are called Klavdia! Coincidence? Probably not, it is rather fated to be. This is a sign from God."

At such moments, he was easy in his mind and felt at peace with himself ..."

***

"Returning to his regiment, Captain Khalilov learned that his military unit was subject to reduction."

"Don't get upset!" The Head of the Personnel Department sat down next to Captain Khalilov. "Now you have the opportunity to resign for reasons of health with holding the medical benefits of your original position and, most importantly, with your military pension and the privilege of obtaining an apartment at the place of future residence. Please, understand, this is the right solution considering your current situation!"

"But I can't imagine my life without the Army, Comrade Major! The Army for me is meaning of life! Why don't you understand that?" Captain Khalilov tried to object.

"Please, understand that now, while still relatively young, you can start a completely different civilian life! You have teachers' education, don't you? Do you know that secondary schools are facing the shortage of teachers?" The Head of the Personnel Department was making convincing arguments. "In addition, when you get discharged, you and your family move not to a remote provincial town, but to Moscow! When in Moscow, you are sure to find a job, and not one! And your children. Have you given a thought to them? They will go to regular school! And under normal climatic conditions, mind you, and not under conditions of agonizing fever, like here. And don't you dare to argue with me anymore! The decision about you has already been made by the command of the military district!"

"Some time later, Captain Khalilov Mikhail Nikolayevich was pronounced unfit for active service and demobilized to be placed on the retired list (for reasons of health) at the Dzerzhinsky military registration and enlistment office in Moscow."

MOSCOW DOES NOT BELIEVE IN TEARS

"And so the large Khalilov family moved to Moscow. At first, they lived in two rooms of Pelageya Sergeevna in the semi-basement eight-room apartment, which she shared with other people. These rooms were granted to her as an employee of the Hammer and Sickle Factory."

"As soon as Mikhail Khalilov arrived in Moscow, he phoned Grigory, the former cadet of the Tashkent School of Music, asking him to meet with him. And despite the fact that so many years had passed, Grigory Lazarevich, the bandmaster of the military band of Suvorov Military Music College in Moscow, recognized him and right away invited Mikhail Khalilov with his family to his home."

"Misha, where are you planning to send your son for studies?" asked Grigory his classmate when they went out for a smoke. Mikhail replied that he had not yet thought about this issue.

"And how wrong it is! We should start thinking now!" Grigory conspiratorially winked at him. "I was advised to enroll my Volodjka at the cadet school! You know that after the reduction of military music schools throughout the country, one school still remained. It is in the village of Troitse-Lykovo in Serebryany Bor. It is here, near Moscow. I want my Volodjka to study there and become a military band conductor, since I have not had a chance!"

"And what is the entry age?" asked Mikhail showing interest.

"Aged 11, just as it was with us! There is still time, but I'd rather your son choose a wind instrument now. My Volod'ka has recently started practicing the clarinet. And even has made some progress!" Grigory would very much like for his son to enter the School of Music not alone, but with someone he knew well. "It would be great if your son followed in your footsteps. Seryoga Kruglov called me a month ago, do you remember him? He told me that you were demobilized for health reasons. Is it really so?"

"Yes, Grisha, all true."

"Have you given a thought to what you might be doing?"

"Yes, I have, but in such a big city where I know nobody to turn to for help..." Mikhail carefully put out his cigarette in the ashtray

"Don't worry about that, I know very well the Director of the Teachers' Training School of Music Education named after the October Revolution." Grigory had already thought over this issue and even had met with the Director of the School. "He needs a professional to be his deputy. I told him about you, and we are having a meeting with him next week. And do not argue with me! This is a done deal! Well, shall we go back? They are tired of waiting for us."

And the friends went back to where their families were. Nina Ivanovna, the hostess, was cutting the large cake of the day that she had made for the guests into pieces.

***

"Upon their arrival in Moscow, Mikhail Nikolayevich took his children Lyusya and Valery to the Children's Music School No.7 of the Kirovsky district in Georgy Dimitrov Street (now Yakimanka), where the children were enrolled in the 4^th grade and 2nd grade, respectively. At that time, the Children's Music School No. 7 (Now the Children's Music School named after R.M. Glier) was practically in the very centre of the capital and was rightfully considered a prestigious school. Graduates of the School entered the leading music schools of Moscow and Leningrad to become famous musicians of our country. Mikhail Nikolayevich asked the Director of the School to enroll Valera in a clarinet class, and his eldest daughter Lyusya in a flute class.

Now in their shared apartment, different musical instruments sounded. The children took turns practicing. First Lyusya would learn flute scales and etudes, then Valera would practice hard the clarinet range in the first octave. Wind instrument practicing was followed by piano studies on the piano that was moved from the last place of the last duty station of their Daddy. When Mikhail had a headache, the children were practicing in the corridor of the shared apartment."

"Not long after, Mikhail met with A.L. Loginov, Director of the Teachers' Training School of Music Education. Having vast experience in managing his educational institution, Alexander Leonidovich immediately understood that Mikhail was the right person to be entrusted with an important area of responsibility, that is, more simply, his deputy for administrative and maintenance issues. He needed an absolutely honest person, who would never slip his hand in in the state's purse. Moreover, the new candidate for the post of his deputy was a former military man, which means he was highly disciplined and efficient. Plus, he was also a communist, capable of leading the party organization of the School."

"Director was also impressed by Mikhail's modesty: "He never mentioned that he lives with his mother-in-law in a shared apartment with three young children. And he does not compain about his fate, like his other employees, asking for housing improvement. But he, as a former military man, really has the right to a new flat as demobilized for the reasons of health. However, he places no conditions and asks for nothing. He just asked for hours at the School, and that's it."

Director of the School was reflecting on the talk with Mikhail.

"Of course, Mikhail Nikolayevich! I understand you very much, to serve as a band conductor for so many years! And you have experience in teaching?" Loginov wanted to learn more about his would-be deputy during their first conversation.

"Yes, Alexander Leonidovich. I was teaching instrumental studies, instrumentation, and score reading at the Music Department of the Cultural and Educational College in Dzhambul. And I managed a brass band of students. Also, I taught further training courses for amateur brass band conductors. Here, by the way, is a reference from the College." Mikhail handed Loginov the reference he received on his last day of work in Dzhambul.

"Then you can start tomorrow!" The director was quite comfortable with the conversation with his would-be deputy. "Your class schedule you can develop with Inna Petrovna, the Curriculum Director. But I must immediately warn you that you are supposed to teach no more than twelve hours a week. Believe me, your day here will be scheduled down to the half-minute, and your workload, even without classes, will be more than enough for a working day. Well, your teaching activity is your right, but only as an hour job."

On the way home, Mikhail sincerely thanked Grigory for the confidence and support in finding a new job."

"Klavdia was beside herself with joy when she heard from her husband about his new job. He would be not just an ordinary teacher but the Deputy Ddirector of the school! On that occasion, a new dark-coloured suit, several white shirts and a bunch of ties were purchased in the nearby department store. It was rather unusual for Mikhail, who was to wear the uniform almost all his life, to put on a brand new civilian suit. But Klavdia insisted:

"Misha! You are now beginning, what is called, a second life, where, as the saying goes, you are judged by appearances at first but by your mind later. Therefore, you you should meet the challenge.

In the evening, Klavdia ironed special creases down the new trousers, ironed new shirts, knotted ties, and hung them all in the closet...

The Khalilov family could not be happier when a few months later with great solemnity A.L. Loginov handed Mikhail Nikolayevich a warranty of title to a new apartment."

"It was a separate two-room flat on the first floor of the new building built by Metrostroy Construction Company in Kazansky Pereulok (Lane), next to the French Embassy.

***

"The school year was coming to an end, and Sergey Petrovich Bessmertnov, who had taught the clarinet at the Children's Music School No.7 for more than a decade, tried to devote as much attention as possible to his pupils to prepare them for their end-of-year exams. Even though he was a soloist of the Bolshoi Theater, his sense of professional duty did not allow him to show negligence in teaching his little pupils. As so many times before Valera Khalilov was playing his end-of-year exam programme to the piano accompaniment, while Sergey Petrovich was listening. The end-of-year exam programme included only two short musical compositions differing in character. It took the teacher quite a while to select from the long list of music those two pieces of music that best suited to the boy. The choice fell on two seemingly simple compositions, a clarinet reduction of Mozart's "Spring Song" and Aram Khachaturian's "Andantino". The first composition was full of cheerfulness and vivacity, while the second, on the contrary, was slow, lyrical, and dreamy.

"Valery, imagine a spring garden in full bloom! Blooming lilacs, for example!" said Sergey Petrovich at the lesson, rubbing his chin out of habit. "Feel the words translated from German "Come, oh May, and the trees will blossom again!" You know, after winter nature looks different, it is being born anew! After all, it was not in vain that in ancent Russia the year began in spring, not in winter, as it is now."

Valery, of course, was not used to such reasoning. In Dzhambul, he liked the morning coolness of the mountain ranges, the birds singing, and the sound of the rushing water from the aryk (irrigation ditch) near their house. And here? Mozart, some German composer, is singing about his spring? What does he know about it? And how can a German nation even exist after Hitler started such a war? All over Europe! In fact, all over the world! How many people died in that war! Take even grandma Pelageya: she got her husband buried, her brother, uncle did not return from the war. But he agreed in some way with his first teacher, who was not only a soloist of the Bolshoi Theater, but also taught at the School of Music named after Ippolitov-Ivanov. Moreover, Sergey Petrovich was the winner of one of the most prestigious international clarinet competitions in Budapest. And you won't become a laureate of international competitions for granted. You need to be one of the best clarinetists in the Soviet Union.

"All right, Sergey Petrovich. I can really imagine a flowering May garden." Valery thought a little, looked out the window and said: "Sergey Petrovich, Do you know what I want most? I ddo want my dad to recover, and I also want to go to the village! You do not know how it is beautiful in Kirzhach! What trees are there! What mushrooms and berries! What a wonderful nature!

"That's it, Valery! Imagine your village when you play at the exam! That very garden with apple and pear trees. The river, where you swim with your friends in summer. You got that?" Sergey Petrovich was very pleased that he had found a visual image for Valery, which was sure to help him at the exam.

And indeed, the eminent teacher's efforts were not in vain! At the end-of-year exam, Valery played with confidence the both pieces of music, and all the members of the board of examiners made special mention of his musicality and recommended him to perform at the school's end-of-year concert. For any student it is not only a matter of great pride, but also a great responsibility.

After the concert, which took place in the spacious concert hall of the Music School, Sergei Petrovich came up to Valery's parents to congratulate them on the successful performance of their son:

"Dear Klavdia Vassilievna and Mikhail Nikolayevich! I could not help approaching you after the concert to thank you for your son Valery! Your child has the potential to succeed in music! He is gifted with the ability to understand music and possesses a wonderful sense of rhythm! He is very much like his father, that is, you, Mikhail Nikolayevich!" The teacher sincerely praised his student after a successful performance. "By the way, in addition to the School of Music, I teach at the Teachers' Training School of Music Education named after Ippolitov-Ivanov, and believe me, your boy has a gtreat future! If he is determined to continue practising music, then later on I will be in my class. He has a potential to become a famous clarinet player!"

"Thank you very much, Sergey Petrovich, for complimenting our son! Valery is trying hard and is happy to go to your lessons." Mikhail Khalilov also liked Valery's teacher very much. "We do want our boy to pursue a career as a wind musician!"

"And with luck, Valerochka will continue our family dynasty of military band conductors!" Klavdia Vassilievna finished the thought of her husband.

Then Valery together with his parents went to the classroom, where he wrote down the teacher's assignments for the summer: what to learn, which etudes to review. At that time, the School of Music provided wind instruments for free, and many children could continue practising during summer vacations. And these are three months after all! Valery was set on practising the clarinet and learning new music while in the village since he would have for that during his summer vacations.

It must be said that annual trips of the whole family in early summer were planned in advance. It was necessary to pack all the necessary things: clothes, kitchen utensils, bedclothes, mattresses, blankets, pillows, etc. But, most importantly, it was necessary to stoke up with food. In the village, fresh bread was sold only to working collective farmers, so Grandma Pelageya dried rusks during winter and stored them in canvas bags. Then, when back in the village, she put them in a colander and under the action of steam rusks turned into real bread."

"As a result, sometimes luggage and food were as much as three hundred kilograms. Therefore, at the end of spring, Mikhail Nikolayevich would go to the canteen, where truck drivers worked to ask someone of them to take his family to the village. And imagine, no one had ever refused to help him.

The driver carefully covered with the canvas both the people and the belongings so as not to attract inquisitive eyes and, most importantly, the traffic police. But during the trip, the curiosity of the children took the upper hand, and Lyusya and Valery from time to time looked out from under the canvas cover and got a chance to look at the scenery they were passing by. Valery was very fond of exposing his face to the browing wind, feeling like either a captain of some foreign going ship or a pilot.

Much to the children's regret, Daddy stayed with the family in the village for a short while. In the opinion of the children, his vacation ended too quickly. He would spend a week at most with his wife and children, and then would pick up some car passing by that would take him back to his work."

"Klavdia Vassilievna, on the contrary, could devote herself entirely to the children during these beautiful summer months. It was with her that children often went mushrooming and berry-picking in the woods; she was there when they were swimming in the river; and they went fishing together. Mom was that attentive audience when Valery every morning was trying hard to elicit long sounds from the clarinet and to play the scales as his teacher's summer assignment."

"Valery's practising sessions attracted all the children in the village, who with a curious look came up to the Khalilovs' house and listened to Valera learning his new musical compositions. Surprisingly, sounds of the clarinet attracted not only people, but also their pets, the dog Pushok and the cat Barsik, who were also taken out of the Moscow flat to the village for the whole summer. The former circus dog Pushok, who compassionate Klavdia picked up in the street, would start dancing on his hind legs, and the cat Barsik would lie down at Valery's feet and purr with pleasure. But this would continue only until Valery played, for example, Khachaturian's "Adagio" in the first octave. As soon as the melody, when repeated, would be performed an octave higher, Barsik would rush out of the room to retreat to the farther corner of another room. Contrary to the dog, the clarinet's sounds in the upper octave were unbearable for the cat!

The children were sleeping on the heated Russian stove, but before falling asleep, Mom would read them a fairy tale: about Tsar Saltan, about the Golden Fish, and about the Sleeping Princess. But most of all, Lyusya enjoyed listening to the fairy tale about the Snow Queen, in which brave Gerd saved her beloved brother Kai, undergoing various trials, while traveling to different countries. Gerd was not afraid of anything in an effort to save Kai: neither of the old woman who wanted her to forget about her past life, nor the terrible evil robbers, nor the Snow Queen herself. And deep in her heart, Lyusya dreamed about how her brother would somehow save her. And it really happened.

Every day, Lyusya and Valery took a three-liter can and walked to the nearest village of Khmelevo to get fresh milk. The local woman had two cows and was glad to sell milk. It took a long time to get to Khmelevo. They walked along the country road with rye growing on both sides. And suddenly a bull came out of nowhere! And the bulls were then prone to head-butting. The children ran away from the bull along the road. The bull ran after them, bending its head with large horns. Valery managed to shout to Lyusya to run into the rye, and continued to run straight ahead trying to attract the attention of the bull, thereby rescuing his sister. Then he also dived into the saving thickets of rye, where he was out of reach. It was a pity that when running, Lyusya fell to the ground spilling half a can of milk onto the ground. But she was really proud that her brother Valery saved her from the bull, since the end of that story could have been different."

AT THE CROSS-ROADS

The year of study at the School of Music was for the Khalilovs like no time had passed. Several times Mikhail met with Grigory, and each time, while discussing some news at work, they were sure to talk about their children and their prospects for entering the Moscow Military Music School.

"I've spoken to Colonel Gulyaev. The enrollment of our sons in the School of Cadets is a family tradition that needs to be maintained! We, so speak, contribute to the future of our profession!" Grigory said with a contented look. "But the fact is that our sons must score only good and excellent marks in entrance exams. Viktor Ivanovich told me in confidence that the number of applicants is far outnumbering the available seats, so there are twenty applications per seat." "And how many seats are available in the class?" Mikhail asked.

"Misha, you won't believe it, but I asked Colonel Gulyaev the same question." Grigory nervously lit a cigarette. "His past experience suggests that not more than twenty-five. A simple arithmetic, and that's it!"

Gregory still felt uneasy because of this uncertainty and guesswork whether his Volodjka pass or not pass the entrance exams. And again, he'd like Mikhail's son to enter school. Still, it would be better for them to be together, and there is no denying the fact that they could always stand up for each other, if anyone wanted to treat them badly.

The enrollment rules of the Moscow Military Music School required an applicant's file that included his academic performance evaluation, references from general education school, as well as music school, and an applicant's autobiography written by himself, be reviewed first by the Admissions Committee. This was the information to produce the first impression about an applicant.

Captain David Erastovich Devdaryani was one of the Admissions Committee members and an officer-tutor. Since his seventh-year cadets were going to graduate, he was the one who would provide tutorship to the new enrollments during their next seven years of schooling. That's why he carefully reviewed all the applicants' files trying to form some ideas about one or another young applicant from few lines in their too short life histories and reference letters. Captain Devdaryani was a war-veteran, who fought on the Leningrad Front. He was the commissar and then the commander of the reconnaissance platoon of the partisan detachment "Voroshilovets" of the 2nd partisan brigade. He had not only rich combat experience, but also the experience as the partisan force commander, and there were times when sheer force of order did not work and it was necessary to convince by setting a personal example."

"While reviewing applicants' files, sure enough his excellent visual memory helped him remember both his colleagues, Captain Mikhail Khalilov and Sergeant Grigory Lazarevich, who were only two classes below him at the School of Military Bandmasters. Their sons had not only positive references from school, but also had certificates of completion in clarinet (three year programme), a wind musical instrument, which gave an advantage when enrolling in a military music school."

***
"On the day of the entrance exams, Valera arrived with his parents at the Moscow Military Music School. For the boy it was all a new experience: a long trolleybus ride past identical wooden houses hidden behind the high green fences of departmental summer cottages of Serebryanyi Bor, and a walk along a special pontoon bridge connecting the two banks of the Moscow River to get from Serebryanyi Bor to Troitse-Lykovo, where at that time was the school.

After registering with the duty officer at the checkpoint, the Khalilovs went further to the School Headquarters. It was a harsh winter day. Linden trees along the alley were all covered with snow. Some of the branches bent with the weight of the snow, and Valera felt an urge to gently shake off this snow to bring relief to the trees. He also noticed that the entire linden alley was bare of snow and sprinkled with sand suggesting an army style order in a place that would seem to be nothing like a military unit.

In the corridor of the second floor of the wooden building, several pretty much the same boys as Valera were sitting near the office of the Head of the Moscow Military Music School, Colonel Arkadii Nikolayevich Myakishev. Grigory Lazarevich was there with his son Volodya. It was obvious that all the boys sitting on the chairs with their parents for the first time in their lives had found themselves in a totally alien environment of army discipline and order. On the door of the office there was a list of names, according to which candidates were called in. Parents were allowed to be present at the examination, but only with their child consent.

"Applicant Khalilov! Come in!" Somebody called in from behind the door, and the Khalilovs, as if by mutual consent, went into the office all together. Several officers were sitting at the table. Though Colonel Myakishev headed the Admissions Committee, he decided to authorize Lt. Col. V.Ya. Volkov, his deputy and Head of the Curriculum and Instruction Branch, to conduct the preliminary admission examination, thus remaining in the background and monitoring the situation from the sidelines, so to speak."

"Lt. Col. Volkov played a dominant chord to check Valera's ability to guess a group of notes played simultaneously. Without any difficulty Valera not only figured out that four notes were played, but carefully sang them individually.

"Good, Valery! And now tell me: what would you like to sing? For pleasure, one might say. Which song do you like best?" Captain Devdaryani asked.

"Frankly, my mother and I were preparing one of the revolutionary songs: "Far Away, Beyond the River" or "Rush Forward, Our Engine!" Valera decided to be honest with this friendly captain, with oriental features. "But to be truthful to the end, I like a completely different song ... about birds. But I was not practicing it ..." Valera suddenly looked embarrassed, but then regained his self-control: "But my Mum really likes it."

"Fear not, dzhigit (skilful horseman)!" The captain flicked his grey-streaked black forelock away from his eyes. "Sing it, if you like the song! Sing for us and your Mum! And he turned to Valera's parents and winked."

"Valery Khalilov started to sing in a thin voice putting his heart into his singing. He was imagining birds flying to distant lands and looking for "tropical countries", whereas he stayed with his country, with his Homeland! ("The Migrant Birds Are Flying" was written in 1948 by the composer M. Blanter and the poet M. Isakovsky. It gained immense popularity with people right after its first performance by Vladimir Bunchikov in early 1949)"

"Valery finished the last verse.

"Well done, Khalilov! It was very sincere! Wasn't it, Comrade Colonel?" Captain Devdaryani addressed Colonel Myakishev.

"Yes, pretty good! Your boy has got the makings of a good musician," Colonel Myakishev told the parents and Captain Devdaryani and glanced inquiringly at Lt. Col. Gulyaev.

He smiled back and nodded in agreement with the other members of the Admissions Committee, writing something down in his notebook.

As a result of the preliminary audition, Valera and Vladimir were to be examined in early July."

CADET SCHOOL ENROLLMENT

"The meeting on entrance examination of applicants held in the office of the Head of the Military Music School was coming to an end when Colonel Myakishev drew the attention of Major Mikhail Vladimirovich Yegnarov of the Medical Corps to the fact that the number of poor-fit candidates, who were screened out for health reasons, was very small on the first day of the exams.

"I believe all of them cannot be healthy. We have two hundred and forty applications for twenty seats available meaning that only the best must be admitted. Do you all understand this?" Colonel Myakishev was very fond of this kind of meetings. He could slowly express his thoughts, while all his subordinates were supposed to listen to him, without interrupting him and nodding approval or agreement.

"Yes, but ..." Major Yegnarov seemed about to object and straightened his glasses, "they all have been physically qualified as fit at the military registration and enlistment office."

"Do not interrupt the senior, Comrade Major!" It would be better for you to review again all the medical records of the candidates!" Colonel Myakishev did not like to be objected, especially in the presence of his deputies. "We are granted quite a privilege to start military parades. And not just somewhere, but on the Red Square! This means that each candidate must be in perfect bodily health and as tall as ... one hundred and forty centimetres."

Major Yegnarov no longer wanted to object to the Head of the School, and he nodded agreement, although everything inside him protested: "How is that?! And if a boy is a born musician? So what if he is not as tall as he could be? Our decision can make or break him. And this decision to screen out a candidate for health reasons is supposed to be mine." He was trapped but it was necessary to address this situation, so when he returned to the medical service unit, he asked Vera Petrovna, a nurse on duty, to bring him health records of those candidates whose height was less than the stated 140 centimetres. Then, Major Yegnarov lit a cigarette, shut the door of his office tightly, and began to review the health records, which Vera Petrovna piled on his desk

"How does it go in Ilf and Petrov's novel? "That's the way it is. Fate plays with man, and man plays the trumpet," Mikhail Vladimirovich mused and opened the first health record from the pile. Two naive eyes were looking at him from the photo in the upper-left corner. The boy's hair was cut short with a short forelock in front.

"Height – 138 centimetres, weight – 36 kilograms." The thought flitted through his mind quite mechanically: "The surname does not sound Russian: Khalilov, although features are Slavic. Place of birth: town of Termez. Dad, definitely a military band conductor, serves in the Turkestan military district, which is far from being the most prestigious with hot climate conditions. For a child to live there is not all sugar and honey! Undoubtedly the parents do hope that their son will make it through the admission process and be enrolled in our School. That, at last, he will study in Moscow. And we have to screen out a candidate who is a poor fit?! And all because of what? Just because your boy is not tall enough! First, let him grow up a little! And then! Do you call this a valid reason? Okay, let's address issues as they arise," the Major mused closing the boy's health records...

Captain Devdaryani examined the boys in front of him. This was the first time they were standing in a line on the drill ground. Early July, a total of 240 boys came from various parts of the Soviet Union to Moscow to enroll in the Moscow Military Music School. And now these 240 pairs of children's eyes, for the first time in their lives deprived of moral support of their near and dear ones, inquisitively studied this captain with oriental features facing them. During exams, the fate of each of them now depended on him.

"So boys!" I'll start with the main point. Today, a completely different life starts for you. From now on you're to follow a strict daily routine. All of you will reside in the quarters of the first company that you've seen nearby the ruined church. There is enough space for everyone. I promise! Now I introduce my deputies to you. These are company sergeants: Warrant Officer Kireev and Warrant Officer Ptistup." They stepped forward in turn with their right hands at the visor.

"You will be divided up among platoon(-sized) training groups, each with its own exam schedule, including the time for medical examination and for physical fitness tests. Now my deputies will read out lists of platoons. I ask you to carry out their commands efficiently. Any questions?

"Can we get food here?!" Someone shouted from the line. "Don't worry, you'll get food!" Captain Devdaryani smiled kindly into his magnificent moustache. "According to the daily routine, meal is served four times a day. Consider that you are at a resort, just like in a sanatorium. But the one who just asked this question should step forward and introduce himself. Did you hear that?"

There was an awkward pause. The boys turned their heads looking around and expecting someone to respond to this order. Time passed, but nobody stepped forward.

"I am waiting!" calmly said Captain Devdaryani adjusting the visor of his cap.

"Well, I said ..." The boys parted, and a short boy stepped forward. "I have come a long way today, I haven't had breakfast yet."

"What's your name, dzhigit?" captain asked the boy.

"Volodya Tsarev!" the boy answered after a moment's hesitation.

"So, Volodya Tsarev and all of you here", Captain Devdaryani surveyed the faces of the boys, then continued: "If someone wants to address me or my deputies, then he should do this the following way: "Comrade Captain, may I turn? The applicant So-and-so!" After that, briefly state your request. Is everything clear?"

"Yes!" was the answer.

"Not "Yes", but "That's right"!" corrected Captain, "That's right!" answered the whole line. "What about me?" Asked the boy still standing in front of Captain Devdaryani.

"Ooooh ..." the line was making some noise. "Now they'll definitely send him down," one of the boys said quietly.

"Don't worry! They won't!" Thanks to his sense of sound, Captain Devdaryani heard this quiet remark. "On the contrary, because the applicant Tsarev had the nerve to step forward, he is appointed unit leader in his group for a period of passing the exams.

The line again became noisy, "The captain is a fair man!" someone said in the line, and everyone agreed with him.

After that, company sergeants read out the lists of platoons and squads, and Captain Devdaryani led the line of applicants along the linden alley to the quarters of the first company.

"Well, which bed do you choose: top or bottom?" Volodya asked Valera when they began to settle down in one of the rooms on the ground floor.

The place was near the wall opposite the entrance to the room, on the shady side, and therefore was considered the most prestigious. Those were bunk beds, and to climb the bunk bed was a challenge for Valera. That is why Volodya Lebusov, as his friend, offered Valera the bottom bed. But Valera, having thought for a moment, refused this option, choosing the top bunk, from which the whole room was in full view. Volodya and Valera began to unpack their things and put them in the bedside tables.

"Hey guys! Not so fast! These are not your bunk beds!" Three boys were approaching them, with their hands held in pockets. They were staring at little Valera and Vladimir with impudence.

"And whose? Yours, or what?" Vladimir straightened a snow-white pillowcase on the pillow, readjusted a blue blanket on the mattress, and suddenly stood erect before the eldest of the three.

"Where are you guys from?" asked one of them, spitting on the floor in front of Volodya. "From Moscow. What?" calmly answered Vladimir.

"And we are from Rostov! Did you hear about such a city? Well, or a saying: "Odessa is my mother, Rostov is my father"?" The three laughed, while the rest of the boys in the room fell silent.

"Now listen, dark-haired! You take your shorty friend, your things and go to the bunk beds near the entrance to the room!" The leader of the three pointed his finger at the front door.

"You'll have emergency lighting to read books at night, to prepare for exams. And the bucket is much closer — down the stairs and in place," the guys accompanying their leader roared.

"Well, anyway, get off quickly from our places, until we give you a good beating!" The senior of the three felt that no one here would object to him.

"Guys! Have you got anything wrong here? What do you think is here? A zone for youngsters? Or a prison? They were the first to take these beds, so now they are rightfully theirs!" The voice of Volodya Tsarev came from the other entrance. "At least, these are their sleeping places for the time of entrance exams! Or aren't they?

"Ah, brother, is that you? Well done! You didn't try to fool this Georgian on the drill ground, but immediately admitted that it was you. You are the right lad! In Rostov, people like you are held in high respect! Side with us. Might is right!" The leader of the three tried to win Volodya over to his side, but in vain.

"You want to strong-arm the one who is weaker than you? You are welcome! But not here, not in this room! You see, there is not enough space. But in the ravine behind the quarters, this is just right!" Tsarev came closer to the presumptive offenders of Volodya Lebusov. "On one condition only: we fight three on three. But you have a personal choice: we can do it one on one. Unless, of course, you're not chicken, Rostov-papa!

"Namesake, thanks, of course, but we'll figure it out ourselves!" Vladimir went into the passage between bunk beds thus blocking the retreat to his offenders. "Shorty, you say?" And with force he punched the leader with his fist in the solar plexus, which he did not expect. Then, turning him round, Volodya pushed the leader with foot with all his strength towards his company. The other two were suddenly counteracted by Tsarev, who hit the back of their heads and slapped across the face, when they tried to come to rescue their unlucky leader from the other side of the passage. As a result, the Rostovites, left in disgrace. They asked Company Sergeant Kireev to move to another room.

This was the first meeting of Volodya Lebusov, Valera Khalilov, and Volodya Tsarev, which eventually grew into a great friendship for many years of study and subsequent work. During those years, they helped out each other in difficult moments of life, in everything. They became the backbone of that friendly cadet team that was just emerging within the Moscow Military Music School.

"Valerka, today we still have a consultation on the Russian language, and tomorrow medical examination. Remember what my dad told us: you should be at least one hundred and forty centimetres!" Volodya instructed his friend after dinner.

"Next one!" the nurse on duty Vera Petrovna called into the room for medical procedures. A little boy appeared on the threshold, dressed in shorts and an A-shirt. "Get up on the scales, do not be afraid!" Vera Petrovna has long worked as a nurse at the Moscow Military Music School. She was very nice to the cadets, as if they were her own children! If she saw that a boy was shy, she was sure to find kind words for him. The boys simply reached out to her, like to their mother. No wonder they called her affectionately among themselves "Mama Vera". "Well, there you are! You did well! You've put on some weight. You're not thirty-six, but thirty-eight kilograms! Mom and Dad fed you well! So tell them!" He felt good at the mention of his family and Valera smiled back.

"Well, now let's see how tall you are!" Vera Petrovna gestures towards the auxanometer. Yegnarov, Major of the Medical Corps, who was sitting at the table, asked Valera in a monotonous voice his last name.

"Khalilov, Comrade Major," the boy answered.

At this moment, the movable coupling with the planchette began to descend gently until it stopped, having touched Valera's head. Valera began carefully to stretch himself rising onto his toes. Major Yegnarov recalled yesterday's conversation in Colonel Myakishev's office, as well as the fact that out of all the "rejected" applicants whose height was below the required 140 centimetres, it was the medical record of the applicant Khalilov that caught his eye yesterday and asked shortly the nurse:

"How many?"

"One hundred thirty ... nine, Mikhail Vladimirovich", answered Vera Petrovna, but when she saw how hard Valera was trying to rise onto his toes looking up to her plaintively, she changed her mind. "One hundred and forty centimetres exactly!"

"Great, Khalilov! You can go to the surgeon for examination." Major Yegnarov was pleased that, indirectly thanks to him and to the medical nurse Vera Petrovna, another applicant, whose parents wanted him so much to enroll in this school, didn't fall victim to the one hundred and forty centimetres.

***

"It was a great disappointment for those who entered school to get from Company Sergeant Vasily Feofanovich Kireev second-hand identical blue knitted jogging suits and gym shoes instead of a cadet uniform, that is, trousers with red stripes, black tunic and belts with polished buckles.

"What do you think? Just enrolled and you're cadets already? You should be worthy of this title!" said Company Sergeant Kireev at the formation. "First, you need to learn how to execute orders of senior officers and follow a strict daily routine here. And that means!" Company Sergeant Kireev began to tick items off on his left hand fingers. "No one is to be late for formations. One! Keep clean and orderly your sleeping quarters, toilet, washroom, as well as the area adjacent to the quarters of the first company. Two! The unit commanders appointed by Captain Devdaryani are responsible for this. No one is to violate military discipline, and cadets are released from the quarters of the first company only with my permission. Three!

"I wonder our company sergeant has enough fingers on his hands to go through what we should or must do?" Volodya Lebusov whispered to Kolya Mishchenko, who was standing next to him.

"I think enough. It's better not to interrupt him, and he'll finish his speech faster," Nikolai answered.

"Buddies! Have you noticed that when our company sergeant's cap is pulled over his forehead, he is in a bad mood! But when the cap is pushed back, you can safely approach him to solve any issue," Volodya Osherov commented.

"Exactly! Now, his cap is pulled over his forehead! Hold on, men!" quietly said Valera Khalilov.

"And four!" continued the company sergeant.

"You are not civilians anymore! And this means that you are to have a short haircut to maintain the established military standard in personal appearance. And today, according to the daily routine, after lunch we have a bath-and-laundry afternoon to change bed linen, to shake blankets, to cut the hair, and to wash in the bath. Warn you right away, I'll cut everyone's hair down to the scalp!

At that point, the line buzzed expressing the displeasure relating to the decision of the company sergeant."

"My dad told me that here when enrolled all have crew cuts. In the Moscow Suvorov Military School, the guys also have crew cuts! This practice seems to have started since the war, and it continues to echo," said Volodya Lebusov.

"Guys! We'd better go to our captain," suggested Kolya Mishchenko, "let him clarify the situation for us!"

But Captain Devdaryani confirmed that indeed the tradition was from the time of the Great Patriotic War.

But I tell you responsibly that if you in the first company have educational achievements, you'll have a regular haircut!" Captain Devdaryani understood perfectly well these eleven-year-old boys: how embarrassed they would feel in the city with such a crew cut! Just like a runaway from a colony for youngsters!"

"After the bath, the boys went for dinner in the communal dining room, which was located in the former church of the Troitse-Lykovo village. The tables were downstairs, in two large halls. Orderlies quickly put on each table aluminium saucepans with hot potatoes and cabbage and teapots with tea.

"Munches are delicious!" said Volodya Osherov leaning towards the saucepan to ladle more potatoes with cabbage.

"Hey! Stop it! Not enough for everyone!" Kolya Mishchenko moved Volodya's hand away.

"Come on, Valerka Khalilov does not eat much anyway, he'll give me the rest of his potatoes! Will you?" asked Volodya Osherov.

"Yes, sure! Take it!" Valera was not in the habit of eating much.

"No, guys! We can't do it this way! We all share!" Volodya Lebusov intervened, and the boys equally divided among themselves the remaining stewed potatoes with cabbage.

Breakfast, not dinner, was to Valera Khalilov's liking because of a delicious dessert: juicy cherries or cherries in sweet syrup. One aluminium bowl filled to the brims with dessert was served per table for four, and boys themselves divided its content into portions. But how could one divide berries equally? If you do it by eye, you won't get equal portions! To count them individually! It will take a lot of time. Therefore, the boys poured berries with syrup into aluminium mugs, then, one of them turned away and was asked: who to? As a result, the delicious dessert was divided fairly and everyone was happy...

A few more days passed, during which the first-year cadets were getting used to school and new living conditions."

"Early in the morning, at half-past six sharp, the command of the company officer on duty would be heard: "Reveille!" and all boys would run out to engage in physical exercise."

"But the main sports battles among the cadets took place after lunch on the large football field, which was next to the wooden two-story instruction building. There the boys divided into teams and chased the ball with great enthusiasm, scoring goals in the opponent's goal.

It was then that the process of team building began, because multi-player football team meant not only the number of goals scored in the opponent's goal. It's a cooperative game requiring the ability to think together and combine attack schemes. Considering that Valera passionately played football in Dzhambul almost every day with the boys on the clearing in the military unit, here, despite his small stature he played either in the midfield or in the attack zone."

***

"At last the day came when Company Sergeant Kireev announced the long-awaited news that cadets will get a military uniform. The joy of the boys knew no bounds: finally, each of them will have black trousers with wide red stripes and a black tunic with scarlet epaulettes! Real soldier buckles will shine on leather belts! And, most importantly, on the red band of caps, everyone will see a lyre with an army star - a symbol of military music! One thing only upset them: new comfortable shiny chrome boots were only part of their parade uniforms, while clumsy shapeless shoes made of calfskin were meant for everyday."

"Soon, the first general formation of cadets of the entire Moscow Military Music School took place, which was dedicated to the Day of Knowledge. The Deputy Head of the School for Academic Affairs, Colonel Volkov, read out an order concerning the promotion of cadets from class to class and the enrollment of former applicants in the first cadet class. Looking at the faces of first-year cadets, one could say that those were completely different boys than a month ago: looking fit and neat and serious for their years, they listened attentively to every single word coming from the platform.

Opposite the line of cadets were invited guests: school teachers, accompanists, parents, and relatives who carefully watched their children. Valera Khalilov, being small in stature, was on the left side of the ranks and craned his head forward, trying to see his parents. Owing to the enrollment of his son in the Moscow Military Music School, his dad Mikhail Nikolayevich Khalilov put on his captain's formal tunic with all his orders and medals and, having got a permission of his management to leave, arrived at the scheduled day and the appointed time together with Klavdia to be present at this solemn ceremony.

"There's nothing for you to worry about, Valera. Your parents are standing to the right of the platform in the second row," Kolya Mishchenko, standing next to him, reassured him. His faithful friend Volodya Lebusov was much more to the right, along with Volodya Tsarev and Viktor Bobkov, since all of them were larger and taller than Valera.

After the ceremony all cadets were granted leave for the first time to go with their parents. It should be noted that among first-year cadets in their class there were many out-of-town boys whose relatives could not attend the ceremony. And there were also orphans. And so, invitation of out-of-town boys to their homes became a good tradition in their class from the very beginning.

"Mom, may I ask my friend Volodya Tsarev to stay with us while we're on leave?" Valera asked his parents. "He is from Tambov, and no one came today for the ceremony."

"Sonny, why are you asking? Of course you may!" Klavdia for the umpteenth time was admiring her son in the uniform that suited him, who had grown up all at once. "Ask him to go with us!"

At this moment, Grigory Lebusov and Mikhail Khalilov were standing a little off from the others, discussing the latest developments at Mikhail's work. As the school director warned him, he had absolutely no time for classes with students considering his busy schedule.

"Misha, haven't you been warned? Yes, warned!" Grigory carefully put his cigarette out and threw it into a nearby litterbin. "So, cut the number of teaching hours. Choose what is more important for you. And don't forget that I'm responsible for you since I recommended you! Here comes my Volodka!" Two first-year cadets were walking slowly towards him.

"Dad, this is my friend Vitya Bobkov. He is from Brest. Do you mind my asking him to stay with us?" Volodya knew that his father and mother would never refuse him, but he was supposed to ask anyway.

"Of course not! Look, Valera also goes home with his friend!"

"It is worth mentioning that before this ceremony, the officer-tutor Captain Devdaryani had a meeting with the parents who lived in Moscow and in the immediate vicinity of Moscow."

"He brought them up to date concerning their current tasks, the participation of the cadets in the military parade on the Red Square on November 7 next year, as well as other important activities. And he also asked the parents who attended that meeting to invite at least one out-of-town child to stay at their homes each time the cadets were granted leave."

"And during all those seven years of Valera and Volodya's schooling, almost all cadets stayed many times with the families of Grigory Lazarevich and Mikhail Nikolaevich. Mum Klavdia and Mum Nina took care of all the boys during their visits treating them to whatever was in their homes…"

"OUR DEAR TEACHERS!"

Of course, from the very beginning of the school year, the boys were looking forward to when they would be given wind musical instruments and they could begin to study them. But instead of musical instruments, after morning parade Company Sergeant Kireev gave everyone a pair of drumsticks.

"And where are the drums, Comrade Company Sergeant?" asked Volodya Osherov.

"You aren't supposed to have drums yet!" Vasily Feofanovich answered drily.

"How is that, not supposed?" Cadets protested. "You gave us drumsticks! And how to play and what to play?"

"Listen, what do you think? You'll play your pipes right away, won't you? You forgot about your main mission!" Kireev pushed his service cap back and smiled. "You are the pride of the Moscow Military District! And why, I'm asking you?"

The cadets surrounding the company sergeant were silent for a moment, and then Valera Khalilov, who was the smallest for his age, said:

"Probably because we annually open a military parade on Red Square?"

"Well done, Cadet Khalilov! You're right!" Company Sergeant Kireev has long been studying this boy. "Despite your young age, you have the honour to open military parades! So you have to play the army drums very well!"

"And who will teach us how to play the snare drum?" Valera Khalilov again asked a question.

"This Khalilov delves into every detail! The son of a military band conductor who served for many years in the Turkestan Military District. This means that the boy saw the real military service of his father. We need to look closely at him again," thought Kireev to himself.

"Sergey Vasilievich Doronin, an excellent drum instructor will teach you. Listen to him and follow all his instructions. By the way, your drum lesson begins in ten minutes. So, at the double-quick to the educational building!" Ordered the company sergeant and the boys ran to the lesson.

Having formed in a square, as the drum teacher ordered them, with drumsticks clutched in one hand, the boys were exchanging puzzled looks. "And where are our drums? What shall we play?" Questions were heard from all sides.

"Cadets, listen to me! Although I am a civilian teacher and do not wear a military uniform, please address me appropriately, right down the line!" You have sticks in your hands now, and before drumming, you must first learn with my help how to do special exercises."

"It was not until the boys passed the intermediate test in these exercises that Company Sergeant Kireev gave them real army drums for training, and at last they were assigned to specific wind instruments of a military band."

"Volodya Lazarevich and Valery Khalilov were assigned to the clarinet, since both had previously completed a three-year course for this instrument. Being already a legend, their teacher Evgeniy Mikhailovich Egorov was very exacting. The fact is that from the very beginning this teacher gave no one an easy time. Students were required to be ready for each lesson with no exceptions."

"Valery practiced the clarinet regularly. He and Volodya Lebusov often got up a couple of hours earlier to "blow long sounds and scales in the building for practicing music".

***

Every aspect of cadets' lives was carefully regulated in a military style: their daily schedule was rigid and tightly controlled. The required physical fitness exercises, washing, work call formation, and breakfast, were followed by musical instrument classes, which were called a "musical drill" and took place every day in a one-story wooden building next to the school checkpoint. There was a long corridor in this building, on both sides of which were cosy little classrooms. And in one of these classrooms four boys had their classes every morning: Volodya Tsarev (bassoon), Valera Khalilov (clarinet), Igor Ignatov (oboe), Volodya Lebusov (clarinet).

"Later in the day, the boys had classes in the comprehensive secondary school."

"In his class, Valera Khalilov was notable not only for his quick-wittedness, but also thoroughness in fulfilling any assignment given to him by school teachers."

***

"In future, time and again the cadets thanked their school teachers, who treated them with kindness and understanding!"

***

"Mikhail Nikolayevich Khalilov noticed that his sight was failing. He could no longer make out, for example, in the distance the route number of the approaching bus, which took him to his new place of work. At that time he was the director of the large symphony orchestra of the All-Union Radio and Central Television, the main conductor and artistic director of which was renowned Gennady Rozhdestvensky (Now the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra. Gennady Nikolaevich Rozhdestvensky (1931–2018) conducted the orchestra from 1964 to 1971 - ed. note). The work load at the new place was considerably larger than at the musical school. It was a national level! As Maestro Gennady Rozhdestvensky used to say, this new level involves coordination of various tours both within the country and abroad; and soldiering on until new musical instruments and funds for repair of rehearsal rooms are obtained; and regular meetings at the Ministry of Culture of the USSR. Mikhail had been working irregular working hours for a long time without seeing much of his family. He was not 30 anymore. The cumulative effects of fatigue and chronic sleep deprivation did their dirty deeds, having completely broken his health. Where could one find the strength to carry on if one just couldn't afford to get sick at a new place of work and least of all take a sick leave for a week?"

"How can I fail my senior manager?!" Sincerely protested Mikhail against his wife's reasoning. "You know that Gennady Nikolayevich wanted me on the team when he left the position of the principal ballet conductor of the Bolshoi Theatre Symphony Orchestra. He's counting on me, isn't he! And not only he, but also other superior officers in the Ministry of Culture of the country who appointed me to this post! I cannot fail them either. They put their trust in me. I'm a communist!"

"Well, Misha, do you remember when you and I were on holiday together last time? You don't even remember!" Klavdia held her ground. "And I tell you what, once you've got your new job, we, that is, your family, forgot how you look! You've turned to some kind of robot that works without sleep and rest, without thinking about his health!"

"Klava, listen, I understand everything, but I am just this kind of a person!" The husband justified himself before his wife. "But I can't let my manager down!"

Alas, Klavdia's fears were not groundless. Once, Mikhail Nikolayevich Khalilov lost consciousness right in his office and was urgently taken to the military hospital named after Burdenko. The medical diagnosis was unfavourable: the pituitary tumour increased significantly, and there was an urgent need for operation because of the loss of balance and coordination. Boris Egorovich Egorov, a famous military surgeon in those days and father of the cosmonaut Egorov, operated on Mikhail Nikolayevich. The operation was a success, but Mikhail Nikolayevich Khalilov had never restored his health back to normal. And his immediate supervisor Gennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky realized it perfectly well.

The death of his first teacher Nikolai Alexandrovich Yakovlev in the distant town of Namangan was a sad blow to Mikhail Nikolayevich Khalilov."

"Klava, can you imagine, I was not able to go to the funeral of Nikolai Alexandrovich," Mikhail reproached himself, pressing her hands and feeling badly for not being able to pay the last honours to his first teacher... "

"The news about Valera's father death was a great sorrow for all the boys in his class, who shared in his grief. Valera was asked to come over to the officer-tutors' office, where Captain Devdaryani asked him to take a seat on the sofa, and then said quietly:

"Valera, I'm trying to think of the right words. Believe me, in time of war it was much easier to tell a subordinate that his loved one was killed or died. Well, Valera, your dad… He is no more."

"In what sense? I was on leave last week! He was discharged from the hospital. He was fine!" Valera could not believe that his father was really gone. He got up from the couch. "That never happens! He is alive!"

Captain Devdaryani silently got up, came up to Valera, hugged him and spoke in a low voice: "Cry, cry in the pillow, in memory of your dad. The pain will ease off. He was a nice man and a good officer! Your mum is coming for you at lunchtime. You'll go with her to say goodbye to your dad, so that everything is as others do. In the meantime, I'll settle the issue of your leave.

After lunch, the whole class went out to see off Valera with his mother. Everyone was silent, but most had tears in their eyes. Many of them lost their fathers after the war ended.

Everyone in the class took the death of Valera's father hard, all the more so that many knew Mikhail Nikolayevich Khalilov personally, staying as guests in their home..."


STAND UP FOR THE WEAK!

"After the death of Valera's father Company Sergeant Kireev thought a lot about Valera Khalilov. "Although small in stature, he was not to be easily turned from his purpose! He came back to school right after the funeral of his father as he did not want to miss classes. But he could have stayed at home with his mother and relatives for a whole week. I see myself in him when I was a boy. The same single-mindedness! And I know from experience, such guys are sure to achieve a lot in their lives; they come real military band conductors. If only they wouldn't lose their temper and do something because of their foolishness and short temper!

And soon there happened an unpleasant incident: Kireev personally witnessed the scene when the fourth-grade student Evsin was hitting Valera on the head, while Valera seized him in a death grip, rolling with him on the floor and repeating like a clockwork toy: "Give back the aiguillette! Give back the aiguillette!!"

With great difficulty, the company sergeant separated the fighting students. And then it turned out that there was a cause for Khalilov's nose to be broken. Senior cadet Evsin wanted to steal a new shoulder-strap from the uniform of the first company cadet and exchange it for ... cigarettes at a grocery store in the village of Troitse-Lykovo. And it was Valera Khalilov who did not let him do that. He could have looked away and walked past as though he noticed nothing. And the nose would have been safe. But he was not like that! He was ready to fight for justice to the end, in spite of being shorter and physically weaker than the opponent. "

***

"Summer holidays flew by in a flash for Valera. By tradition, Valera, Lyusya, Sasha, and their mother, as well as their pets, elderly former circus dog Pushok and cat Barsik, went to the village of Novinki with all their household utensils and foodstuffs. As in previous years, the children swam, sunbathed, went fishing, mushrooming and berry-picking in the forest, and played football.

"Thanks to the regular physical fitness training in the military music school, which Valera Khalilov and his friend Volodya Lebusov were keen on, he was considered one of the fastest and most agile in the village."

"In the evening, Valera saw that their mother was sick at heart; they all missed their father. Mum tried not to show her emotions and did the household jobs: cooked for children, cleaned up the kitchen, washed dishes, engaged in knitting things for the winter...

What followed after the father's death was a challenging time for the Khalilov family. Although Mikhail Nikolayevich overworked himself as the director of the famous orchestra, there was also a positive moment: he earned a respectable salary, which allowed the family to be fairly well off in comparison with many other families in the former USSR."

"Of course, the untimely and sudden death of Mikhail Nikolayevich was a terrible blow for the family. From now on they had to live on the small pension of Pelageya Sergeevna and Klavdia's salary of 85 roubles as a typist of the Radio Committee. In addition to her full-time job, Klavdia also worked at home: she typed articles, manuscripts of young writers, sometimes even postgraduate diplomas."

"Given the difficult financial situation of the family, Klavdia Vasilyevna was firmly resolved to enroll Sasha, her youngest son, into a military music school. By that time, Sasha had already completed three years at Musical School No.7, studying oboe with Bentsian Abramovich Fridman. In addition, Sasha was also enrolled in a sports school. He was very promising in gymnastics."

THAT'S A MILITARY PARADE COMING

"Having passed entrance examinations with good and excellent marks, Valera's brother Alexander was enrolled in the military music school."

"A major event in the life of each cadet was preparation for and participation in the November parade on Red Square. That is why everyone from Valera Khalilov's class was listening attentively while standing in general formation after lunch early September. The school order concerning preparation for the parade was read out, and one by one the сadets were called from the formation to run forward to the position in the ceremonial box-formation.

"Well, Valera, time to go!" His friend Volodya Lebusov smiled. He waved his hand and joined the ranks in the fourth row.

The cadets were called one by one for some time, but Khalilov was not among them. What a joy it was when at last he heard his name read out, and Captain Devdaryani, smiling kindly in his black moustache, put Valera in the first line of drummers of the right flank. Yes, that was the first line of the smallest cadets, but marching of the entire box-formation on Red Square was dictated by their marching style. And everyone aligned with the right-flank drummer, so for Valera it was a very great honour.

"Take it, dzhigit!" Captain Devdaryani handed Valera a red armband with number 1 on it and helped Valera to fasten it on his right arm. "This is for your comrades from the first line to see their right marker, understand?"

"That's right, Comrade Captain!" Valera answered, gratefully looking at his officer-tutor."

"After a month of daily parade drilling, all the cadets were given army training drums. Now, the ranks were practicing not only the ceremonial step, but also drumming."

"A good incentive in training for each line was the contests "The best line of the ceremonial squad" and "The best drummer of the ceremonial squad", which were held annually in the military music school in mid-October. Winners were awarded not only merit certificates signed by the head of the school, but also cakes bought in advance in Moscow. Of course, senior cadets were recognized as the best: they had both the experience of participation in military parades and a spirit of comradery. Their ranks were like a bowstring strung tight. It seemed that an invisible thread stretched along the rank would be perfectly straight, as well as the synchronous swing of drumsticks of the cadets in the ranks. The boys from Valera Khalilov's class understood very well that their time had not come yet, but they nevertheless did their utmost so as not to let down their officer-tutor Captain Devdaryani.

Soon, a motorcade of Zils (trade name of a Soviet car) arrived at the military music school to take the ceremonial squad for garrison rehearsals, first to the Luzhniki Stadium, and then to the Khodynsky Field, the so-called Chkalov Airfield. There cadets were already rehearsing together with the combined orchestra regiment led by the Head of the USSR Military Orchestra Service, Major General N. M. Nazarov.

***

"Vehicles with military bands arrived to the parade ground of the Luzhniki Stadium at ten in the morning. The musicians took their instruments, fell in by battalion, and military band conductors reported to Major General Nazarov on the arrival of their units. When they saw for the first time in lives the thickset general with a large nose speaking loudly to a military band conductor who was late for the rehearsal in front of the ranks of officers, the cadets immediately realized that their childhood had ended. From this point, they, junior cadets, would be responsible with all the consequences just as professional military musicians: for ceremonial step, for the teamwork in snare drumming, for the synchronized movement of the hands with drumsticks, as well as synchronized pulling of the arms back to the chests for the entire ceremonial squad.

"Above all, keep your eyes on the general who will be watching you from that large stand," Volodya nicknamed Moskva was talking to the cadets with a knowledgeable air. "As soon as he grabs the handrails of the dais with both hands and bends forward, you may be sure that the general is looking closely at our ceremonial box-formation. He's looking for shortcomings, where and what is not right and in which rank! Do your best, otherwise the whole box-formation will sweat blood!

"Well, there will be no one else except for us?" Valera Khalilov asked. Indeed, it would seem that almost a thousand military musicians were practicing on a huge parade ground of the Luzhniki Stadium, and only one company of drummers of the military music school was marching to this grand accompaniment.

"No! Only the combined military band is rehearsing on this ground, and so are we!" answered Volodya. "And the entire Moscow garrison will be only at the garrison rehearsals. And I forgot to say the most important thing. At the "garn rehearsals" they'll give us additional food: sandwiches, hot tea, and Alyonka chocolate, and the whole big bar!" This news cheered up the young cadets and they took a somewhat more positive view of the parade drill.

Following the general command "Fall in!" which came from the stand, the ceremonial box-formation from the military music school for two hours was engaged in parade drill, honing their skills. Then, the company of drummers moved up into jumping-off position. That was their first training pass in review in front of the Head of the Military Band Service, Major General Nazarov, so Valera Khalilov, the right marker of the first line, was noticeably nervous.

"Dzhigit! Be in no hurry! And if anything happens, I'm here!" Captain Devdaryani, his officer-tutor, told him quietly.

Since those were the first rehearsals for the box-formation in Luzhniki, an officer was allowed to walk alongside the line of drummers and prompt in case of need.

"Parade! Attention! By battalion! At one guidon bearer distance!" Distinct commands were coming from the stand. "The first battalion! March! The others, right turn! Slope arms! Eyes right! Forward march!"

"At last!" thought Valera Khalilov, when the ranks began moving. "Now the main thing is not to take too big or too small steps!"

***

"The garrison rehearsals on the Khodynsky field, where the entire ceremonial box-formation of the Moscow Military District arrived daily to drill, were soon over. Here, the boys were really proud of our army and navy. They especially liked when commando battalions were passing in review: all tall, a fine lot of soldiers, in striped vests and blue berets, with machine guns over their shoulders, the commandos were neatly measuring out their pace, while maintaining perfect alignment. When watching them, many cadets were thinking to do their service in assault forces."

"… Valera Khalilov would never forget his first military parade on Red Square. On that day, they got up at half past four in the morning and had a large breakfast, which included cocoa, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, and sausage. Then the cadets lined up in general formation to be briefed by the Head of the Military Music School Colonel Myakishev who spoke about their sacred duty: to march "on the main square of the country in such a manner that the whole world would learn about young musicians who annually open military parades on Red Square and have become a symbol of the highest standard of all official events in our country."

And now the ceremonial box-formation of the Moscow Military District was gradually lining up in straight lines and columns by battalions of military academies and regiments. At exactly ten in the morning, the Commander of the Moscow Military District Marshal of the Soviet Union, Army General Afanasy Pavlantievich Beloborodov, rode out of the Spasskaya Tower gates under striking of the chimes and sounds of the approaching military march. Marshal of the Soviet Union Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky took the military parade from the commander of the Moscow Military District. After reviewing the troops, he reported to the Secretary General of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev that the troops of the Moscow Military District were ready for the military parade.

Everything was proceeding according to the off-the-shelf plan but without regard for weather conditions: all the markings on Red Square were powdered with morning light snow. It was time for cadets from the Frunze General Military Academy to take their position in front of the battalions of ceremonial box-formations. What "points" and lines on the paving stones to be guided by? There was no landmark! But Major Korostelev, the commander of the drummer company, who was on the right flank, noticed that Khalilov was nervous, and reassured Valera.

"Wait till guidon bearers move to their positions and align to them!" He said calmly. "And march paralleling their line! Above all, no hurry. You lead the way on Red Square! And the Moscow garrison is to follow you!"

"Thank you, Comrade Major!" Valera looked at the commander of the ceremonial box-formation with gratitude.

"You're welcome! Better think of something good. Well, for example, that your mum or your nearest and dearest will see you on TV."

It was as if Major Korostelev could see through a millstone. Many times Lyusya told Valera that he as a right marker would for sure be shown on television. And she promised to ask her friends to come on November 7th to watch a broadcast of the military parade on Red Square with her brother marching together with soldiers and officers.

"Well, it's time," Major Korostelev said quietly.

Under the command "Attention!" the ceremonial box-formation of drummers of the military music school made a move to its position in front of the battalions of the Frunze General Military Academy. Under the command "Forward, march!" from Army General Beloborodov the ceremonial box-formation began to play "Marching", setting the pace for the troops of the entire Moscow military garrison. Then the combined military band started to play the first march from the marching programme. And all this time Valera Khalilov, as they say, did not once move a muscle! He was told to go paralleling the line of the guidon bearers, so he would do! The main thing was to keep the same pace! Visually, Valera remembered the distance at which the senior cadets in the middle ranks were to give the command "On the count One!", and as one, the cadets turned their heads upon the command "Attention!" to the right towards the Mausoleum of V.I. Lenin, on the podium of which were standing the members of the government of our country.

And there was Vasilievsky spusk. There was some motion among the ranks of the cadets: some were talking to each other, sharing their impressions of the parade, and some were trying to attract the attention of the girls standing on the stands by waving their drumsticks.

"Good start, Valera! Congratulations!" Major Korostelev came up to the car, near which was standing Cadet Khalilov. "You did it right! Although, I'll tell you a secret, it was probably the most difficult military parade in my life.

On the same day, the cadets received letters of appreciation at the formation from the Commander of the Moscow Military District, Marshal of the Soviet Union Beloborodov for their performance at the military parade. Wherever Valera moved with his family, his letters of appreciation were always with him, and they are still kept in the Khalilov family archive as a priceless heirloom. Already being a colonel, Valery Mikhailovich often would tell his wife Natalia Vladlenovna Khalilova about that first military parade, showing her his first letter of appreciation.

… Well, after the hearty meal with cakes and Citro lemonade in the school canteen, the cadets went away and took a week holiday with their families, relatives, and friends. On this occasion, Valery's mother baked delicious cakes to throw a tea party with Lusya's girlfriends. The girls asked Valera many questions: "Was it scary?", "What did he remember the most?", "Was he close enough to Brezhnev to see him well?", etc. And, as remembered by his mother, Valera answered all these children's questions in an adult way, very thoroughly.

"Well, Valerochka, you've become famous!" Mum said in joke after the tea party was over and the guests left. "You are being interviewed! But today you were not on television! What a pity!"

"Come on, mum! What are you worrying about?" Valera reassured her. "It may well be that my brother Sanjka will grow up a little and next year we'll be marching together! And then you'll see us both!"

A NEW OFFICER-TUTOR, A CLARINET, AND THE GERMAN LANGUAGE

"That day everything seemed normal when during a break between classes Kolya Mishchenko appeared, breathless with running:

"Guys! Bad news! David Erastovich is no longer our officer-tutor! A certain captain from the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany is coming to us!"

"Howэs that?!" Voices shouted in outrage on all sides."

"Let there be a protest strike, dudes?" suggested Yura Vasilego. "We have a dictation in the Russian language. So let's fail it! And all the other subjects and that's the end of it!

"That was a bit much! What's in it for us?" Dima Atovmyan made an attempt to object.

"Why, they will have to send him away if we have poor results!" Yura Vasilego continued.

"And now the strike! Let's all fail the dictation! Make as many mistakes as possible!" The assistant officer-tutor Vladimir Lebusov entered the conversation.

The teacher of the Russian language and literature really could not understand why only a week ago she, together with her students, discussed in detail one of the topics of "Morphology and Spelling", namely, "Noun as Part of Speech" and "Spelling of Nouns", and today all twenty-five cadets have made fifty mistakes each and even more! Well, there are nouns whose spelling should be memorized as an exception. But how, tell me, please, one can make two mistakes in a simple word, such as "eggplant"?! And as many as three mistakes in the "native" for musicians word "composer"!!! Moreover, these mistakes in the whole class were like peas in a pod!

"David Erastovich, dear! Talk to your boys!" The most experienced mathematics teacher clasped her hands. "After all, this is nothing but mocking of me! For a whole month we studied fractional numbers with them; we examined everything in great detail! And today I've realized that they do not know anything! Twenty-five cadets in the class and all of them I gave a very poor mark! Yes, it's just an abysmal record!"

The teachers asked Major Devdaryani to talk to the boys.

"My dear, dzhigits!" Devdaryani spoke to the boys. "To say how difficult it is for me to part with you, having got used to you over these four years is an understatement. Each of you has become dear to me, like a son! And I will carry my love for you through my whole life!"

The boys, many with tears in their eyes, listened to him silently and did not interrupt.

"You also try to understand me. I cannot decline a job offer for the position of the military band conductor at the Military Conductors' Department of the Tchaikovsky State Conservatory in Moscow, because I cannot expect that this position will be open for me another time! You know, boys, my beloved daughter Natashen'ka has been ailing since childhood. She needs medical treatment, to go from doctor to doctor in Moscow, but I am here with you twenty-four hours a day. And to the nearest hospital or clinic from Troitse-Lykovo, if anything happens, is more than two hours because you have to make several changes of vehicle!"

"Yes, we understand, David Erastovich," replied Viktor Bobkov for all. "It's just that it will be bad for us without you! We've got used to you! You are a fine man, but who Captain Bogdanov is, we haven't heard about him yet!"

"I heard!" Devdaryani said. "Captain Bogdanov is a well-educated officer, believe me."

Leonid Petrovich is a very kind and good person! Take my word for it!" Devdaryani tried to convince the boys. "Moreover, he is an excellent clarinettist and can easily compete with you, Volodya, in playing the clarinet."

"And we'll see it!" Volodya Lebusov objected more calmly.

"Anyway, many among you plan to enroll for the military conductors' department to follow the trade of your fathers, so to speak." Devdaryani looked at Valera Halilov and Volodya Lebusov. "Imagine, you leave school in just three years and enter the department. And there you meet me. I'm the conductor of the orchestra with which, by the way, each of you is to prepare a concert programme for the music evenings held by the department. And as regards Captain Bogdanov, it's a choice of Major General Nikolai Mikhailovich Nazarov. He screened the candidates for this position by himself. "By the way, in the fifties, General Nazarov was the head of the military music school for two years, so he knows your life better than anyone."

The boys have finally accepted that they will have a new officer-tutor.

"And you still have to rewrite the math test and the dictation in the Russian language!" Devdaryani smiled.

"Will you come to say goodbye to us?" Valera Khalilov asked.

"Why, sure!" David Erastovich smiled his open oriental smile.

"Guys, I love you all very much and look forward to seeing you at the military conductors' department! Or, if someone has no intention to enter the department, then come and visit me in the Khamovnichesky Barracks! I'll be glad to see every one of you!"

"Major Devdaryani was walking with a suitcase along the avenue of lime trees leading from the educational building, past the drill-ground and the headquarters of the military music school. "I'm awfully sorry I have to part with these boys. What a strong bond have I formed with them over these four years! Indeed, every one of them is like a son to me!" David Erastovich was thinking to himself, when suddenly he heard the running footsteps approaching and then the voice of his assistant Volodya Lebusov, giving the commands "Fall in! Attention!". And measuring out their pace, the boys followed him to the school's checkpoint in perfect military parade step! Near the checkpoint, only after the command "Stand still!" the boys formed up in two ranks in front of the officer-tutor.

"Stand at ease, dzhigits! Stand at ease! Thank you very, very much. What a great send-off!" A treacherous tear rolled down the face of David Erastovich. "Well, see you soon at the department, my boys!" He managed to smile at the boys.

Without saying a word, the boys let themselves go and they rushed to say goodbye to the major, shake his hand and hug him goodbye.

***

"At first, it was very hard for Captain Bogdanov, a new officer-tutor, with the boys. Unwittingly or not, they compared him with Major Devdaryani, who they still missed after several months had passed, often speaking of him in the evenings in the sleeping quarters of the second company. But despite everything, the boys gradually realized that their officer-tutor was good and considerate to them. Like David Erastovich, he often helped the cadets with their homework in various subjects, although he did not have to do that. In the mornings, together with the cadets, Captain Bogdanov took the clarinet and played scales and etudes in the corridor of the musical educational building. As Major Devdaryani told them, Captain Bogdanov had attained a very professional level of playing."

"Of course, Leonid Petrovich at first did not tell the boys about his plans for his later career fearing they would not understand him: "Hardly has he come to us and is already busy with preparations for postgraduate studies!" But he was determined to pursue his ambition, practicing together with the boys for several hours every day, thereby setting a positive example for them in mastering their musical instrument of choice at the military music school.

Captain Bogdanov tried to understand the cadets. If someone needed to go on leave, Leonid Petrovich never raised difficulties but rather tried to convince the commander of the second company, Lt. Col. Kalmykov, to let a cadet go on leave.

Before his arrival to the Moscow Military Music School, Captain Bogdanov was in the Group of Soviet Forces stationed in Germany, so he was fluent in German. His knowledge of the foreign language happened to be that "golden key" to open the "door" of understanding and respect between him and the boys so much needed for the establishment of normal trust-based relationships."

"In addition, next year, the cadets were planning to go to Artek, the country's most famous young pioneer camp complex, where boys and girls from around the world, including German-speaking countries, such as the German Democratic Republic, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria, the Federal Republic of Germany, Liechtenstein, and others, came for summer sessions.

***

"… At the end of each academic year, a concert was traditionally arranged in the club-house of the military music school with the participation of the best instrumentalists, as well as the choir and the band."

"Leonid Petrovich! Remember, you told us about preparations being made to go to the Artek Young Pioneer Camp?" Valera Khalilov asked the officer-tutor in early September. "And we'll have band rehearsals?"

"Yes, I did! And I do not deny it! Just today, let me whisper to you that a new orchestra instructor is to arrive from the Taman Division!" Captain Bogdanov answered him quietly immediately attracting the attention of the cadets, and this news quickly spread throughout the company.

Having asked permission, a young handsome first lieutenant entered the office of the Head of the Military Music School and reported to Colonel Myakishev on his arrival at his new duty station. Colonel took his eyes off the papers to look briefly at the new-comer and reproved him for his appearance right from the start.

"First, Comrade First Lieutenant, we have a military unit here, and not a finishing school! Therefore, I reprove you for the haircut and whiskers that are not in keeping with the regulations! You wouldn't take liberties in the Taman Division, would you? Is that right, Alexandr Vasilievich?" Not a single violation would escape Colonel Myakishev's experienced eyes.

"That's right, Comrade Colonel! Today I'll cut my hair short at the nearest barber's!" First Lieutenant Polyakov answered raising his hand to his visor.

"But that's not all, Comrade First Lieutenant!" The Head of the School continued with displeasure. "Do you know that it is very strictly forbidden in the army to wear any jewelry on your fingers, including gold wedding rings?" There was an awkward pause, during which First Lieutenant Polyakov, clearly confused, took the wedding ring off his right hand finger and put it in the pocket of his tunic.

"That's another matter!" Colonel Myakishev noted with approval. "We were anxious for you to come since the very beginning of the school year! The boys from the second company keep asking my deputies when they will have a band."

"They wouldn't let me go, Comrade Colonel, I waited for a relief! As soon as the officer arrived from Germany, I turned over my duties to him and set out right away!" First Lieutenant Polyakov began defending himself.

"Well, I believe you, I do!" Colonel Myakishev reassured him. "The band of the second company is to start practicing under your guidance tomorrow. By the way, I hope you have already put together concert and marching programmes for the band?

"That's right, Comrade Colonel!"

"Not only orchestral scores, but also vocal scores?" Colonel Myakishev asked to be precise."

"First Lieutenant Aleksandr Vasilievich Polyakov had graduated from the Moscow Military Music School several years ago. That's why he asked to be transferred back here from the Taman Division. Having introduce himself to the Head of the School, he went to his former tutor, Sergeant Major Shmyrov."

"Come in, Sasha! Well, you've grown such a nice strong man!" Sergeant Major Vasily Vasilyevich Shmyrov with pleasure embraced his former student Polyakov. "You look fit! The uniform fits like a glove!

After a substantial luncheon prepared by his wife, Sergeant Major Shmyrov began to ask Alexandr Vasilievich about his service in the Taman Division: about the band and military band musicians, with pleasure for both finding mutual acquaintances among them.

"Our elite regiment was inspected practically each time there was an operational readiness inspection!" First Lieutenant Polyakov talked enthusiastically over a cup of tea."

"So, Second Lieutenant Khalilov, also a graduate of our Institute of Military Band Conductors, was a trainee in our regiment. The musicians still remember him with a kind word and regret that he refused to remain in the service in the Taman Division, and instead served in the Turkestan military district," Senior Lieutenant Polyakov continued his story. "Where does he serve now, I wonder? He must be already in the rank of major?"

There ensued an awkward pause, during which Sergeant Major Shmyrov cut off a few more pieces of white rye bread for the guest.

"Captain Khalilov, unfortunately, has died. But his sons Valera and Sasha are here in our school!" Sergeant Major replied.

"Sorry, I did not know," said Alexandr Vasilyevich, embarrassed.

"His son is in my charge now," continued Vasily Vasilievich."

"Valera Khalilov. So this boy, being a "meter with a cap," was not afraid to have a bit of a scrap with a thief, older and stronger than him, and won back the aiguillette! He is a strong character, I'll tell you! I sure will introduce him to you and the boys, who you can rely on in your work..."

***

"From the very first day, First Lieutenant Polyakov wanted the boys to understand that the process of learning to play in a band was not over with the end of the rehearsal process. Practicing your part daily would make your band play better in tune. Of course, at first Alexandr Vasilievich suggested learning less difficult pieces, such as military marches and waltzes.

While still a student of the Military Conductors' Department at the Moscow State Conservatory, Polyakov liked Chernetsky's marches most of all. That is why one of the first pieces of music to be learned by the band was Chernetsky's march "Parade". This cheerful and lively march filled everyone with enthusiasm, no matter where the band of the second company performed."

"Band rehearsals would begin with tuning of musical instruments followed by spending some time under the guidance of the band conductor on tuning exercises from "Daily Exercises for Brass Bands" by V. M. Blazhevich. And only after that did First Lieutenant Polyakov let the band learn new pieces of orchestral music."

"It should be noted that Lieutenant Colonel Kaprov from the third company greatly contributed to professional becoming of First Lieutenant Polyakov as a band conductor. Boris Iosifovich Kaprov, being older and professionally more experienced, guided his young colleague in both musical and pedagogical matters. Boris Iosifovich at that time was 43 and had already been qualified for a pension. He thought of Polyakov as his successor, sharing with him the enormous experience conducting orchestras.

Having gained experience of playing in the band under the direction of Alexandr Vasilyevich Polyakov, the young musicians from Valera Khalilov's class joined the band of the third company. And they immediately felt the difference. Boris Iosifovich Kaprov, an excellent instructor and a musician, permitted no liberties: gave students an F for unlearned orchestral parts; no leave was granted for the defaulter. Often staying late at work, he meticulously worked with students on their orchestral parts, paying attention to every detail. He kept asking the students to come again and again to play their parts if their playing did not meet his high professional requirements.

The news that the combined orchestra composed of the best of the young musicians from the third company would go in summer to the Artek Young Pioneer Camp was a great incentive. At that time, every youngster in our country from childhood dreamed of visiting Artek, but only the very best from all over the Soviet Union would go, but now they got a chance to go all together. That is why the cadets tried to have band rehearsals every day, often without their conductor, to play new pieces they learned for the planned trip to Artek.

"Valera, come to the conductor's desk! You'll lead us!" Volodya Lebusov, the first clarinettist, would often say. "Vitya Bobkov and I can cope here without you, and you go ahead and learn band conductor's skills!

And Valera would take a pencil as if it were a conductor's baton and move his hand to give an up-beat for the players to release the tone. Valera's ear for music allowed him to immediately identify or distinguish variations in pitch and rhythm, and then he would stop the band and ask to play those whose playing lacked precision.

"Come on, Valera, stop finding fault with us!" Occasionally someone would try to argue with the "conductor".

But everyone else would unanimously disagree with him, realizing that it was the only way to learn something. Playing for the sake of playing from beginning to end, no matter how many times, is not the best approach to a band rehearsal! It is better to focus on challenging fragments. They all understood that and therefore let Valera Khalilov as their conductor lead them.

In just one year, young musicians significantly improved their musical skills while in the band of the third company under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel Kaprov. In addition to marches, waltzes, and a variety of dance music, the combined band also played a more challenging music. For example, at the school-wide concert celebrating the end of the academic year, the third company combined band under the direction of Lt. Col. Kaprov performed Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto and Chopin's First Piano Concerto with world-famous pianists Eugene Maliev and Naum Shtarkman being soloists.

Soon, the band had mastered a variety of genres, not just classical music. At that time, Colonel Mikhail Davidovich Gottlieb was at the Military Conductors' Department of the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (Chair of Instrumentation and Score Reading). Being on friendly terms with him, Boris Iosifovich Kaprov often asked him about new compositions for a band. Mikhail Davidovich just wrote his famous "Serenade" for a brass band. And Kaprov managed to persuade the composer to allow the third company band debut his new piece of pop music. Several times Colonel Gottlieb attended rehearsals of the band to make comments and useful suggestions. Needless to say, the author really liked the first performance of his Serenade at the concert at the end of the academic year."

HELLO, ARTEK!

"The Moscow-Simferopol train arrived at the station without delay. Two young pioneer organizers were meeting the young musicians and those who accompanied them on the platform.

"Olga! Valentin!" They introduced themselves to Lt. Col. Kaprov. "We'll be your assistants during the stay in Artek."

Olga and Valentine were not used to this kind of "overgrown" pioneers! They were told that the band is staffed with 13-14 year old boys! And instead, practically young men arrived."

The young musicians were properly dressed, though not without difficulty.

***

"At last, the whole group arrived at the camp. They were accommodated in a comfortable dormitory of the Morskaya druzhina (squad), located right next to the sea. The dormitory was built on piles, and that first night, when the managers were already asleep, all the cadets made their first night swim. They knotted their sheets together and climbed down them out of the window straight into the sea. The sea was quiet and warm. For many it was their first trip to the Crimea, and they would keep remembering its nature, especially at night, for a long time!

Eight young musicians were accommodated in each bedroom. According to architectural design, the wall was not supposed to hide the sea view, so sliding windows were installed that could be opened at night to listen to the sound of the waves breaking on the shore and the singing of cicadas.

The first rehearsal of the band was next day."

"The young musicians were popular not only among members of the Morskaya druzhina, but also among campers from Pribrezhnyi, Kiparisovyi, and Lazurnyi. In Artek, every day was a national day of some country, and without fail the orchestra played "The National Anthem of the USSR" while the USSR flag was raised and "The Hymn of Democratic Youth of the World" by A. Novikov while the national flag of the country honoured was raised. For the Morskaya druzhina, every day began with a general camp line for the flag of the USSR to be raised and the national pioneer flag sewn from multi-colored ties of the countries whose pioneers were in Artek.

From now on, every morning after breakfast, the student musicians were rehearsing on the roof of the dormitory building under a curious sort of the corrugated translucent roof, which campers called a "solarium". From nine to twelve in the morning brass music was heard throughout the camp. Just like at the military music school, the first hour was devoted to individual practicing of long tones, then scales, etudes, and new orchestral parts. And two hours of band rehearsing with Boris Iosifovich Kaprov passed unnoticed. The main purpose of rehearsing was to prepare a new concert programme for their performance in Artek.

The new concert programme included: "Cuban Dance" by Z. Binkin, which was very popular among youngsters from Cuba, "Serenade" and "Burlesque" by M. Gottlieb, as well as the 1st and 2nd parts of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. It was the programme that Boris Iosifovich had thought over in advance, and a part of it would be performed later at their concert in winter. In addition to these pieces of orchestral music, the student musicians learned quickly several pieces for soloists and the band. But really smashing was "Czardas", a concert piece for the xylophone and orchestra of the Italian composer Vittorio Monti. Gennady Domrachev was a real virtuoso when he played the coda of the work accelerating to a crazy presto. But that was not the end. Olga, a beautiful young pioneer organizer, would walk out on the stage to a round of applause and put her pioneer tie over his eyes for Gennady to play the xylophone without looking at his hands. Then she would lead him to the instrument, and Gennady again played the coda of "Czardas" without the aid of his eyes. That would earn him another round of applause from the Artek campers. But that was not all! The Artek campers together with the band conductor and young pioneer organizers thought for a long time how to make this performance even more difficult for Gennady Domrachev. And finally, they came up with the following. Volunteers from the audience were invited to cover the xylophone keyboard with their pioneer ties while the snare drums rolled, just like in circus acts. Gena Domrachev again played the coda not only without looking at his hands but also the keyboard of the instrument completely covered with ties. It was a tour de force performance of the young musician without making a single false note.

Young pioneer organizers Olga and Valentin did their best for the young musicians to enjoy their leisure time in the afternoon. It was not only swimming in the sea, different tours, a trip to the famous Ayudag mount, but also involvement in all sporting events at Artek. Playing football and volleyball with enthusiasm over several years of study helped the student musicians repeatedly win.

"Valera, that girl in the stands is looking at you!" Volodya Lebusov, who managed to notice everything on the football field, whispered to Khalilov during penalty kick. "Look to the left, that black-haired one!"

But Valera seemed to see nothing around except the game. Spectators who came to watch the game were of no interest to him. Yes, his friends, unlike him, went out on dates with the girls in the camp, walking in the evenings along the embankment and kissing on the beach. Some even stroke up an acquaintance with young pioneer organizers! It looked like their numerous performances for the Artek campers paid off. They were quite popular among Artek campers, including the other gender. Actually every girl in the camp dreamed of making the acquaintance with a cadet from the band.

No matter how hard Captain Bogdanov tried, it soon became known to everyone that they were from the military music school in Moscow; that it was they who opened all military parades on Red Square and greeted delegates to the congresses of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, dressed in the Suvorov military uniform. All this taken together, as well as their future profession, imparted a kind of romance to the relationship between young musicians and girls, being for many of them their first teen-age romance…"

"In the evenings after dinner, the campers of the Morskaya druzhina would have dances with various competitions and games, and an open-air fire."

"Dancing was mainly to western music: Mireille Mathieu, Charles Aznavour, Frank Sinatra, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and even to the rock music from the album "April" released by the hard rock band Deep Purple gaining popularity at that time. However, as an alternative to Western music, the senior young pioneer organizer from the Morskaya druzhina insisted on records with hits of Soviet variety: Iosif Kobzon, Muslim Magomayev, Valery Obodzinsky, Oscar Feltsman, etc. Ladies' choice dances were also announced, which showed that the cadets had won the sympathy of the girls from the Morskaya druzhina.

When a dancing party was coming to an end, a traditional large bonfire was lighted, and campers took their seats around it and sang songs to the accompaniment of an accordion or a guitar. Volodya Lebusov masterfully played the guitar, and the campers sang, for example, "Moscow Nights" or songs from such cult films as "The Adventures of the Uncatchable" and "The Caucasian Captive" that had just been released then.

After one of these evenings, Valera came up to Volodya Lebusov and asked to show him the guitar chords."

"Valera! At last! We are dancing with the girls, and you try to stay in the dormitory all the time. Come on, brother, you display no team spirit! It's very bad of you!" Volodya began to tease his friend in a friendly way. "You have taken a fancy to a girl, haven't you? Do you want to charm her with your singing? So you just say it!"

"Stop teasing! I just want to learn another musical instrument. You sang yesterday very emotionally sincere. It was with feeling and very beautiful. For some reason this does not happen to the accompaniment of our "fifes".

"Because we shout at the top of our voice in the band! Scream as loud as we can! Everyone considers oneself the most important! How many times have I told both the guys and our conductor: we should play less loud and listen to each other! And he would say, "We are not in enclosed spaces, but in the open air! The sound kind of scatters in all directions in the air," Volodya reasoned. "Okay, come on, take a seat next to me, I'll show you the chords."

"Over the course of several evenings, Volodya Lebusov taught Valera Khalilov to play the guitar, suggesting that he should play the guitar when they sit by the bonfire next time."

***

"Boris Iosifovich! Please wait a minute! We need to talk! I have a suggestion!" The senior young pioneer organizer Galina Alexandrovna spoke to Lt. Col. Kaprov after the morning assembly.

"Yes, I'm listening to you, Galina Alexandrovna!" Boris Iosifovich said.

"Yesterday your guys sang songs to the guitar very well. Everyone really liked it! And what do you think about an idea to set up a music group on the basis of your band, to the accompaniment of which we can have dances?" Galina Alexandrovna looked hopefully at the band conductor. "Otherwise we have only western pop music... For foreign delegations this, of course, is good. And what about us? Don't we have really good music?"

"But they ask for guitars in other units as they have none. And where shall we get acoustic systems, microphones and other sound-amplifying equipment? And a drum kit? I don't think it's a good idea to dance to bass drums and cymbals!" Lt. Col. Kaprov had more questions and objections in store, but was again interrupted by the senior young pioneer organizer.

"But don't worry about that! We have everything here! Last year we bought instrumentation: guitars, a drum kit, microphones, even some kind of fancy audio mixing console from the German Democratic Republic, but there is no one to play here. Wouldn't it be nice if your guys played! And I'll arrange a rehearsal room for your musicians to have rehearsals and bother no one. What do you think?"

"Well, if so? Let's try!" Boris Iosifovich promised Galina Alexandrovna that a group of student musicians will come to her to set up a pop group in the Morskaya druzhina.

And indeed, soon the pop group played for the first time the music that campers could dance to. There were only a few songs in their repertoire, which could hardly constitute a proper concert programme, but Volodya Lebusov, a solo guitarist, Volodya Osherov, a bass guitarist and a singer, and Gena Domrachev, a drummer, assured the audience from the stage that "things will change very soon!"

After that performance, the pop group "Accord" played at dances in other camps. And Galina Alexandrovna's prestige was enormously increased thanks to the young musicians who she was really fond of and who she called her boy musicians.

As Volodya Lebusov promised, a week later after dancing Valera Khalilov made his debut by the large bonfire to the accompaniment of the guitar. At first, Volodya played familiar and well-known songs to warm up the audience: "Moscow Nights", "Katyusha", "Someone came down from the hill" but then he announced that now the Artek campers will be the first to listen to the songs with lyrics written by the cadets."

They sang familiar songs with the lyrics changed to make them fun.

"The next day, members of the French delegation had a meeting with the managers of the band. They brought curd tarts, their mid-afternoon snack, for the young musicians because one of their sad songs based on the old Russian folk song "Tramp" was about a cadet who was killed for a piece of dried bread.

"Let your cadets never be hungry and have no quarrels among themselves over food!" The interpreter translated the wishes of the French delegation and handed packages with curd tarts to Captain Bogdanov who looked dumbfounded.

Having understood with great difficulty "from what quarters does the wind blow", Leonid Petrovich did his best to assure the French that everything in that song was pure invention, a fantasy! He even tried unsuccessfully to return the packages with baking, but the foreigners waved their arms all together, demanding to take their present, otherwise they would feel offended. Captain Bogdanov realized that he had to take the packages and thanked the guests from France for being considerate to the young musicians."

"Since that evening Valera Khalilov had regularly sung songs for the campers of the Morskaya druzhina by the bonfire accompanying himself on the guitar. At rare leisure hours in Artek, he practised and practised on the guitar and learned new songs. Who knows, maybe in the future the enthusiasm of youth for playing the guitar allowed the famous composer and band conductor Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov to compose several beautiful lyric love songs?"

GRADUATION EXAMS

"Nobody noticed that the academic year came to an end. The time had come for final exams. Just as Captain Bogdanov thought, only nine out of twenty-five cadets planned to study at the Military Band Conductors' Department at the Moscow State Conservatory. Of course, school authorities insisted on the enrollment of the whole class for the department, but Leonid Petrovich understood perfectly well that all of his graduates differ both in character and career aspirations. There are those who are convinced that they should continue their studies and become military band conductors, like their fathers or brothers. But to force to go to serve in the army those who wouldn't do that is a bad idea."

In any case, Lt. Col. Bogdanov held a theory that everyone has their own destiny. They should fight for it and not drift about. Leonid Petrovich took a stand that "it would be better if the best cadets from the class come to the department not by force but on the conviction and then honestly serve our Motherland!" As a result, Volodya Lebusov, Valery Khalilov, Andrey Vukolov, Viktor Bobkov, Dima Atovmyan, Volodya Osherov, Yura Smirnov, Sergey Kozhemyakin, and Gennady Domrachev were on the list of those who expressed the willingness to continue education at the military band conductors' department.

Under the programme for the state examination of students on the musical instrument of choice, Valery Khalilov performed two long-form pieces of different character. Valery gave a luminous performance of the Weber's First Clarinet Concerto, but Professor, Colonel Boris Alexandrovich Dikov, Chairman of the State Examination Board, had questions as to the "Romance" by Y. Medyn, namely, the expanded cadence.

"In the cadence of the "Romance" you've made the same mistake twice by using the B natural instead of the B flat of the one-line octave!" Colonel Dikov spoke to Khalilov.

"Excuse me, Comrade Colonel! But as you might have notised, I played this technical passage with septimoles, octuplets, and other compound meters and rhythmic patterns at a moderately fast tempo," Khalilov told Colonel Dikov.

"May I tell you, young man, that, like you, I'm a clarinettist! And quite well-known in the music world! And I know this romance of the Latvian composer Medyn very well! Let us slowly play this cadence from music to identify your mistakes not to repeat them again. I think the members of the Board won't mind?" Colonels Myakishev and Volkov nodded in agreement.

Boris Alexandrovich really proved to have been right. Valera and his instructor failed to see that at the very beginning of the cadence there was that unlucky B flat in the fast technical passage! And its effect was extended to the entire line of the cadence, and not just to the first bar.

But Valera Khalilov's answers to the theoretical questions were smooth and fluent, so that despite playing wrong the cadence he passed the examination with the highest mark."

FURTHER STUDY AT THE MILITARY BAND CONDUCTORS' DEPARTMENT

"Well, comrades cadets! Major Migaluk from the Chair of Conducting is your new instructor. You can consider yourself dashed lucky!" Lt. Col. Novikov was talking to the cadets lined up in formation. "First, it's your chance to get the musical knowledge you came to the military band conductors' department for. What is a military band, after all? It is a military unit that can inspire the entire regiment to heroism. In fact, a division! I am a tankman myself. My tank regiment was not supposed to have a band of its own. But I participated in military parades and always envied military band conductors who gave orders to the band under their command using this - what is it called?"

"Tambourstock," said someone helpfully in the formation.

"Exactly! Tambourstock! Major Migaluk is tasked to form a band at our department and prepare it for the military parade on Red Square in a month. And second, the more time for rehearsing, the less time for wearisome quick marches and various cross-country races. Instead, you will study your orchestral parts with love and zeal. At last, I'll have some rest from you! And I'm pretty cheesed off with these quick marches," Lt. Col. Novikov made a characteristic gesture, striking his hand on the neck, "or am I saying something wrong?"

"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel! That's right!" Lt. Col. Novikov was assured, just as helpfully, but with a laugh.

"And now meet your new bandleader Major Migaluk!"

A young major in good shape looked at the new students and made a speech, a short but fiery speech "that as military band conductors they were charged with a very important mission. And to accomplish this mission they are to work their way up from military musician to military band conductor".

"Today we'll have our first rehearsal of the entire orchestra, during which you'll learn the basics of ensemble playing. We'll practice joint exercises, and then each of you will copy his orchestral part from the full score," Major Migaluk instructed the student musicians."

"After four weeks, the new band directed by Avreliy Georgievich Migaluk performed military music with a fresh, lively spirit. Although the band was staffed with first-year students who were graduates of the Moscow Military Music School, former students of civilian musical colleges, servicemen from military bands, and even re-engaged men, good team-work was evidently achieved. A shared sense of purpose motivated the young musicians to show the management of the military band conductors' department a very professional level of playing."

***

"The military oath-taking ceremony is a big and important event in the life of every student of the military band conductors' department. And for Valera Khalilov and other first-year students it was no exception. The cadets had learned their military oath in advance as part of their course on military regulations in the Soviet Army directed by of Lt. Col. Novikov."

"I, a citizen of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, joining the Armed Forces, swear and solemnly pledge myself to be an honest, brave, disciplined, and vigilant soldier, to strictly keep the state military secret, to comply with all Army Regulations and orders of commanding officers and superiors..."

"I swear to conscientiously study military arts, to protect army and national property in every way, and to be devoted to my people, my Soviet Motherland and the Soviet Government to the very last," Cadet Valery Khalilov was speaking clearly firmly holding the forearm of the machine gun with his left arm.

And although the text of the military oath was before his eyes in the red folder, which he held in his right hand, none of those taking the military oath that day looked at it. First, everyone knew it by heart! And second, too solemn and significant were the words in the oath!

"If I break the solemn oath, let me suffer the harsh punishment of Soviet law, the general hatred and contempt of the Soviet people," said Cadet Khalilov the last sentence of the solemn oath and signed his name in the register, where Major Petrosyan, Head of the course, showed him.

After marching past in front of the management of the military band conductors' department and the guests who took the military oath, the relatives and friends welcomed the students with joy and congratulation. Klavdia Vasilievna with children and Grigory Lazarevich with his wife Nina also attended the oath-taking ceremony. Valera and Volodya approached them in full dress, holding tightly the gun sling in the "sling arm" position.

"Valera! Are your submachine guns real or training replicas?" Sasha Khalilov, dressed in uniform of the Suvorov Military School, quietly asked his brother.

"Have no doubts, Sanya, they are real! But they are unloaded," Valera Khalilov assured him, returning his submachine gun to the "High Port Arms" position. "You've got to learn about these things, Sanya. You may hold the submachine gun while no one sees us!"

The camera of Grigory Lazarevich was used to take pictures as a memento of the day. After the ceremony all first-year students were granted their first leave.

"Sonny, I am very happy for you!" Valera's mother said for the umpteenth time holding her son by the hand.

Klavdia Vasilyevna baked the most delicious celebration cakes and a bottle of Soviet sparkling wine was uncorked for celebrating the special occasion of military oath-taking.

"Probably our dad is also happy for you looking down from above! You are not only the bearer of the family name now; you follow in the footsteps of your father!"

"Where from above?" Valera did not understand his mother.

"Well, from above means from heaven! Do you understand now?" Klavdia Vasilyevna tried to explain her son.

...Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov was baptized at four. Later on, he would tell how a parson came into the courtyard of the village house, bent over and lowered Valera into the basin of water standing directly on the grass, and while he was straightening up, Valera grabbed his beard so tightly that he himself began to rise from the basin of water, holding on to it. He later thought it was a good sign..."

***

"Captain 1^st Rank Georgy Petrovich Alyavdin, the former Head of the Exemplary Band of the USSR Navy, was a member of the Entrance Examination Board. He was appointed to the post of senior lecturer of the Division of Conducting of the Military Band Conductors' Department at the Moscow State Conservatory by the Order of the USSR Ministry of Defence in 1970. Like the other members of the Board, he was looking for the applicants who he would like to attend his classes in the future.

At that time, the common practice was among teachers of large experience and eminent professional standing at the Military Band Conductors' Department to identify applicants at the entrance exams who they'd like to attend their classes. And then in the process of learning, from year to year, a particular environment was created for the students to encourage a kind of their exclusiveness — common professional interests and skills in the teacher-student musical orbit. There were several well-known classes at the military band conductors' department: the class of Berlinsky, Kazanov, Chakmishyan, Alyavdin, and others. All these teachers had rich professional experience working with leading military bands in our country, some of them were professors of the division of conducting; each of them had professional secrets, by which it was possible to determine from whose class the student was. For example, practicing a conductor's gesture in front of a mirror or in the evening in front of the window, a student copied gestures of his teacher, his facial expressions, and plastic hands. Thus, it was possible to guess almost without error who was his teacher in conducting.

Valera Khalilov and Gennady Luzhetsky were Captain Alyavdin's choice. The teacher was impressed with Gennady Luzhetsky's musical qualities - his sense of rhythm, perfect ear for music, tall stature, and excellent drill practice. Valera Khalilov's desire to learn the secrets of the profession of an army band conductor, as well as his modesty appealed to Captain Alyavdin. He never boasted of his knowledge in an effort to show his superiority over his colleagues. Valera Khalilov tried his best to go to his comrades' aid, to help out with harmony or solfeggio assignments, or to assist his friends in practicing conducting exercises. And Valera did it not for people to see what a nice person he was, but in a quiet manner and without hesitation responded to requests for help. At the same time, he never encouraged homework cheaters, but instead offered his help in doing, for example, a harmony assignment.

Once in Alyavdin's class in conducting, Gennady Luzhetsky and Valery Khalilov always tried to get ready for classes, since their pedagogue was able to understand at once whether his student was ready or not. Captain Alyavdin called his students exclusively by their name and patronymic, which was second nature to him since his service in the Exemplary Band of the USSR Navy. The naval traditions in that band were held sacred. For example, regardless of whether you were a young beardless lieutenant or a grey-haired captain 1^st rank, only a formal form of address was used by name and patronymic! In class, Georgy Petrovich Alyavdin was always very polite, considerate, and reserved. He commented in an understandable manner, often allegorically, which allowed him to convey to his student all the nuances and shades of a piece of music.

"Valery Mikhailovich! In this place, I would advise you to refine upon your conducting pattern. It's "The Morning"! Imagine high mountains against the background of the sea, and the huge sun just coming up over these mountains! Have you ever seen the sunrise at sea?"

"Yes, Georgy Petrovich! I've seen it in Crimea, when we were in Artek!" Valera Khalilov said.

"Of course, the dawn in Crimea is somewhat different from the dawn in Norway, where both Henrik Ibsen, author of the famous drama "Peer Gynt", and Edward Grieg, who afterwards wrote the musical suite of the same name based on this plot, were born. But the sun coming over the mountains in both cases! The singing birds awakened by the early-morning sunlight! What a beauty!" The teacher continued. "No hurry here. Your conducting gesture should be very smooth. And be sure to pay attention to the position change: at the very beginning, the conductor's hands are in the first position, and then gradually, a climax is reached: the sun has finally risen above the horizon, warming you with its first rays! Hence the delight in your heart! The range of your gesture is getting wider, and the hands are already in the third position, mind that. Look how it should be!" Georgy Petrovich came up to the conductor's desk and showed Valera Khalilov how to achieve a growing crescendo when conducting.

***

"Valera Khalilov's summer vacation was coming to an end. By tradition, he spent it with his family in the village of Novinki. Together with his brother Sasha, who was also on summer vacation, they sunbathed and swam in the Sheredar River. Just like they used to do when little boys, they were up at first light and went together fishing or mushrooming and berry-picking in the woods. However, they not only enjoyed themselves and summoned up energy before the beginning of the academic year. After the death of their father, the burden of men's work was on their shoulders. First of all, they stocked up and split firewood, kept the grass cut."

"Their sister Lyudmila joined them for summer. By that time, she was a student of the Moscow Institute of Chemical Engineering. She was married to her former classmate.

Every summer, she and her husband Nikolai would come to the village. On summer quiet evenings, they all would take their places round the table under the birch in the yard and unhurriedly drink tea with jam, discussing the latest news."

"Sitting on the veranda in the evening with her large family, Klavdia was happy looking at her grown up children. "My good girl! And her husband Nikolai! Friends from schooldays, they are both chemical engineering students now! It's a sheer joy to watch them sitting at the table now, just hand and glove!" In addition, Lyudmila shared a secret with her mum about her two-month pregnancy! It means that the family name will continue further. Her sons also pleased her: well-built, handsome, helping each other in every way.

***

"After graduating from music school, Valera Khalilov and other former cadets were anxious to meet with Major Devdaryani, their former officer-tutor, who was transferred from school to the position of the Director of the Institute band. But things did not come round as their favourite officer-tutor expected when they parted. In the past two years, Major Devdaryani's health had become worse. The news about Major Devdaryani being medically discharged upset his former cadets..."

"At the same time, in their third year of institute the former cadets of the Military Music School were happy to learn that Major Bogdanov from their school was coming to the Department of Military Band Instruments. Leonid Petrovich missed his former cadets, so he was glad to teach the clarinettist Viktor Bobkov until he graduated from the educational institution. The professional level attained by Major Bogdanov was so high that he was immediately appointed to the teaching position. At first, Valera Khalilov also wanted to become a student of his former officer-tutor, but then he would have to leave one of the leading clarinet teachers in our country Professor Avangard Alekseevich Fedotov. He made the right choice in his life and stayed with his eminent teacher, who shared with Valera his vast knowledge and passion about the clarinet.

A participant in the famous Victory Parade on Red Square in 1945, Professor Fedotov was not only an excellent professional clarinettist who was the author of the "Wind Instrument Teaching Methods", but also a wonderful person. Often cadets came to him for advice on one or another life situation or to share their secrets with him. He would listen patiently to the cadet, and after analysing the information, he would give some solid advice. The main thing was that any cadet could be fully confident that that was a secret between himself and the teacher."

"During the first and second years, instrumentation studies were in groups, and only starting with the third year did they become one-to-one. At that time, a young senior lieutenant who had just completed an adjuncture, Leonty Fedorovich Dunaev, was appointed to the teaching position at the Department of Instrumentation and Score Reading. Despite his young age, he was already an excellent teacher, who had experience of military service in the Exemplary Band of the USSR Ministry of Defence."

"In the third year, each student was to arrange a piece of classical music for a group of instruments under the guidance of a music teacher. When Leonty Fedorovich learned that Valera Khalilov liked Tchaikovsky's music very much, he suggested his student musician Tchaikovsky's piano piece "Passionate Confession", which was rarely performed. The very name of the play already indicated its lyrical love and dramatic character, and before orchestrating it, Dunaev advised his student to find its record in the phono hall of the Military Band Conductors' Department, as well as to read different books about the life and work of the composer."

"It was at the lessons of his teacher, future professor of the Instrumentation and Score Reading Department, Doctor of Fine Art Studies Dunaev, that Valery Khalilov developed his first composition skills. Later on, Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov repeatedly turned to the work of Tchaikovsky, and his and his teacher's choice for the final state exam on instrumentation was the little-heard 3^rd part of Tchaikovsky's Third Symphony."

THAT VERY MUCH LOVED GAGRA!

"… Klavdia Vasilyevna lived in Gagra for several years at some point in her life. The town, like all resort towns, is very hospitable and an ideal place for a holiday for a lot of people in summer. The town goes silent in autumn, and 3/4 of the year there are not many residents left in the town. The streets are deserted. A random person in the street is welcome, and the local residents know each other. That was how two future close friends met: Klavdia Vasilievna and Irina Anatolyevna, who had two daughters, Olya and Natasha.

Their great-grandfather, Vladimir Apollonovich Grigorenko, was a scientist, a forestry specialist, who graduated from the Forestry Academy in St. Petersburg. At one time he was the manager of the Bialowieza Forest, and Emperor Nicholas II came there with his little son, Tsarevich Alexei for royal hunting. After the revolution and all the upheavals, Vladimir Apollonovich with his daughter Olga, son-in-law Anatoly Viktorovich and little granddaughter Irina eventually decided to move to Abkhazia. Vladimir Apollonovich, at his own expense, became engaged in planting trees and shrubs in Gagra, where they settled. For several years the family rented a room in the house (it is no longer here), located nearby the stadium of today, and in 1935 the family bought 120 hectares of land in Baratashvili Street (now it is Kabardinskaya Street). Irina's father, Anatoly Viktorovich, built a house there with a huge veranda overlooking the sea.

Irina married Vladlen Grigoryevich Novikov. They were in the same year at Moscow Institute of Transport Engineers (now RUT - Russian University of Transport). After graduating from the institute, young people worked at different construction sites, where they were assigned to. However, Irina returned to Gagra to give birth to her first child. Natasha grew up in this town. The younger sister Olga was born in Bucharest. But every year the sisters went for summer vacation to their grandparents, who loved them very much and coddled them. The girls were simply the apple of their eye. But time passed by... Great-grandfather passed away, then grandmother. Grandfather was paralyzed, and Natasha and Olya's parents had to find work at the Bzyb house-building plant to be close by to their grandfather. By that time the sisters had already been students in Kiev.

Irina Anatolyevna was very glad to keep company with Klavdia Vasilyevna. They began talking regularly. When summer came, Klavdia told Irina that her two sons were coming on vacation. And Irina told her that her daughters were also coming for vacation. For young people to have some fun it was decided to get them acquainted. In addition to two sisters there were two other girls: Natasha's classmate Nadia Koshel and second cousin Lena Grigorash from Moscow. And then one day the girls learned that a new friend of their mother, Klavdia Vasilyevna, with her brother Viktor, his wife Valentina, and two young people were coming to them in the evening. The girls, of course, were delighted. They helped mum prepare supper and set the table ... But it was agreed that the girls would stay with the guests for about an hour if the company of adults were not very interesting, and then they would ask the young people to go to the cinema with them. Tickets for a two-part film were bought in advance both for the girls and the young people...

And so they waited for the guests. Nobody had come by the appointed time. Half an hour had passed - nobody was there ... 45 minutes ... They waited until the last moment. There was nobody. Exactly an hour later, without waiting for the guests any longer, the four girls went to the cinema. According to Natasha, they ran to be in time for the film. And when they returned, mum told them that their guests were very interesting people. When Valery saw the piano, he immediately came up to it and began to play. He just asked which song to play and played by ear. And if he didn't know a song, he asked to sing a tune… and furnished the accompaniment at once.

Later on Natasha recalled: "When I was a little girl, my grandma would play the piano for hours, and she was my first music teacher. My sister also played the piano and finished music school. She composed music and poems. Once at school, she wrote an essay in verse. Parents praised her very much, told their friends about her. She composed just wonderful songs, and in the evening, when we had time, we would sing these songs all together. And this unforgettable atmosphere of joy, creativity, youth, and love prevailed in our family. I also used to go to the music school; I really liked solfeggio, wrote dictations on-the-fly, and studied very well. But I had no patience for practicing passages for hours or difficult bars, and in the fifth grade I quit, although I continued to play old romantic songs for myself from music..."

What a disappointment was it for the girls that they failed to meet with the young people! And the situation was embarrassing for their mother because of them. Though she liked Valera very much, she thought it was not proper to invite this family again.

At that time there was the most watched TV show "13 chairs" Pub". The visitors entered the pub through the bamboo curtains which produced a very melodic, pleasant, and unique sound. The girls decided to make such curtains for their home. All they needed to do was to cut the bamboo into pieces, thread them onto the fishing line, and attach to the horizontal plate at the top of the door. Nobody could even remember who got that idea first. Most likely, it was Olya. Being a very creative person, Olya in her young student days used to play in a pop-group and participate in the Club of the Cheerful and Sharp-Witted show. And so, a decision was taken to go to Pitsunda, where there were thickets of wild bamboo. An old leather suitcase with triangular corners was ready. It contained a saw and garden clippers. The plan was to go in the evening, when suddenly ... Natasha decided to call Valera.

"Without giving it much thought, I and Nadya Koshel dialled Valery's home number. We were laughing and having fun. Nadya and I took turns saying Valery 3 to 4 words laughing. The purpose of calling him was to find out whether he was or was not easily scared and whether he wished to join us and go to Pitsunda to cut bamboo with us. And to our common joy, Valery said at once that he would go with us and we agreed to meet next day at the train station to take a bus to Pitsunda. So, four of us were standing with a suitcase under an umbrella near the bus as it was raining softly. We were standing in a circle, laughing and looking at the people around and making a guess as to who was our Valera. And here he was, our hero, and said: "Do you need a bamboo cabinet?" We got into the bus laughing. And we were laughing all the way. Valera very naturally integrated into our company. He was making jokes all the time. He told us interesting stories and was courteous. He offered his arm to each of us. He was so handsome, brisk, and strong! He gave us no chance for using our saw and garden clippers, and did everything himself. And he also carried a heavy suitcase. What a wonderful trip it was! Later on, after the holidays, we would visit each other. Lena in Moscow, and we with Nadya in Kiev had those bamboo curtains, which reminded us of that summer adventure. I fell in love at first sight. In the attic of our house, our grandfather, while he was well, used to dry bay leaves, and there was also a skin of a huge bear. There were numerous sets of newspapers and magazines for many, many years: "Ogonek" (Dot of Light), "Neva", "Youth", "Izvestiya", "Pravda", and Abkhazian newspapers. It was a fortune. In the evening, the smell of bay leaves was stronger and I, lying on my back, looked into the bottomless night sky, which one could see only in Gagra. Myriads of stars looked so mysterious! And every night I saw shooting stars, and I made a wish. And in a year, after our wedding, Valera and I spent the night in this attic. Mum was upset: "What a shame! What might the neighbours say? No place for the newlyweds in the house! They are sleeping in the attic!" Valera got interested in those newspapers that were in the attic. He read them. The most interesting newspapers he took home and they are still here. But this is a fast-paced world. The house, attic, piano, they are now all gone. Only memories of ineffable joy and happiness are left in our heart!"

Every day the girls and Valera after they met at the train station went to the sea, to the mountains, and to the Zhoekvarsky gorge. They spent evenings in the park in Old Gagra, which was set up by the Prince of Oldenburg. Valera took turns playing the piano with Olya. The young people swam, threw pebbles into the water, and sunbathed. There were two waterfalls in the Zhoekvarsky gorge, and Valera stood under the icy water. He said that after completing practical work he, a military student, was appointed a senior operator of an armoured personnel carrier with regular soldiers. Their task was to drive across the river bottom. And so, when that armoured personnel carrier drove into the water at full speed, it turned out that the driver did not roll down the front window, and water poured into the vehicle. The driver tried to quickly move to the hatch in order to save his life, but Valera, seeing that, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, forced him to take his place and ordered: "Full throttle!" A stream of water continued to fill the car, but, fortunately, the river was not very wide, and they quickly got to the other side of the river having swallowed not too much water. Also, during summer practical work they slept in tent. One night there was a thunderstorm. A cadet was sitting with his back against the tree behind the tent when lightning hit the tree. The guy died…

Natasha's family was not military. And for her, these stories were from another world entirely.

She remembered with all the details every day of that extraordinary summer: "On the day of departure, my sister and I saw Valera and Sasha off to Moscow, and when I got home I went up to the attic and cried all night. In the morning, feeling utterly shattered with a swollen face and tears running down the cheeks, I went down to breakfast. Sitting at the table with the other members of the family, I realized that it was inappropriate to cry, and only did I gather strength to pretend that nothing had happened, my very dear, beloved, and paralyzed grandpa Tolechka, looked at me keenly and said: "Natulechka, are you in love?" It was too much to bear. I was unable to hide the tears that suddenly started to my eyes.... It was 1973. Our correspondence started."

On the public holiday, which was November 7, Natasha and her sister went to Moscow. They stayed with the grandmother of Tamara Vasilyevna, a graduate of the Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens, and the grandfather of Grigory Grigoryevich Novikov. They visited Valera at home, went to the cinema, museums...

And when Natasha came again for the New Year festivities, Valera invited her to the dance at the Moscow Military Music School, where his brother Sasha was a student. There was an ensemble at school, which played at dance parties thrown at school.

And at that moment she heard the announcement: The song "My Sweet Natasha!" is to be performed for the first time! Music and lyrics are by Valery Khalilov." The lights in the room were dimmed. Valera, who just gave the last instructions to Sasha and his friends, came up to Natasha and asked her for a dance, and she could hear the singer singing:

Dear Natasha, you favour everyone with light
And everything around you is flowering like in summer,
I want to come closer to you
To have a sunbeam in my heart too..."

***

"… At the meeting of the credentials committee, before graduating from the Military Band Conductors' Department, military student Khalilov asked to be sent to serve in the Kiev Military District. Of course, one of the most prominent graduates, Valera had succeeded both in study and in discipline. A student of the famous teacher, Captain Georgy Petrovich Alyavdin, he was rightfully considered one of the most promising military band conductors. In addition, the management of the Military Band Conductors' Department and, most importantly, the Head of the Military Band Service section, Colonel Khakhanyan, recognized military student Khalilov as one of the best in marching and rifle drill among his peers."

"So as not to speak without proof, I'll give you a qualification profile of Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov, a graduating student of the Military Band Conductors' Department, from his service record:

"The military student is disciplined, diligent, and modest. He acquired the necessary military, musical, and conducting skills in training and educating subordinates, in organizing classes with band musicians, and in managing amateur art activities of the unit. He was active in public matters related to the course and the department; performed in a light music orchestra; was a member of the primary Komsomol organization of the course and the deputy secretary of the Komsomol organization of the department. His activities in the military research group proved very fruitful. He's well-balanced by nature, proved to be a tactful and polite student. He commands a lot of respect. He is very well prepared in marching and rifle drill. He is strong-willed; has a leadership potential. Physically fit, healthy. Practical work in the capacity of a military band conductor was excellent. His professional activities related to training and education of the band musicians were competent and methodically correct. He is fond of the profession of a military band conductor.

Opinion: recommended for the military rank of "lieutenant" and assignment to the post of a military band conductor. Head of the course Major Yagupov."

"Valera, what are you talking about? Think carefully! Your wife is expecting! She is about to give birth!" Major Yagupov was trying to motivate him to change his mind.

"Well, Comrade Major, she's from Kiev. There we have a place to live! Her relatives, if anything happens, will help us," Valery Khalilov insisted on his assignment to the first duty station."

"It turned out that it was impossible to go to Kiev, and Valery was offered to serve in Germany. On learning that, Natasha was set against going there. At that moment she just couldn't imagine how to give birth to a child being away from her homeland, from her parents. It was 1975. Valera agreed with his wife.

And the following day he received an offer. A very good one! "Army College of Radio Electronics in the town of Pushkin in the Leningrad Military District!" Major Yagupov looked searchingly into Valery's face. "Not every graduate of the military band conductors' department is offered such a position! All at once: the rank of a lieutenant and a military band of the college!"

"Natasha was delighted. There was no need to go abroad. She remembered that when Valera proposed to her, he asked: "And if they send me to the ends of the world, will you come with me?" She answered without hesitation: "Yes!"

And now she was very glad that this "end of the world" turned out to be not Germany, but Tsarskoye Selo."

THE FIRST DUTY STATION OF THE MILITARY BAND CONDUCTOR

"It so happened historically that Tsarskoye Selo, later renamed the town of Pushkin, was a unique place where Russian emperors once lived. Here are the famous historical places: Catherine and Alexander palaces with large parks and many other places of interest.

By that time, there were three army colleges in Pushkin that had their own military bands: army colleges of Naval Engineering, Construction, and Air Defence Electronics. The first two were called Leningrad army colleges and the latter had its original name, that is, the Pushkin Army College of Air Defence Electronics, what its officers and cadets were very proud of. So that's where Lieutenant Khalilov was assigned to serve.

The band was temporarily led by Bandmaster, Warrant Officer Tsygankov. Valentin Pavlovich Tsygankov was well over fifty, and he seemed to have finished his service in the army, but the Head of the Army College of Air Defence Electronics, Lieutenant General Gromadin could not bring himself to pension him off, each time extending his term of service. But how could it be otherwise if both were war veterans: Lieutenant General Gromadin went through the war from Smolensk to Berlin, being in command of various air defence units and field batteries; Bandmaster Tsygankov participated in the hostilities at the Kalinin Front near Leningrad, during the hardest time for the Leningrad residents during the siege winter of 1941. The mere fact that the Warrant Officer of the band, having gone through the war, was awarded nine military medals, the Order of the Red Star and two orders of Glory of the II and III degrees, spoke volumes. At the very beginning of the war, he had to put aside his musical instrument baritone and take a machine gun to defend our homeland from the Nazi invaders. Being physically fit and having hand-to-hand combat skills, Warrant Officer Tsygankov several times pierced through the enemy's lines to capture a prisoner who would talk. Looking at his commander, it would have never occurred to his scouts that in civilian life he was an ordinary musician of a regimental band playing a beautiful musical instrument - baritone.

The band, having been without a conductor for two years, in theory was supposed to be at a low ebb. However, Warrant Officer Tsygankov as the acting band conductor could not let it happen. First of all, every six months the bandmaster visited recruiting stations in search of musicians for the band. "Who knows how to play wind musical instruments or has a musical education?" Warrant Officer Tsygankov would ask before the unit formation of conscripts. Those who wished were many because young people believed that service in the band was paradise in comparison with other military units. They thought they'd better call themselves a musician and would serve in the band. Then it would be too late to send such "musicians" anywhere else! And it was at this point that the bandmaster's life experience counted: he specially would bring brass instruments to the recruiting stations. He put them on the table next to the unit formation of conscripts and covered them with an army ground sheet.

"Then play, young man, any of these musical instruments," the bandmaster asked a person calling himself a musician, pushing back the edge of the ground sheet.

"When a boy, I used to play... I played the guitar," under the laughter of all those present, the young man answered embarrassed realizing that the bandmaster had already found out that he couldn't play.

For a long time, the bandmaster was a frequent visitor of army barracks where he looked for military musicians playing brass instruments. And, most importantly, he succeeded!"

"Being himself brought up by the military band before the war, when he for the first time took a baritone in his hands, Valentin Pavlovich Tsygankov, like no one else, knew how important it was to have musicians in his band, capable of eventually replacing conscripts leaving military service. That's why, by the time the young band conductor Lieutenant Khalilov arrived, there had been as many as 12 students in the military band constituting a third of the band according to the staffing specifications.

The best military musicians from the Northern capital were not eager to get an assignment to Pushkin and Pavlovsk because of the long distances from Leningrad, or rather a long trip by suburban train to the duty station. In Leningrad at that time there were as many as 25 highly professional military bands of military academies, schools, institutes, naval and land-based military units. Also, four bands of the Ministry of Internal Affairs internal troops were stationed in the city. But Bandmaster Warrant Officer Tsygankov was all over himself to help the one who expressed willingness to serve in the band with military-provided accommodation knocking on the doors of executives of the army college. And if the issue was not resolved, then he went directly to Lieutenant General Gromadin, proving the need to provide a new-come musician with military-provided accommodation. That's why their band, unlike the band of the nearby quartered Higher Military-Political Naval School, which was led by 3rd-rank captain Ivan Pavlovich Torbin, was fully staffed with military musicians. Those were excellent musicians."

"When Lieutenant Khalilov accepted the position, the military band of the Pushkin Army College of Air Defence Electronics played at a professional level. In addition, it was apparent that the college management treated Lieutenant Khalilov, the bandmaster, and the band musicians with respect. The band played an important role in life of the army college. It was involved in all activities from getting-up time to lights-out.

The Head of the Army College, Lieutenant General Gromadin, had immediately noticed his new subordinate, when he saw him at formation. Well-built, slender, and athletic in perfectly tailored military uniform, Lieutenant Khalilov stood in front of the band, waiting for the command of the Deputy Head to meet the Head of the Army College. The energetic up-beat followed almost without a pause by the beginning of the powerful "Triumphal March of Military Schools" by S. Tchernetsky.

"Well done, lieutenant!" The general thought to himself. "A good start! And I really love this march! How did he know about this? Bandmaster Tsygankov must have told him about it."

"... the army college has assumed a formation! The Head of the Political Department of the college, Colonel Bobenko!" The deputy's report interrupted his thoughts.

By tradition, the young conductor Lieutenant Khalilov was introduced to all ranks of the army college. And then, after various kinds of announcements, command was given: "For the march past, by courses! The first course forward march! The rest, right flank, march!" The energetic turn of the unit formation in two counts showed the excellent marching drill of the army college students.

"Forward, march!" Colonel Bobenko commanded, and the formation came into motion. The band began to play the little-known military march composed by Diev "Safeguarding Peace", the score of which brought Lieutenant Khalilov. The melodious march was just printed at the publishing house "Music", but was already in the repertoire of the Moscow garrison combined military band.

"I wonder what the band is playing now." The Head of the Army College thought to himself, looking at the units passing by. Drill training of the new conductor is first-rate! A clear-cut marching step with perfect arm movement! Proudly raised chin! Later I should ask the composer's name of the interesting march they're playing now."

Early on in Valery Khalilov's career of the military band conductor the Khalilov family had to cope with difficulties of army life. To think that during seven years of his service at the Pushkin Army College, the family had to change their residence 11 times! They used to live in rented apartments and work-associated hostel accommodation. Like his father, Valery Mikhailovich could ask the college authorities to do something for the military band, but not for himself or his family, unlike other officers of the army college, because of his innate intelligence.

When Vladimir Vasilievich Moskvichev, a military band conductor and a colleague of Valery Khalilov, learned that the family of Lieutenant Khalilov had no place to move to, without hesitation, he offered them to stay for a start in his service flat. Cadets' mutual readiness to help instilled from childhood up, allowed Valery Mikhailovich and his pregnant wife at first to stay in a room in the shared three-room flat, where two more officers' families lived. Volodya Moskvichev persuaded the mistress of one of the three rooms to let Valery's family stay while she was visiting her daughter in Siberia for a couple of months.

The Khalilovs had to rent accommodation for five years. Valery Mikhailovich was offered a flat in Leningrad, Kolpin, and Kupchin. Once he was offered a flat on Vasilievsky Island, but if he had agreed to one of these options, he would not have been able to see his wife at all. All days long Valery Mikhailovich was at work. His day off was Thursday, but on that day there was an officers' meeting at the army college, which he was supposed to attend, and on weekends the military band had performances in the parks. Of course, after the parades on May 9 and November 7, the military band had a day off, but Valery hurried to the recruiting station to look for musicians to staff the band with. After their wedding, Valera and Natasha appreciated every minute spent together. No sooner had they got a certificate entitling them to a flat on Khazov Street in Pushkin, than a request came for Valery Khalilov's personal file to transfer him to Moscow to the Military Band Conductors' Department. While waiting for the transfer, the family did not even furnish the flat. In their temporary housing there was only a kitchen furniture set, a double bed, and a baby crib.

Garrison rehearsals for the upcoming regular military parade on Palace Square of Leningrad began in mid-September. It was here that the ceremonial squad under the command of the Director of the Military Band Service, Colonel D.I. Pertsev (Dmitry Illarionov Pertsev (1913-1996) – a military band conductor, a teacher, and a composer. In 1940, he graduated from the Army College of Band Leaders of the Red Army. He headed one of the military bands in Stalingrad until 1941. From 1956 to 1977, he was Director of the Military Band Service, Art Director of the HQ Band of the Leninigrad Military District. He composed several well-known marches: "Drill March", "On Guard of Motherland", "Oncoming March", "Jubilee March", and the march "Leningrad") had its final drills before the parade. Dmitry Illarionovich had a reputation of a demanding director who showed no mercy to anyone. He didn't play favourites, and he hated those who fawned over him because of his competence. In his work, he praised military band conductors, first of all, for their professionalism, and not for being an eager beaver. It was quite natural that the first meeting of Lieutenant Khalilov with the Head of the Military Band Service of the Leningrad Military District during the rehearsal, where each band was supposed to present its marching band programme for the military parade, was very important for him.

And on the appointed day military bands of the Leningrad garrison began to arrive to the parade ground of the Kirov stadium to line up in front of the Kirov monument by ten in the morning. Band conductors reported to Colonel Pertsev on the arrival of their bands."

Colonel Pertsev and his assistants, military band conductors from Leningrad: Captain 3^rd Rank Torbin of the Higher Naval School of Military Engineering and Major Pavlov of the Artillery Military Academy "believed that they had much better professional training because they were graduates of the Leningrad Conservatory, unlike their colleagues who "got their education in Moscow." The eternal rivalry of two conservatories of the two great cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg, which had been going on for more than a hundred years since their opening, also made its effects shown. In that context, it was tough for young military band conductors-graduates of the Military Band Conductors' Department at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory presenting their marching band programmes for the military parade.

For the bands of Lieutenants Khalilov and Ushchapovsky it was their first performance before such an authoritative jury as opposed to the military band under the direction of Lieutenant Moskvichev from the Military Construction Army College, which was auditioned by the commission headed by Colonel Pertsev last year.

At the same time, Lieutenant Ushchapovsky had recently headed the military band as the army college was relocated from the city of Gorky (now Nizhny Novgorod) with all of the incentive problems that such relocation entailed. As opposed to his former fellow-student, Lieutenant Khalilov had a head start of two months to get ready for his first audition, which meant that he was to be the first to perform at the ceremonial review.

From the first chords of the "Oncoming March" composed by Pertsev, which at that time was a must in the marching band programme of the Leningrad Military District, the military band conductors who were on the parade ground realized that the new band conductor had succeeded in achieving reasonable tonal purity of the band in just two months, even though he was young and lacked relevant experience.

The military band conductors were impressed not only by the marching drill of Lieutenant Khalilov's military band, but also by the self-control of his musicians, among who there were, according to the presented personnel roster, as many as 12 students of the military band. Looking at the young faces of these guys, the military band conductors saw no traces of even minor fatigue typical of re-engaged elderly musicians in the other military bands. On the contrary, when performing the marching band programme for the ceremonial march past of the Leningrad garrison forces, which included more than fifteen military marches, the sound of the band under the direction of Lieutenant Khalilov was only getting better. From an outsider's viewpoint it looked as if the musicians of the band were not tired at all, and the conductor's hardworking spirit encouraged them to keep going.

Upon the completion of the marching band programme performed by the last military band of the Leningrad garrison, the military band conductors formed into a square in front of the Head of the Military Band Service, Colonel Pertsev. As a man of business, who valued the time of his subordinates, Dmitry Illarionovich started with giving a rebuke to those military band conductors whose musicians were lax in discipline and marching drill, and played out of tune.

"Captain 3rd Rank Torbin! Once again you show me here on the parade ground a poor result of your work!" Colonel Pertsev was scolding his subordinate. "For some reason, military musicians in your band of the Naval Political College are on the decrease!"

"Comrade Colonel! But you understand perfectly well: who wants to waste time travelling every morning to the duty location and back home? This is not Leningrad!" Ivan Pavlovich Torbin began to justify himself.

I don't know who, but in Pushkin you have a competitor in the person of a young, but very, as I see, promising officer!" Colonel Pertsev continued. "Did you see how many musicians he has in ranks? And, mind you, all categories of military personnel are represented, including students! As many as twelve students!" Colonel Pertsev raised his index finger up and took a long theatrical pause. "And where are your and Major Pavlov's students? Where is this category of military personnel? I'm asking you! Vladimir Nikolaevich, don't keep silent! Give arguments why some of us have more than a dozen students in the military band of the college and some don't!

But the officers, realizing that their performance, to put it mildly, was so-so, preferred to remain silent, with their heads down.

"Today, comrade officers, your performance could hardly be called luminous! I speak responsibly!" said the commanding officer with the stern expression which softened a little when he began to speak about the best military bands of the Leningrad garrison. "Today I really liked the military band from Pushkin conducted by Lieutenant Khalilov! The band played in tune and musicians were really good in their performing of marching drills! And the appearance of the musicians! Everything is very good!" Colonel Pertsev removed his cap, took out a white, starched handkerchief, and wiped droplets of sweat from the back of the visor.

"Now another important issue concerning our marching band programmes." The Head of the Military Band Service put on his cap again. "Soon is the first round of the All-Union Contest of Military Bands dedicated to the sixtieth anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, and I urge each of you to try a music piece. Yes, yes! Do you think I became a composer at once and wrote marches, which are now successfully performed not only here, but also in Moscow, on Red Square? No! I just set a goal for myself: learn to write brass band music! And then all my life I worked in this field!" Colonel Pertsev looked at his subordinates without a word.

"Dmitry Illarionovich, but it takes a very particular talent to compose military band music," Lieutenant Colonel Bychkov, Head of the HQ military band of the Leningrad Military District, said, a note of resignation in his voice.

"No, Vladimir Nazarovich! Talent is certainly needed. But in addition there should be a desire to create not only for oneself, but also for counterparts. And at the same time something should be left to our descendants!"

Every year Colonel Pertsev tried to organize different contests of military bands of the Leningrad Military District. Those were contests of military bands, which were stationed in the Leningrad Military District, as well as contests of military bands representing different services – army and navy. To be as objective as possible in the assessment, contests were among military academy bands, which had the largest number of military musicians. Contests were among military school bands and separately among bands of military units, which were staffed with only 20 musicians as authorized on establishment. And at each of these contests, he strongly encouraged those military band conductors who tried on their own initiative to make instrumentation and arrangements for their bands. And he would hold up as an example those conductors who composed music for a brass band. One of them was the military band conductor Boris Ivanovich Anisimov, who following recent retirement headed the Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre orchestra, as well as taught at the N.K. Krupskaya Institute of Culture in Leningrad.

"Well, is there really no one to compose military marches after Boris Ivanovich Anisimov retired? I ask all of you." Colonel Pertsev again looked at his subordinates. "I do not ask you to write, like Boris Ivanovich Anisimov, fantasy overtures, suites or poems. Never mind them! But military marches! After all, they should dwell in your heart after so many years of service! The bottom line is this: at the following district contest, I and the authoritative panel will give preference to the original compositions and arrangements for your military bands. Do you hear? By the way, did any of you volunteered with a new instrumentation or an arrangement of a marching song for a military parade? We play the same over and over again!

"Comrade Colonel! Permission to speak!" Lieutenant Khalilov executed the hand salute.

"Granted!" Colonel Pertsev looked curiously at the young military band conductor, who gradually began to arouse his sympathy. .

"While preparing must-perform pieces of the marching band programme, our band learned one more march or rather Viktor Pleshak's marching song "Just Then." Remember, it has been recently performed by the vocal-instrumental ensemble "Gems" in the "Song of the Year" show?" Lieutenant Khalilov felt good that the prominent military band conductor paid closer attention to him. "It is also known as "The Crew is One Family." I arranged it for the military band."

"Well, comrades military band conductors! I hope you do not mind if we listen to the new marching song performed by the Pushkin Army College of Air Defence Electronics?" Colonel Pertsev asked. "Maybe this is what we need?"

As a result, the marching song "The Crew is One Family" to the music by Pleshak, a young graduate of the Leningrad Conservatory, in the instrumentation of Lieutenant Khalilov had become a part of the marching band programme of the Leningrad garrison combined band for long years to come."

FIRST COMPOSITIONS

By long-standing tradition, all military bands performed on weekends and holidays at historical sites in the suburbs of Leningrad. It is worth noting that the sites were assigned to the army college military bands to perform by mutual agreement of the military band conductors. Lieutenant Khalilov's military band performed in the city park of Pavlovsk, and Lieutenant Moskvichev's band in Pushkin. It was also agreed that when musicians of one military band went on vacation in summer, musicians of the other band performed at the sites of that band. And again, traditionally, every summer fancy-dress parades were thrown in Tsarskoye Selo fortnightly with actors, including military musicians of Khalilov's and Moskvichev's bands, outfitted in a Paul I era Russian army uniform. A fancy-dress performance took place in a large area in front of the palace, the scenario of which required involvement of the combined band of two military band conductors in such an unusual role. It was after participating in these fancy-dress events that Valery Khalilov got enthusiastic about looking more closely into the history of our state: the reign of Peter 1, Catherine 1, Elizaveta Petrovna, Catherine II, Alexander I.

But above all he was interested in the tragic fate of Emperor Paul, who reigned for a very short time and died a violent death. Khalilov became thoroughly engrossed not only in historical novels, but also history books published in the last century, as well as historical documents from the archives of the Pavlovsk Palace. Valery Mikhailovich understood clearly that the unflattering image of Paul I at the time of the Soviet Union was worse than the emperor actually was.

"Can you imagine, Natasha," he talked to his wife after reading an archival document. "Although Pavel I substantially reduced the staff of regimental military bands, he tried to set up the so-called "canton schools" for underage sons of conscripts to get musical education under the guidance of good teachers for future military service! In our history, Paul is portrayed as a tyrant and a cruel ruler of uneven temper, which is in fact devoid of truth! And the fact that he insisted on the equality of all citizens in Russia before the law speaks in his favour!"

While working in the archives, Khalilov found many materials related to the history of the military units, which were stationed in the area of the present-day location of the Army College of Air Defence Electronics. The results of his research showed that in the territory where he served as a military band conductor there was the Life-Guards 3rd His Majesty's Rifle Regiment. Having found the archival documents: regimental muster-rolls, officers' rosters, regimental orders, and most importantly, photographs, the senior lieutenant reported to the Head of the Political Department of the Army College, Colonel Bobenko.

"Dear Valery Mikhailovich! The fact that you have found such unique documents in the archives does you credit!" Colonel Bobenko said confidentially. "And the photos prove it. Yes, the regiment participated in the Russo-Japanese War. Yes, they fought in World War I in Galicia, in Poland. But what of it? It was the "czarist war" that brought common people the pain of loss, suffering, misery and grief. And the Russian army was then all different – the "czarist" army", the army of "zolotopogonniks" (a "zolotopogonnik" - contemptuous name of an officer of the czarist army)! It had nothing to do with our Armed Forces of today!

"Why, Gennady Ivanovich?" The military band conductor tried to object. "After all, this regiment suffered the greatest losses in the Battle of Mukden! (The Battle of Mukden on February 17 (or 19) – March 10 – the most ambitious, prolonged and bloody battle of the Russo-Japanese War. – ed. note.) Look how heroically the soldiers of the regiment fought in Galicia!"

"And nevertheless," Colonel Bobenko interrupted him, raising his voice a little, "hold off your research! And you better focus on another, more important issue! Last week I attended the meeting at the Military District Political Department and launched an initiative to compile a special collection of military songs composed by the students from the army colleges of air defence electronics of our country. And can you imagine? My initiative was supported! Yes, I almost forgot to say that I proposed you as an excellent professional in this field," Colonel Bobenko paused, "as well as a communist devoted to our cause, to be the principal compiler of the collection planned for publication. What do you think?"

Colonel Bobenko wiped drops of perspiration with a handkerchief, which all of a sudden came out on his forehead and continued: "Maybe you are working on some new marching songs for cadets? If so, then quickly finish them and give to me! There is no time to lose!"

By the way, later, when Gennady Ivanovich Bobenko retired, he began writing historical works. One day, when he was in Moscow, he visited the Khalilovs and gave them his book "General Miloradovich". He tried to memorialize this legendary and undeservedly forgotten Hero of Russia; he even addressed a request to the Moscow City Hall to build a monument to Miloradovich. All this spired Valery Mikhailovich to compose the march "General Miloradovich", which will be taken up in some detail later. Some of his other military marches were dedicated to the forgotten historical characters of the Russian state, who did much for our Fatherland. Much later, Khalilov dedicated the march "General Miloradovich" to his former Head of the Political Department of the Army College of Air Defence Electronics, who became his good friend despite the age difference…

Only two years after the beginning of his service as a military band conductor, the military band of Senior Lieutenant Khalilov was staffed with 35 people! There were even two excellent singers from Ukraine: Mikhail Denisenko (tenor) and Vasily Dron' (baritone). At that time, the band entered into an agreement with Pavlovsky Park, under which the band was to play for citizens and guests of the city three times a week - on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday. On Wednesday evening, there were always dances to live music, and on Saturday and Sunday in the afternoon there were open-air concerts of the military band. Many people came to the park to listen specifically to the band. Of course, the concert programme composed of so-called popular music: songs, marches, and waltzes, which always appealed to the audience.

In 1977, thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Migaluk, who in every possible way introduced "intergenerational continuity" into the teaching process, Yuri Sryvkov, Alyavdin's student in his fourth year and a former cadet, came to the Pushkin Army College to complete his first utilization tour.

As his contribution to expanding the concert programme of Khalilov's military band, the student musician brought an arrangement of David Tukhmanov's song "Victory Day", which was just beginning to gain popularity, as well as the song "From Heroes of Old Times" from the film "Officers".

The young-eyed trainee Yuri Sryvkov immediately noted the ability of Senior Leutenant Khalilov to competently manage his team. The band conductor never raised his voice when talking to his subordinates. He was extremely intelligent, polite, and had a great sense of humour, which helped him, for example, cool things down between the musicians of the band or calm the situation.

As soon as Khalilov would come to the conductor's desk he seemed suddenly transformed: at that moment for him there was nothing but the fairyland of brass music! It was especially evident when he worked on his own compositions. He put his heart and soul into his work, and that's why he treasured the creative output.

Sure enough, he followed Colonel Pertsev's example. Having extensive executive experience, Colonel Pertsev composed pieces of music for a brass band the whole of his adult life. His "Oncoming March", "On Guard of the Motherland", "Drill March", "Crosscountry March" have enriched the treasury of the marching band repertoire of our country. His composer creative activities encouraged Senior Leutenant V.M. Khalilov to write music.

Yuri Sryvkov was literally witnessing what came from Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov's pen. Colonel Bobenko seemed to sense a "spark of talent", as he used to call it, in his subordinate so he suggested that the young officer should compose several marching songs for the army college students on condition that Khalilov's military band provided the accompaniment.

It was hard to say "no" to Colonel Bobenko, especially when he was passionately saying that "the political education of future soldiers is inextricably linked to their musical education, which depends entirely upon the military band conductor in the unit." And so, in a very short period of time the young military band conductor wrote several interesting military songs about air defence military students: "We Are in the Air Defence Forces", "I Swear Allegiance to You, Motherland!", "At the Missile Site", "Cadets' Shoulder Boards". He couldn't help composing songs about exploits of Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War, such as "Obelisks", "Again the Sun is Setting Behind the Forest".

Of these, the song "We Are in the Air Defence Forces" was dearest of all to Senior Lieutenant Khalilov, the words of which were also his:

In the village were seven huts before the war,
In the village the sons of old women went off to war.
They all have gone. Not all are back. Not coming back too long.
Old backs are bowed, but they are waiting, waiting.
Nearby the village is a clearing with
Two mournful obelisks - the memory of those dark days.
Guns roared here, enemy tanks marched,
Partisans and soldiers lay down here fighting for their native land.

Having its own concert programme, the military band directed by Khalilov, again on Colonel Bobenko's advice, began performing in the city park jointly with a combined choir of military students and wives of army college officers. A little later, the choir had performances on November 7, February 23, and May 9, which were public holidays, with the accompaniment provided by the combined military band of Senior Lieutenants Khalilov and Moskvichev.

Those attending these concerts noted that a military band and a singer holding a microphone, which was usual practice among military bands, was one thing. And it made all the difference when a military band performed with a combined choir with as many as fifty or even more people."

"During one of the performances when the trainee Yuri Sryvkov was conducting, Senior Lieutenant Khalilov came to the "orchestra shell", where military musicians were sitting on the stage. He looked worried.

"We're in trouble, Yura!" He said briefly to Sryvkov during the break between numbers.

"Valera, what happened? Tell me!"

"Our general has come! There, you see, sitting in the fifth row on the left?" The conductor answered the student musician, nodding his head towards the spectators.

Out of uniform, dressed in ironed white trousers and a white shirt with short sleeves, in a hat, General Gromadin indeed was at the concert with his wife and daughter. And, like all spectators in the park, he and his family applauded the military band of the Army College he headed.

The next day, the military band conductor and the trainee were summoned to the general's office. After the report of Senior Lieutenant Khalilov, General Gromadin began to express his sincere outrage at not being aware of his military band performances in Pavlovsky Park!

"You intended hiding it from me, didn't you? Why didn't I know about the performances?" The general was indignant, and the conductors could not make up their minds whether that was good or bad for them, when the phone rang on the general's desk.

"Hello, Gromadin!" The general answered in a loud command voice.

Then, after listening to what the voice on the other end of the line was saying (and that was the Leningrad garrison commandant), the general answered:

"You come on Saturday to Pavlovsky Park and see what my military band is doing there! What funeral? Try to do what my band did! And look how many people come to the city park, by the way, on their day off, to listen to our military band! And we have three more bands in the garrison, so you'll find one you need! I finished!"

"Why did you, comrade senior lieutenant, hide from me that you are performing in Pavlovsky Park?" Asked the general in a calmer tone, having lowered the phone into the cradle.

"Comrade General, but you personally signed the agreement with Pavlovsky Park!" Khalilov answered.

"Valery Mikhailovich! Do you know how many service documents I sign in one day? How many orders for signing are delivered to me from the orderly room of the college and the administrative branch?" Gromadin was genuinely indignant. "But didn't it occur to you to invite me, my wife Lilia and daughter? Look how many people come to listen to you in the city park! And it's a very good indicator of the quality of your work, and therefore mine!"

"Sorry, Comrade General" Khalilov replied, embarrassed. "I thought you were very busy, and I didn't want to bother you. But I understand it all now and I'll let you know about our concerts in the park. We'll be very happy to see you with your family at all our events!" Valery Mikhailovich was sincerely pleased with the outcome of the conversation with the general.

Indeed, it was very important for the military band conductor to know that what he and his musicians were doing was treated with respect, and the army college authorities realize importance of military band music in the college. But it could not be otherwise!

Every day started with morning parade of military personnel on the parade ground and the obligatory march past at the end to the accompaniment of the military band followed by training sessions for the band musicians until lunch time. But even after lunch, the band performed music at various events. Thanks to Senior Lieutenant Khalilov and the bandmaster, Warrant Officer Tsygankov, the Army College entered into an agreement with different enterprises of Leningrad and the Leningrad Oblast (Region) to perform music at full-dress functions and ceremonial events. Often agreements were concluded with civilian agencies. For example, the military band of the Pushkin Army College of Air Defence Electronics annually performed music at the graduation ceremony at the Academy of Civil Aviation.

Although Valery Mikhailovich headed a subdivision, he was plain and democratic in his relations with Sryvkov, his first trainee. It would have been possible to treat the student musician as his subordinate, accommodate him, for example, in military band quarters or provide him with barracks accommodation. But instead Senior Lieutenant Khalilov put him up at his place while his wife Natasha and their daughter Olga were visiting her parents. Humanity and kindness were expressed in his confidence in the assistants. Appreciating the caring attitude of the military band conductor, Yuri Sryvkov, as a true cadet, could never fail his elder comrade, having gained even more respect for him. Two years later, something similar happened to another trainee, Alexander Khalilov, who came to the Pushkin Army College of Air Defence Electronics to complete his utilization tour. Thinking that his coming would hamper his brother in some way, Alexander refused the keys of Valery Mikhailovich's service flat offered to him by the bandmaster and preferred to sleep on the table in his office. And the next day, Senior Lieutenant Khalilov, when he got back, rebuked his subordinate for refusing the opportunity to sleep well while he was on a business trip to Leningrad.

"Sasha, try to understand! We are brothers! And that means a lot!" Valery Mikhailovich insisted.

"We are all from one "nest" called a "cadets' school". Don't you remember that? We should always help each other! In any situation! And you're my brother!"

"Well, I thought that you were away and your wife with the child in Kiev." Alexander tried to excuse himself. "And I'll be alone in someone else's flat. I feel somehow awkward about it."

"Get it all out of your head!" The elder brother said. "Just imagine that I'll come to your place. Won't you do the same for me? Or you'll leave me alone in a strange city, where I don't know anyone?"

That was Valery Khalilov! It's a good tradition of those who graduated from the Moscow Military Music School to help each other in various life situations and circumstances. Graduates were always ready to help if something bad happened to one of the cadets.

...When the utilization tour of Yuri Sryvkov was coming to an end, the wife and daughter of Valery Mikhailovich returned from Kiev, which made him absolutely happy.

"Yura, dear! How glad I am that you're staying with us!" Natalia said joyfully. "Do you mind if we go to the cinema today and you do babysitting?"

"Surely, Natasha, go! I'll stay with Olya, do not worry!" Yura Sryvkov was also glad to have an opportunity to help the Khalilov family. It was his first experience of babysitting just as in the Vladimir Grammatikov's comedy "Mustached Nanny". It was then that Yura Sryvkov had to urgently acquire skills in a completely different, non-musical field: Olechka Khalilova was only two years old. He had to tell her tales, feed her, and play with her."

"Once Volodya Moskvichev approached with an interesting proposition: a friend of his, director of a music school, is very keen on organizing "philharmonic concerts" for children at her school.

And the military band of the Pushkin Army College became a participant of a series of lectures for children. In one academic year, there were seven lecture-concerts for children of the Pushkin Music School No.406 - real season-ticket concerts: "Music Tale", "About Three Whales, and Much More," "Introduction to Musical Instruments", etc. Each concert-lecture was attended by more than 120 elementary school children, who enthusiastically received the stories and music performed by the brass band. At the same time, both the director of the music school, Yu. B. Vasilieva, and the teachers who took an active part in the concerts of the "school philharmonic society," made every effort to diversify as much as possible the concert programme and made use of slide films, poetry, prose, and even drawing. For example, before the concert-lecture "Introduction to Musical Instruments", many children drew their favourite musical wind and percussion instruments. And thanks to the director of the music school, the drawings were framed and exhibited in the lobby on the ground floor. It was here, in Children's Music School No.406, that Valery Khalilov acquired his first skills in working with children, with the school choir, which took an active part in several of his concerts and sang military-patriotic and children's songs.

The news brought by Colonel Bobenko was a great joy for Valery Mikhailovich: Khalilov's songs began to be performed in other army colleges of air defence. At the end of the seventies of the last century, a collection of songs performed in the air defence forces of our country called "A Song Helps to Live and Serve" was at last published by the KVIRTU PVO publishing house (Kiev Higher Engineering Radio-Technical College of Air Defence named after Marshal of Aviation A. I. Pokryshkin). The collection included songs to Khalilov's music: "Sixty", "We Are in Air Defence Forces", "Ballad of Twelve Roses", "Obelisks", "Farewell Waltz", "Again the Sun is Setting Behind the Forest", "At the Missile Site", " Cadets shoulder boards", " Soon we'll be lieutenants ", "I swear allegiance to you, Motherland!", "Maximum Alert". It also included several romantic songs by Valery Mikhailovich: "Catherine Park" dedicated to the Catherine Palace, and "I Still Dream of Hilly Pavlovsk", which was successfully performed at all concerts by Tatyana Sizova, Director of the Pushkin Cultural Centre and part-time singer of the brass band under direction of Senior Lieutenant Moskvichev. But most importantly, Khalilov's introductory article "Methodological Recommendations for Learning and Performing Songs at Air Defence Institutions" was published in this collection, in which he very competently, as a musician and a conductor, outlined the methodology and techniques for learning marching songs in military units. It was the first musical methodological work in our Armed Forces. And, of course, it brought honour, success, and fame to its author in all military units of air defence forces.

Here, it's just appropriate to quote from Senior Lieutenant Khalilov's evaluation report issued by the management of the Pushkin Army College of Air Defence Electronics and stored in his personal file of the Central Military Archive of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation in Podolsk:

"As a military band conductor, V. M. Khalilov proved to be an officer of energy and character performing his duties in good faith. He is militarily and professionally well trained. Enhances his professional knowledge and improves his skills on a regular basis. He has the necessary knowledge of the fundamentals of military pedagogy and psychology, skilfully applies them in training and education of his subordinates. He is capable of building relationships with people. He systematically enhances his political knowledge; prepares planning documents on physical and political training for the military band in a timely and efficient manner.

He looks fit and neat; knows military regulations well and is guided by them in his practical work. He is active in amateur art activities of the college. He responds to critical remarks and comments in a proper way; eliminates shortcomings in the work in a timely manner. He exhibits high moral qualities; honest and truthful.

CONCLUSION: is up to the job.
Head of the Pushkin Army College of Air Defence Electronics, Lieutenant General of Artillery V. Gromadin. September 18, 1978."

NEW HORIZONS - NEW PROSPECTS

"Well, comrades officers, I hope there is no need to introduce you to one another?" General Mikhailov asked the officers. "From this day on, Valery Mikhailovich, you are the third person by rank in the Inspectorate of the Military Band Service of our Armed Forces. And this has impact on you as a staff officer. First of all, Yuri Konstantinovich will fill you in as it is going to be very hard on him now. More than a year has passed after his assignment to the Military Band Service Division." General Mikhailov thought for a moment and then added quietly: "Unfortunately, the best go to heaven."

"Nikolai Mikhailovich, I thought this: we are drafting a new order for the Military Band Service," Colonel Pitirimov said. "Maybe I'll give Valery Mikhailovich papers, those that Colonel Gulyaev worked on? Let him take a fresh look at them, so to speak."

"I have several improving proposals concerning military bands in the country." Major Khalilov said.

"Well, if it is not too long, then we are ready to listen to you." The general studied the junior officer.

"First of all, comrade General, I have to say that for the most part all-army contests held in our country are dedicated to the round anniversaries of the Great October Socialist Revolution, that is, once every ten years!" Major Khalilov began to explain his ideas. "Complete control over the rest of the time is given to the directors of the military band service in military districts, who arrange contests at the military district level."

"Well, here you, Valery Mikhailovich, are not quite right!" Colonel Pitirimov interrupted him. "We had the All-Union Contest of Military Bands in 1983, and it was dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the October Revolution, and the next contest we do plan to hold on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution."

"But what if we were to hold contests of military bands not only to commemorate the anniversaries of the October Revolution, but also the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War? For example, in 1985 we'll celebrate the anniversary of the Victory. In addition, we can organize an all-Union contest for the best composition of military-patriotic music for military bands. After all, it's hardly a secret that such composers' contests have been held by the Moscow section of the Union of Soviet Composers over the past two decades only as part of the Moscow Autumn festival."

"Really, he is right, Nikolai Mikhailovich! Who composes for military bands? Only people from the Military Band Conductors' Department. And that's it. And those who do not serve or work in Moscow are deprived of this opportunity to participate in the contest of composers although each military district has its own composers. Take Leningrad, for instance. Boris Ivanovich Anisimov, Dmitry Illarionovich Pertsev! Although retired, they could have done a lot more for our military bands! Colonel Pitirimov followed up Major Khalilov's line of thought. "I believe, comrade General, we need to think the matter over. What is your opinion?"

"I suppose the idea is very good! Indeed, Yuri Konstantinovich, we have not had systematic contests of this kind for several years. So here our positions completely coincide. Do you have any other suggestions, Valery Mikhailovich?"

"Yes, comrade General! May I have your permission to continue? The Inspectorate of the Military Band Service was set up over seventy years ago. And brigade commander Semen Aleksandrovich Chernetsky, the inspector of the Red Army military bands, had as many as sixteen assistants!"

"And now? Two people in the entire Military Band Service. That is not enough! You need at least two or three more competent officers to help you, comrade General!"

"The question arises as to who would give us, or rather, return the positions that were reduced," Colonel Pitirimov interrupted him. "Do you think this issue was not examined by Nikolai Mikhailovich and the General Staff upper management?"

"Excuse me, may I continue?" Major Khalilov asked. "Now we are using the Order of the Minister, which was issued in 1963. And today is already 1985. Also, in our Armed Forces there has never been a contest for the best military band conductor. But it is there where we can see the creative potential of our officers and assess the personnel reserve in our service."

"Okay, enough discussions during working time!" Major General Mikhailov interrupted the officer. "Better go up to work! What you said, Valery Mikhailovich, makes sense! Think about the Regulations of the All-Army Contest dedicated to the Victory Day at your leisure. We can have the final in May, on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War."

"And it would do you no harm to think about the contest for the best piece of military-patriotic music composed specifically for a brass band, as well as the new Order of the Minister of Defence, on which Colonel Gulyaev worked and which requires improvement."

There were only two officers in the Inspectorate of the Military Band Service. Their tremendous amount of work involved the development of various service documents governing the activities of military bands, regular duty trips to visit units in different military districts, fleets, groups of forces located in Europe, as well as remote garrisons, where many military band musicians of those times did their military service. The geography of those inspections was wide: from Murmansk and Severomorsk to Vladivostok and Kamchatka. And whenever a telephone message was received, whether it was a military band service of a military district or a navy fleet, there were invariably two names of Colonel Pitirimov and Major Khalilov. During these frequent trips, Colonel Pitirimov was satisfied to note that his colleague was always discreet and polite; never assumed a severe and hush tone during inspections of military bands; was quick to go into the questions of concern to military band conductors and their military unit commanders.

If it turned out that a band conductor who got inspected was, to put it mildly, a poor musician and a weak leader, Major Khalilov himself used to come to the conductor's stand and in just one rehearsal it would become obvious to everyone that the band performed music in a new way, and it was not military band musicians' fault that they performed at such a low level. All they needed was a competent leader! When summing up, Major Khalilov would never scold military band conductors, especially in the presence of their musicians. Only in the presence of Colonel Pitirimov and the head of the Military Band Service of the district, he examined with tact in detail the band conductor's errors, telling him how to avoid them in the future. Often this kind of discussion allowed a poor conductor to understand what was expected of him in the future. But, most importantly, after such conversations, many were able to acquire self-confidence."

"Such trips provided an opportunity for Valery Mikhailovich to meet with his former cadets and fellow music students. These meetings were not frequent: there were those who he had not seen for five or even ten years since graduation. But, when meeting with him, those former cadets or fellow students never saw in him a superior officer. During inspections of military band activities he was, of course, officially addressed by a name and patronymic. But when invited to their homes, he was completely different: a kind and decent fellow whose company they really enjoyed. Despite his senior position, Major Khalilov didn't suffer from arrogance.

Most of all, Major Khalilov liked visiting Kiev and Leningrad. Kiev was indissolubly associated with his first utilization tour at the Kiev Suvorov Military School, as well as with his wife Natasha, while Leningrad with its historical suburb of Pushkin was his first station, where he learned a lot as a military conductor, musician, and composer.

Khalilov's first meeting with his former student fellow Nikolai Fedorovich Ushchapovsky, a military band conductor at the Leningrad Higher Military School of Communication Engineers named after Lensovet, after his transfer to the Military Band Conductors' Department took place in 1984. Major Ushchapovsky was particularly struck by Valery Mikhailovich's refusal to visit his family…until he'd bought flowers for his wife Lyuba! At that time in Leningrad it was very difficult to buy flowers in the evening!

"Kolya, do you really think that having not seen your Lyuba for several years, I'll come empty-handed?" He asked his friend.

That was Valery Khalilov, and his actions spoke for themselves.

"Is Lyubashka still a good cook?" Valera asked Nikolai after the efforts to find flowers brought results.

"Valera, that's too weak a word! I'll tell you in secret, I've already called her to tell that I won't come home without you tonight!" Nikolai was sincerely glad to see his former fellow student again. "So, I think your favourite apple-stuffed chicken will be done by the time we come!"

Sitting in Nikolai's flat in Pridorozhnaya Lane on the outskirts of Leningrad, Valera Khalilov enthusiastically told his host about their former fellow students he met with after graduation. At tea, the friends recalled the times of their youth, their teachers, and course directors. Natalya Khalilova and Lyuba Ushchapovskaya had been friends since the times their husbands were cadets."

"In the rare moments of being in each other's company, Nikolai Fedorovich could not help noting that Valery Khalilov, a man of senior position at the Military Band Service, would remain plain and open hearted. He was able to tell a funny joke, play the guitar or the piano, sing a song of his own composition, and genuinely laugh at someone's joke. In his company no one thought about hierarchy of military ranks or posts. The most valued was sincerity of personal relationships."

"On one of his trips to Kiev, Major Khalilov at last met with his childhood friend. At that time, it was allowed to reserve an official Volga only for Major General Mikhailov from the Inspectorate of Military Band Service. Other senior officers of lower rank, such as colonel or major, had to use public transportation. Therefore, Volodya Lebusov, without hesitation, offered his friend a lift in his car for Valery Khalilov to have enough time to get things done and have dinner at Volodya's place together with his wife Natalya since Valery was going back to Moscow in the evening.

Times had not changed them at all. They hugged one another and began to catch up with each other's news about former classmates, cadets, and fellow students; they discussed the latest news in the Military Band Service, and, of course, they spoke about their families. Volodya was sincerely happy for his friend when Valery told him about a flat in Moscow.

"You know, Volodya, I respect Colonel Migaluk for what he's done!" Valery told his friend. "I didn't ask to do it! Can you imagine it! He has a large family of his own! Declining a flat in my favour!"

"A great guy this Avrely Georgievich!" His friend agreed.

"Aren't you forgetting about the train?" Khalilov asked his friend with concern. The friends didn't want to part..."

* * *

"Colonel Mukhamedzhan from the Military Band Service Division, was appointed Bandmaster of the First Exemplary Military Band of the Ministry of Defence."

"The First Exemplary Military Band of the USSR Ministry of Defence was a pivotal music group of the Moscow garrison combined military band, which participated in the November parades and festive events and celebrations. In June 1985, the Moscow garrison combined military band performed at the Luzhniki stadium during the mega event - the XII World Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow. Just as in 1980 at the World Olympics-80, in early June the combined military band began to prepare a marching band show, in which more than seven hundred people were involved. However, already at the very first rehearsal in Luzhniki, when military bands of the Moscow garrison were lining up, General Mikhailov asked:

"I can't see student musicians from the Military Band Conductors' Department among participants. Where are they?"

"According to the curriculum, Comrade General, they are having band camp training in Alabino," Colonel Pitirimov answered.

"Tell Colonel Trubnikov: no band camps! Beginning tomorrow, they are all assigned to this parade ground! That's where they should be training!" General Mikhailov's educated eyes were quick to realize that without outside help the Moscow garrison bands won't solve the assigned task to provide music programme for the International Festival.

The last festival of youth and students was hosted in Moscow in 1957, and nobody knows when the next one is to take place. And now they must do their best! It's absolutely essential to have these students (about 140 first- and second-year music students), who can brilliantly make up the forms while marching. This Colonel Migaluk has done well indeed instructing the officers from the Military Band Service Division to design drill patterns of a short marching show for students of the division. Everyone was rather half-hearted about his idea, but it worked! Practising in making up the differing forms while marching will be quite all right for them. Able-bodied, young guys! Their position is in the centre of the field together with the musicians of the Exemplary Military Band to produce a very good visual effect! The next day, first- and second-year student musicians from the Military Band Service Division were lining up on the parade ground."

"Colonel Pitirimov and Major Khalilov from of the Inspectorate of the Military Band Service were also present at this event. Mass-band show designing was a new and interesting undertaking. Already at that time Major General Mikhailov had an idea that at the next All-Army Contest of military bands, which was scheduled for 1988, each military band in addition to its concert and marching band programmes was also to present a marching show with military drill elements. Being on a high platform, Major Khalilov tried to memorize marching bands' forms and movements drawing sketches in his notebook and listened carefully to the comments of the production director of the show."

"It is noteworthy that the successful performance of the Moscow garrison combined military band at the XII World Festival of Youth and Students helped the Inspectorate of the Military Band Service in the development of the Regulation on the All-Army Contest of Military Bands of the Soviet Army and the Navy, which incorporated an important point: "An essential condition for participation in the All-Army Contest of military bands is to perform a marching show of the military band."

"When Lieutenant Colonel Mukhamedzhan became the head of the Exemplary Military Band, its performances abroad resumed. After the XII World Festival of Youth and Students, the military band was invited on a tour of the Scandinavian countries."

"Major Khalilov was engaged in setting questions related to the planned tours of our military bands, such as the First Exemplary Military Band of the USSR Ministry of Defence, the Moscow Military District Headquarters Band, the USSR Navy Exemplary Orchestra, and others, at the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, the so-called "the third building of the Ministry of Defence of the USSR."

The Inspectorate of the Military Band Service consisted of two rooms on the seventh floor of this monumental building located on Frunze Embankment, which were well known practically to everyone who worked in the building at that time. The reason was a white piano in the office of Major General Mikhailov, which the senior management team gave to his predecessor General Nazarov. At lunchtime, if General Mikhailov was not in his office, Major Khalilov often sat down to the piano and played some classical pieces of Mozart, Grieg, Beethoven, Chopin, and Tchaikovsky. No matter what was played, officers of the General Staff would come and stand quiet in the corridor near the office door listening to beautiful music. One day, Colonel Pitirimov observing this, invited the officers standing in the corridor to come in, and the entire lunch break, the invited guests listened to the pianist Khalilov, without a thought of their lunch.

It needs hardly to be told that his reputation as maestro helped him in resolving many questions of the Inspectorate of the Military Band Service. There was an episode, when in an effort "to pump out" more wind instruments in the administrative headquarters, one of the generals, signing the papers necessary for receiving those instruments, addressed a strange request to Khalilov:

"Valery Mikhailovich, I often visit your office on Frunze Embankment on business. And my colleagues told me that you have classical music concerts on your seventh floor during the lunch break. May I come and visit you some time to hear you play?"

Of course, the maestro was glad to invite the general, a great lover of brass music, who was really pleased. And Valery Mikhailovich got a supply officer-in-charge as his friend, who was able to help the Inspectorate of Military Band Service a lot in getting new wind instruments for military bands."

BROTHERHOOD OF CADETS IS NOT AN EMPTY PHRASE

"On an early Sunday morning in early May 1986 (The disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred on April 26, 1986. - ed. note), a long-distance call rang in Volodya Lebusov's flat in Kiev. For a long time, long trills of the phone ring were heard in the flat awakening the members of his family. Being half-awake, Volodya finally picked up the phone.

"Are you sleeping?" Valera Khalilov, his childhood friend, asked.

"I was until you called." Lebusov sounded sleepy. "Something wrong?"

"Yes! I hope you know what happened there?"

"You mean this explosion in Chernobyl? So nothing terrible happened there. Fight fires put out the fire!"

"And radiation?"

"What kind of radiation? We're told nothing about it! On the contrary, military parade preparations are in full swing! Two days ago, the band along with the demonstrators walked along Khreshchatik carrying slogans "Peace! Work! May! " Volodya said with a yawn.

"You are just told not everything! In short, there are no train tickets at the station for the next month! One cannot leave by the train!" Khalilov reasoned into the phone. "I have a great favour to ask of you: my wife's sister lives in Kiev with her ten-year old son Zhenya. Write down their phone!" Valera gave him that number. "Can you send Zhenya off from Kiev to Moscow? My wife, Natalya, is losing her mind! I ask you as my friend!

"All right, Valera. Wait for the news! I'll call you!" Lebusov was using small words. He was determined to help his friend from the "cadets' school".

"And I was wondering, why the Head of the Political Department of the college told officers and warrant officers about oral instructions of the Kiev military district command according to which anyone observed at the railway station in military uniform would be discharged from military service within twenty four hours!" Volodya Lebusov thought. In civilian clothes, he tried to get to the Moskovsky railway station, but was stopped when approaching it by policemen, who blocked all public pathways to the station.

"Restricted area! Law enforcement officers only! Admission is also by train tickets!" A young police officer briefly explained Lebusov.

"Is there another way?" Lebusov asked hopefully.

"No!" The lieutenant answered shortly and ran to the side where several people tried to break through the crowd control barrier to get to the station.

... A car with passengers began to drive into Tula when it was stopped by a traffic police inspector. He checked the driver's papers and called on the radio a military firefighter, who took out some kind of device and brought it closer to the hood of the car. At the same time, the device began chirping violently indicating the intense radiation. "You are from Kiev, aren't you?" The firefighter asked Lebusov, who was in full dress. It was pointless to deny it, as the car had a Kiev license plate on it, and Major Lebusov nodded in reply.

"It's out of the question to go to Moscow!" The firefighter said shortly. "I have an order not to let cars with Kiev license plates enter Moscow if a Geiger counter indicates the radiation!"

"You saw it for yourself. The instrument reads off scale!"

"Listen, commander! Have you got any children?" Lebusov asked.

"Well, suppose I have," the firefighter replied calmly.

"Now imagine that you promised your children to show Red Square, the Mausoleum of Lenin," he nodded in the direction of children peacefully sleeping in the car. "I took time off from work for the May holidays, but then they wouldn't let us go! Near Moscow they turned the car back! Wouldn't you be offended?"

"The firefighter pondered a long time examining Lebusov's military uniform, and then asked:

"So you're the Honoured Artist of the Ukrainian SSR?"

"Yes, the garrison military band conductor from Kiev! Why?"

"No, it's nothing. I just played the trumpet in a music school as a child. I even wanted to become a musician," the fireman said setting his helmet straight. "It did not work out. I became a military firefighter. But I love brass music, especially the march of the composer Agapkin (Vasily Ivanovich Agapkin (1884-1964) - military band conductor and composer. The most famous is his march "Farewell of the Slav" (1912) - ed. note) "Farewell of the Slav". Well, we'll think of something! For me to state in my report that everything is within normal ranges, wake up your children and get them out of the car right away. We'll "clean" your "Zhiguli" on that far-off ground!"

And for fifteen minutes, a water jet from a fire engine hosed Lebusov's car off to reduce the radiation dose.

"Take your papers! I've arranged everything for you with traffic police guys. Best regards to Moscow!" The fireman said, offering a firm handshake.

"Thank you," answered Major Lebusov shortly, taking the driver's seat of his Zhiguli.

"There are nice people in the world! After all, he ran the risk to face the anger of his higher-ups and still he let us go! But he could have easily stopped us! And I didn't even ask his name," Major Lebusov thought reproachfully on the way to Moscow. "I'll call Valera Khalilova from my parents' house. Anyway, the children are still sleeping in the car, why should I wake them up early?"

And now he had a light heart knowing that he, as a cadet, kept his word given to his childhood friend. He brought his relatives to Moscow and helped them avoid troubles, despite all their road adventures..."

***

"Valerik, let's go outside to have a smoke," suggested Pitirimov, an older comrade of Khalilov.

Yuri Konstantinovich still treated Valery Mikhailovich like a son despite his promotion to the rank of lieutenant colonel in September 1987.

"You know an important paper from the General Staff came to our service to send three military band conductors of the Moscow Military District on a mission abroad, don't you? I'm talking about Afghanistan, you understand?" Colonel Pitirimov intentionally went down with Khalilov to the smoking room, which was in the courtyard of the General Staff building, although he had never smoked since he was a child."

"I called the Head of the Military Band Service of the Moscow Military District, Lt. Col. Ponomaryov. Do you know what he told me? Of the three military band conductors for service in Afghanistan, one must be from the Kantemirov division. Do you see what I'm driving at?"

"Yes, I do, Yuri Konstantinovich!" Valery Mikhailovich said dragging on a cigarette. "They want to send my brother Sanya there, don't they?"

"That's what I'm talking about, Valerik! We have to address this issue before it's too late." Over the years they served together, Colonel Pitirimov had become friends with his assistant and really wanted to help him. "You do know that Afghanistan is not all milk and honey!" A genuine war is going on there, which cannot care less whether you are an officer of the special forces unit, a commando or an ordinary base area conductor! And your Sasha is still young and eager! God forbid that he throws himself in front of a gun. We still have time to find some other candidates instead of your brother."

"No, Yuri Konstantinovich! Let's do it differently: First I'll talk to my brother tonight to find out what he thinks about it, and then we decide. And thank you very much for telling me in advance!" Col. Lt. Khalilov again took a drag on his cigarette, thinking about something of his own.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Valerik - quit smoking! Keep your health! One drop of nicotine, you know, kills a horse!" Colonel Pitirimov changed the subject as other officers from their department came to the smoking room...

The word "Afghanistan" first came into Alexander Khalilov's life back in 1983. To go or not to go to Afganistan. At that time he served in the Southern Group of Forces in Hungary. In March 1984, he applied for a volunteer assignment to Afghanistan but instead he was ordered to go to Kovrov. Soon the desire to be a volunteer burned out, and Alexander stayed in Kovrov. On May 19, 1987, he was on the drill ground when he was called for by the commander. In the regiment commander's office, Valery had a telephone conversation with his brother Alexander Khalilov.

"Sanjka, you should go. It's a worthy cause! Your conscience will be at ease."

"Very well, I agree."

In Afghanistan, Alexander served in the division, in which he became the leader of "Cascade", a popular at that time pop group. He served in Afghanistan from June 1987 to February 16, 1989, during which time he composed 14 songs: "Why don't we sing?", "Roads", "I fancy I'm at war again", "At all costs", "Afghan, Afghan", etc.

After Afghanistan, Alexander returned to Kovrov, where the Medal "For Military Merit" found him. And one of the most famous songs about the Afghan war was the song by Alexander Khalilov "We are leaving", which tells the truth about events that took place during that undeclared war.

More than thirty years have passed since then, but this song with lyrics by I. Morozov is still a signature song of "Cascade", which back in 1987 was under direction of Captain Alexander Khalilov..."

***

"The All-Union Contest of Military Bands dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, which closed with the open air concert featuring individual military bands, was a memorable event. It was the last All-Union competition of military bands in the USSR.

The finale of the contest took place in May 1988 on the Commonwealth Square of fifteen Union republics at the VDNKh (the All-Union Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy) in front of the large crowd of viewers."

"In 1988, Order No. 222 of June 10 was issued by the Minister of Defence of the USSR "On the Introduction of the Regulations on the Military Band Service of the USSR Ministry of Defence". It was the order that had been awaited for by military bands since 1963! The order numbered 73 pages and, unlike the previous one (which numbered three times fewer pages), had many new provisions. Duties of officials in the military band service were significantly expanded, while duties of a military band conductor and a bandmaster, as well as a senior instructor, a senior musician, and a musician of the military band were detailed. Colonel Pitirimov and Lieutenant Colonel Khalilov worked not only through this section, but also other sections of the Order concerning concert and awareness-raising work, methodological assistance to amateur talent groups, learning marching songs in military units, and training of buglers and drummers. A new section was added on musician pupils (youth of pre-conscription age enrolled in a military band) to regulate their service, living conditions, training, and education, as well as the system of rewards and punishments. But the most important thing was that Order No. 222 of June 10, 1988 introduced new staff sizes of military bands of 21, 26, 32, 37, and 55 musicians. From now on, all regimental military bands were to consist of at least twenty musicians. Also, a military band conductor was allowed to have as many as ten musician pupils in his band for them to have a military band career. Undoubtedly, the new Order of the Minister of Defence played a positive role in promoting the entire military band service in our country. And Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov had no small share in drafting it. He jointly with Colonel Pitirimov developed all of the provisions of the Order."

THE CHANGE OF LEADERSHIP… WHAT COMES NEXT?

"After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, no real progress was observed for a whole decade in fulfilling the potential of the Military Band Service of the USSR Ministry of Defence, which was created in the late 80s of the last century. Moreover, All-Army contests of military bands came to a halt for as long as 18 years. Underfunding of the army, low salaries of military band conductors and musicians led to the outflow of professional musicians into commercial structures, and the activity of military bands was more like an attempt to survive in the new market environment.

Just at that time Major General Mikhailov neared the end of his military service. And the general started to reflect on who could replace him. Colonel Pitirimov had also served out his term and was preparing to demobilise, and Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov, who had been promoted in rank by that time, assumed his responsibilities. Major Ivanov from the Moscow Military District Headquarters joined the Military Band Service.

"Nikolai Mikhailovich, who do you think will be able to lead our Military Band Service after you?" Pitirimov asked General Mikhailov one day.

"Yuri Konstantinovich, I have two candidates: either Colonel Khalilov or Colonel Mukhomedzhan. Both are worthy officers! Master military band conductors and honest people as well," the general answered. "I'd like to serve yet another year and then I can start teaching at the faculty. Do you think Migaluk will take me to his department of military band service?" Nikolai Mikhailovich laughed.

"He will. There is no getting away from that, Comrade General!" The colonel smiled sadly."

"Nikolai Mikhailovich! Let me speak to you. Colonel Viktor Vasilyevich Afanasyev is asking to be transferred from Germany to my department. The officer has already served under my command, and I'm quite content with him being an instructor at our department!" Colonel Migaluk told the general.

"We have no vacancies now! Nothing!! I can only assign him under the Moscow military district commander's control. Well, then he'll wait for a vacant position of military band conductor somewhere in the district."

"Yes, but he is a colonel, and you want to offer him a major position! He has an honorary title! And in a conversation with me, Viktor Vasilyevich made his intentions very clear. He looks forward to the position of an instructor at the faculty," Migaluk tried to get through to General Mikhailov.

"And may he keep looking forward," the general answered.

Colonel Migaluk turned around and left the general's office. "What a good thing I have served longer than needed and will soon be able to finally retire. Do I need all these underhand intrigues in my old age? I mean well for all! But General Mikhailov does not hear me! He is not hearing me at all! Or he willfully doesn't want to hear me? I have this feeling that something bad will happen soon."

His premonitions did not deceive Colonel Migaluk. One fine day Colonel Afanasyev arrived at the General Staff and presented the Order of the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation to the Head of the Personnel Directorate of the Armed Forces to appoint him the Head of the Military Band Service. At that time, Major General Mikhailov was on tour in America with his exemplary military band, and this piece of news, reported by his subordinate officers on the phone, came as a shock to him."

***

"Here the author will venture a brief digression from the narration, as well as a change in the style of narration. Since not so much time has passed since the events described now, and many participants and characters are still alive, the author will not be categorical in his assessments and judgments, but will try as objectively and correctly as possible to describe the events that took place in our Military Band Service at that time, while based on facts. I might much more easily have jumped to the events of 2002, when Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov was appointed the Head of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - what many authors of research papers in this field are doing now, passing some personalities, as well as historical events, over in "grim" silence. However, it is impossible to erase from memory the period when, at a turning point in the history of our great country, Lieutenant General Afanasyev headed the Military Band Service, since he managed to do much good for the Military Band Service during his nine years of competent direction. Well, one thing at a time..."

"Colonel Afanasyev was by nature an excellent administrator and organizer. When talking to his subordinates, he immediately grasped the main idea, and by the end of the conversation, the structure of a possible solution would be in place. For example, it was clear to everyone that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the repertoire of military bands would significantly change: songs about the Communist Party and Lenin had passed into history, and previously popular military music due to its ideological orientation had become not quite up to date. Instead, it was necessary to urgently create new pieces of military music. That was why after a long break, Colonel Afanasyev held a contest of new music for military bands in 1993 in order to enhance the role of military music in the aesthetic and patriotic education of army and navy personnel."

"Of course, all the technical work for holding this competition fell on the shoulders of Colonel Khalilov and Major Ivanov. They were the ones who drafted the Contest Regulations, which spelled out all the technical nuances that could make this competition as objective as possible. For example, the contest committee members were not supposed to know whose pieces of music would be performed by a military band and in what order. Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov was the only person who knew titles of marches or other pieces of music and their authors, which were assigned a special code. Of course, he could have included his works into the contest programme, but he firmly decided for himself not to take part in such contests and to make way for the young conductors and instructors from the Military Band Conductors' Department.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, it became necessary to urgently draft a new Order on Military Band Service, not of the Soviet Union, but of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation."

"Military parades on Red Square came to a halt for four years and resumed to be thrown in our country in 1995. Initially, however, Victory Day parades on May 9 were planned to take place near the memorial complex on Poklonnaya Gora after the completion of its construction scheduled for 1995. This was the year when not one, but two military parades took place under the direction of Afanasyev, who was promoted to the military rank of major general on the eve of the Victory Day anniversary, and Colonel Khalilov."

"Another important thing about the 1995 military parade was that after the march past segment of the parade, there was a marching show of the Moscow garrison massed military band. Major General Afanasyev managed to convince the top leadership of the Armed Forces of our country that such a step was necessary. First performance of Alexandra Pakhmutova's song "Bow Deeply to Those Great Years" by the Moscow garrison massed military band in front of the top public officials of our state and guests invited from all over the world was followed by the rollicking performance of the "Yablochko" Russian sailors' dance by the dance group of the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Moscow Military District, and the finale of Tchaikovsky's "1812" overture performed by the massed military band to the accompaniment of gunfire and church bells ringing ended that special event.

Of course, Colonel Khalilov was in charge of all the full dress training sessions with the Moscow Garrison massed military band and the preparation of the marching show. There was not a single day when he was absent from rehearsals. When conducting them, he demanded from military band conductors and musicians the high precision and quality in performance. Often Valery Mikhailovich would leave the conductor's stand to walk between rows and listen to the musicians playing, looking among them for those who did not know their parts well."

"In the years when Major General Afanasyev headed the Military Band Service, a project was launched to repair the Khamovniki Barracks as Major General Afanasyev realized the need to create up-to-date facilities and resources for the Exemplary Military Band of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, thanks to which the current generation of military band musicians have excellent orchestral studios equipped with the state-of-the-art acoustic equipment, dressing rooms, classrooms, a recording studio, a military band museum, and even a cafeteria. But the Exemplary Military Band of the Ministry of Defence at that time had to move to the clubhouse of the Military Band Conductors' Department in the Oktyabrskie Barracks located near the Begovaya metro station, and General Afanasyev temporarily occupied the office next to the office of the Head of the Military Band Conductors' Department, Colonel Moskalenko."

"Given that many cultural events in the city required as many military musicians as possible, General Afanasyev ensured that the combined military band of student musicians of the Military Band Conductors' Department was involved. At that time, fifty or more military students were enrolled in each course (together with foreign military students), therefore the combined military band consisting of 250 student musicians took part in almost all major cultural events, while gaining practical experience.

In 1997, the Victory Day celebrations preceded the celebration of the 850th anniversary of Moscow. Just as in 1995, under the direction of Major General Afanasyev and Colonel Khalilov, a new marching show programme was prepared for these festive events on Red Square.

It was from the late 90s of the twentieth century that the geography of foreign tours of Russian military bands began to expand. Military bands of student musicians of different courses of the Military Band Conductors' Department travelled abroad with their concert programmes to Belgium, Italy, France, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates. The Separate Exemplary Military Band of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation became a regular participant of the military music festival in Birmingham (Great Britain) and in Bremen

In 1999, for the first time the Swiss government invited cadets of the Moscow Military Music School to participate in the celebrations dedicated to the famous passage of Generalissimo Suvorov's troops across the Alps. The performance of the young musicians was so impressive that the next year they were again invited to participate in cultural events dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the death of the great Russian commander.

Since 1996, military music festivals have been held annually in the Leningrad Military District in St. Petersburg. They were timed to coincide with the City Day at the end of May. At first, when the Military Band Service of the Leningrad Military District was headed by Ushchapovsky, Khalilov's old schoolmate, only military bands of St. Petersburg and its suburbs competed. But then foreign groups from England, France, Germany, Finland, Sweden and Belgium, as well as from different regions of Russia, were asked to participate in the festival. The festival dedicated to the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg was particularly successful. Realizing that such international festivals require financial support from St. Petersburg enterprises, as well as the media, Lieutenant Colonel Ushchapovsky was one of the first to use foreign experience in encouraging potential sponsors and St. Petersburg branches of RTR, Melodiya, Argumenty i Fakty newspaper, and various charitable foundations.

There is no doubt that as Head of the Military Band Service from 1993 to 2002, General Afanasyev tried to do a lot for military bands. In addition to the above merits of this man, it is impossible not to mention the reorganization of the Military Band Conductors' Department at the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory to set up a military educational institution, that is, the Moscow Military Conservatory. The reorganization of 2001was aimed at raising the status of the military music educational institution and introducing new curricula for military students and foreign servicemen of the special department."

"Concerning the interpersonal relationships between Viktor Vasilyevich Afanasyev and Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov, we are forced to accept the fact that they were not "wonderful and rosy" as might be wished. But General Afanasyev showed appreciation of his deputy's merits and always spoke high about him."

"At the request of the Head of the Military Band Service, General Afanasyev, by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation, Colonel Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov was awarded the high and honorary title "Merited Artist of the Russian Federation" in late 1997."

CREATIVE PROJECTS AND ALLIES

"In the mid-1990s, Colonel Anikin, Deputy Head of the Department of Military Band Instruments, who taught part-time at the Gnessin's Children's School of Music in Fili, came up with an interesting idea to launch a project entitled "Army and Children" under which joint performances of the best military bands of the country with musically gifted children of Russia would be organized.

"Now we should find a worthy creative team for this project," Viktor Ivanovich Anikin thought.

Viktor Ivanovich talked to the Head of the Moscow Military District HQ Band, Lieutenant Colonel Kolotushkin, his former student, and Major Gerasimov, about this project. Surprisingly, he received full support, and soon, the military band performed for the first time together with students of children's schools of music in the concert hall of the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music under the Army and Children Project.

"Viktor, what do you think of my musical compositions being included into this concert programme?" Colonel Khalilov asked Colonel Anikin a month before the concert took place, as a former "senior cadet" who knew Anikin very well from the year they were together at the Moscow Military Music School.

"Valery Mikhailovich, I am sure the concert will only benefit from your participation!" Viktor Ivanovich answered feeling glad that he had got another loyal ally in his noble cause. "Not so many composers in our country these days write good music exclusively for military bands."

And the "Spring Overture" by Valery Khalilov was performed at the very beginning of the first concert under the "Army and Children" project, which took place on December 5, 1998, with the composer conducting.

The concert program also included the children's brass band from the Gnessin Children's School of Music under the direction of Merited Artist of the Russian Federation, former Head of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the USSR, Major General Mikhailov. The children's brass band of the Gnessin Children's School of Music was an escape for two military band conductors, Major General Mikhailov and the former head of the Exemplary Military Band of the Ministry of Defence Mukhomedzhan, in which they funnelled all their energies, putting their hearts and souls into this work.

Feeling the need for that kind of concerts, where both famous military bands of the Ministry of Defence and musically gifted children would participate, Colonel Anikin with two band conductors Lieutenant Colonel Kolotushkin and Major Gerasimov began to organize such concerts annually, dedicating them to some memorable dates."

"In his conversation with Vladimir Lebusov, his childhood friend, who left military service by that time and worked as deputy director at the Moscow City Children's Music School of Wind and Percussion Instruments named after V.M. Blazhevich, Valery Mikhailovich chanced to mention his participation in the "Army and Children" project:

"Imagine, Volodya! Working with the children's brass band and the massed children's choir of Moscow schools, I suddenly realized that children feel brass music much better and take it much closer to their hearts than we adults. They are overcome with emotion from my minor key music! Just imagine, I saw tears in many children's eyes during the performance."

"Valera, you know, it's never occurred to me that I would work in a children's school of music as an ordinary orchestra teacher. You understand, with our level of professional training high enough to work with a staff band and instead - a children's amateur group!" Lebusov said. "However, as soon as I took my place at the conductor's stand and looked at their faces, I realized after the very first rehearsal that you can work with them and, most importantly, create! The level of children's thinking is much more flexible than that of an adult musician; the child brain quickly grasps everything that you tell him about. You know, last year we even became laureates of the Moscow Competition for Children's Brass Bands taking the first place. By the way, our competitors were also quite strong children's brass bands. Can you imagine who were their main competitors? Children's brass bands of the Gnessin School and the Music School named after M. Tabakov. A former military band conductor who served in Germany and now works at the Tabakov School. You know him well. It's Anatoly Pautov!

"Volodya, I'm not surprised since I was just telling you about this remarkable children's brass band of the Gnessin School," Valery Khalilov answered.

"You know, Valera," Vladimir Grigorievich lit a cigarette and went up to the open window of his study. "In this connection, since we are talking about children's brass bands, I have a business proposal for you. Would you like to work as a conductor of the children's brass band of our school?"

"Volodya, are you serious? You must be joking." Valery Khalilov has never expected anything like that from his friend.

"And why not? I am now the deputy director of the music school for concert activity and it is greatly in my interests for the brass band, which under my leadership began to take prizes in various city and all-Russian competitions, to come into trustworthy hands, as they say. And then, according to plan, the brass band of our music school is to prepare for a trip to the Czech Republic, and this requires a lot of effort and financial resources! I believe you can settle the matter with General Afanasyev to work three times a week in the evenings.

"I think I can," Valery Mikhailovich agreed. "And what about you?"

"I'll help you but not much, because, you know, the day-to-day administrative work and paperwork take much time," Lebusov said and then added, a little embarrassed: "Why am I telling you about this! You yourself know what it is!"

Thus, as the result of Lebusov's successful initiative, for several years Valery Mikhailovich became the conductor of the brass band of the Moscow City Children's Music School named after V.M. Blazhevich.

It was not that the children accepted Valery Mikhailovich at once. They've got used to their conductor Vladimir Grigorievich Lebusov after working and performing under his direction for several years. They understood their conductor perfectly. And just then, a new conductor came! But the unwinking attention of the children at the first three rehearsals gradually changed to normal relationship with their new conductor. The children quickly realized that they were facing no less talented teacher than their previous conductor: cultured, calm, self-possessed, and even-tempered. When he came to the rehearsal, there was no need to calm down the children as everyone immediately fell silent. Like a smart mechanical-engineer, Khalilov instead of disassembling the entire mechanism at once would lubricate something, tighten something, and the mechanism began to work in a different way. In addition, the new conductor brought them a new repertoire. At that time, one of the first popular domestic TV series "Petersburg Secrets" was just released, and A. Petrov's music from this film, recognizable by many, immediately became a "highlight" at concert performances of the children's brass band which was directed by Khalilov. After all, none of the other children's orchestras in Moscow had the score!

Once, during a break between rehearsals, a group of senior students from the brass band approached Valery Mikhailovich.

"Valery Mikhailovich! They say you are a composer. A real composer? Then could you write a march for our music school so that it becomes our calling card?"

And literally a week later, Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov brought handwritten parts of a new march, which was called the March of the Blazhevich Moscow Children's Music School. The composer, already knowing the performance potential of the young musicians in the brass band, created in a very short time a melodic concert march posing no technical challenges and, most importantly, in the required children's range, which the children's brass band performed for many years. And the young musicians were sincerely proud of the fact that not a single children's music school in Moscow had its own march, and their school, in which they studied wind and percussion instruments, named after the outstanding wind instrumentalist V.M. Blazhevich, had its own march.

After a break in writing music due to a large amount of administrative work as the Deputy Head of the Military Band Service, it was at the children's music school that Valery Mikhailovich resumed his composing activity."

It was then that the wonderful lyric concert waltz "Lilac" and the march "Red Army Man Sukhov" were created.

"Once, being again in St. Petersburg at the celebration of the City Day, Colonel Khalilov met one of his colleagues. Boris Vasilyevich Grigoriev, who by that time had been promoted to the captain 1st rank, said that the idea of the Admiralty Music Festival of naval military bands, which was held for the third time in the city on the Neva, was his and his colleague Karabanov, military band conductor of the Admiralty military band.

"Valery Mikhailovich, I don't know if you'll understand us: we have our own festival of naval bands, but we don't have our own military march dedicated to the navy, which could become the hallmark of our festival," he complained to Colonel Khalilov. "Could you, as a member of the Composers' Union, help us, your colleagues, in writing a march, in which the naval ship signals are sure to be used?"

At the end of their pleasant talk with Grigoriev, President of the Club of Military Music Fans of St. Petersburg, Colonel Khalilov gave his word that he would honour the request. And by the time of the next Admiralty Music Festival he wrote the naval march "Rynda" (ship's bell) with the ship's signal "Hoist (haul down) the colours". Of course, at the premiere, Colonel Khalilov announced from the stage that the march was dedicated to Captain 1st Rank Boris Vasilyevich Grigoriev, which he was sincerely glad to hear.

During that period, Colonel Khalilov also wrote "Cadet", "Lefortovo March" and other wonderful marches. It was particularly remarkable that Colonel Savitsky, Deputy Head for Personnel Service of the Military Band Conductors' Department at the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory, was his former colleague at the Faculty of Military Band Service. Colonel Savitsky and Colonel Khalilov were former fellow students, so no wonder that Alexander Alexandrovich, possessing a true poetic gift, offered Valery Mikhailovich as a friend to write lyrics for his marches."

"As mentioned earlier, at the time Khalilov served at the Pushkin Higher Military School of Air Defence Electronics, he got interested in history, particularly the fate of the Russian emperors, many of who were buried in oblivion to suit the political situation of the Soviet period. Drawing inspiration for his creative work when already in Moscow, Valery Mikhailovich also invoked feats and heroes of the Russian Imperial Army. He had long been anxious to study in more detail the personality of the Governor-General of St. Petersburg, Count Mikhail Andreyevich Miloradovich, a participant in various campaigns of the Russian Army, in which he demonstrated excellent bravery and heroism. In the Battle of Borodino, the general commanded the right wing of the First Russian Army, showing fearlessness in battles, personally leading Russian soldiers to rebuff the French troops, who stubbornly stormed their fortifications. On December 14, 1825, Governor-General Miloradovich, alone and unarmed, in full dress, galloped up to the rebel troops on Senate Square in St. Petersburg to convince them to swear allegiance to the new Tsar Nicholas I. Who knows how history would have turned on that day, if the soldiers had listened to their commander, General Miloradovich, and sworn allegiance to the new emperor? Seeing that the situation was developing not in their favour: several regiments obeyed General Miloradovich and went down on their knees before him, repenting of what they had done, Kakhovsky, one of the leaders of the uprising, dressed in a fur sheepskin coat of a cabman, approached the general sitting on the horse from the back and at close range mortally wounded him with shots from two pistols.

"Can you imagine, Natasha? Even mortally wounded, General Miloradovich thought about the rebellious soldiers and asked not to punish them severely, his dying wish being to manumit all his serfs," Valery Mikhailovich shared his thoughts with his wife Natasha. "And for many decades we considered him a person practically responsible for the failure of the Decembrist uprising!"

The next piece of music was a new march, which was called "General Miloradovich". Without hesitation, Valery Mikhailovich dedicated his new composition to Colonel Gennady Ivanovich Bobenko, Head of the Political Department at the Pushkin Higher Military School of Air Defence Radio Electronics, to thank him for a world of good he had done for him. "And in this march I used a prayer for the first time, and I wrote the music for this prayer myself. There has never been anything like it. And if you listen carefully to the march, you can imagine the high life of St. Petersburg, a church service before the battle, and the return of Russian soldiers. All this with a chorus," recalled Valery Mikhailovich himself."

"Colonel Khalilov had an idea to arrange his 50th birthday concert with the Exemplary Military Band of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation however his immediate supervisor rejected this idea. As always, his faithful associates for several years now, Lieutenant Colonel A.A. Kolotushkin and Gerasimov by that time promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and a new position of the Head of the Military Band Service of the Moscow Military District helped Valery Mikhailovich perform the jubilee concert with the Moscow Military District Headquarters Band. They also arranged for him the concert hall of the Frunze Central House of the Russian Army, which that January evening in 2002 was filled to capacity with spectators who came to the jubilee concert of the hero of the day. It was at that event that all of the above military marches, as well as songs, romances, and instrumental works created by Colonel Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov, a member of the Union of Composers of Russia and Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation, over the past decade were performed."

HOUSE IN A SMALL HOMELAND IN NOVINKI

"In 1989, Valery Mikhailovich learned that plots of land were granted to the military for the construction of houses, which encouraged him to build a house for the family. And not just anywhere, but in the native village of Novinki! Both his relatives and just his neighbours helped him in building his house. There were only 12 houses in Novinki at that time. So, in the village all were considered relatives of each other: they celebrated all the holidays together and always helped each other in everything.

Neighbours of Valery Mikhailovich were his close friends from the cadets' school: A.S. Danilchenko, V.R. Khudoley, and V.N. Pavlov, a colleague from the Leningrad Military District. Volodya Lebusov also wanted to be a neighbour of his best friend but since he already had a plot of land next to his parents, he was not granted another one. The parents of Vladimir Grigorievich, Grigory Lazarevich and Nina Ivanovna, were of discreet age, and their son made the right decision to stay close to them. As for his friend, he often visited his large family on holidays.

From childhood, Valery Mikhailovich came to the village every year. Now he had the house of his own. His wife Natasha recalls one incidence: "Brickwork was found when digging the foundation pit. Concrete was poured for the foundation but on further inquiry in spring, it emerged that there was a chapel at this very place. Valery Mikhailovich's mother told us that a parson used to come to the village on high days to conduct the service in that chapel. Then the chapel was knocked down... And so we all together decided to put a sacred pole for praying in the village. No sooner said than done. It was in 1999. Viktor Romanovich Khudolei gave us a compass to get bearings. Then the prayer was said for the beginning of a good deed, and the work was in full swing! As many stones were placed from each homestead at the base of the sacred pole as there were people living in each house. All the neighbours worked together. We brought bricks, someone sand, someone cement, clay, and someone water. The cement grout was mixed. Valery Mikhailovich personally laid brickwork. We asked a professional bricklayer to build a stepped top only, for which he did not take a dime! A capsule with a name list of all the villagers was put into the pole. Everyone wanted to help in any way they could. Someone began to put benches around the pole while women planted flowers around. We went to the forest to find small mountain ash young plants and planted them around. Now they are big trees. We also asked the parson to bless our pole. Valery Mikhailovich cut out a cross from a thick board himself and put it on the pole. He overlaid the cross with gold and refreshed the paint on it every year. Icons were placed in the niche of the pole. Valery Mikhailovich mowed the grass around and repaired the benches during his stay in the village. These benches are still there. He also refreshed the paint on the stepped brick dome. And a few years ago we decided to restore our pole but eventually had to replace it with the new one putting the capsule with the names inside it.

It has to be said that when Gagarin's aircraft crashed (On March 27, 1968, Yuri Gagarin died tragically in the aircraft accident near the village of Novoselovo, Kirzhachsky District, Vladimir Region – ed. note.), road construction was in progress around the village. There were accidents every summer at the sharp bend in the road. Drivers failed to follow the road bend when driving at high speed and often fell into the ravine. We always kept in readiness first-aid kits to provide first aid to the injured people. And so, road accidents completely stopped after the blessing of our pole!"

LEADING ALL MILITARY BANDS

"Colonel Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov was appointed Head of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on October 25, 2002. By that time, Lieutenant-General Afanasyev had retired from the Armed Forces for length of service. Several candidates were considered for the post but, of course, Valery Mikhailovich was a standout among them. First, over the course of 20 years in the Military Band Service, he had gone through all the stages from an executing officer to the Deputy Head of the Military Band Service. Second, Colonel Khalilov was not involved in any corruption scandals, like some other military band conductors who were high on the executive ladder of the Military Band Service. Lastly, as the Deputy Head of the Military Band Service over the 9-year period, he showed himself an excellent conductor and a leader of the massed military bands at all military parades and other official government events.

Here again it would be worth citing terse lines from the performance evaluation report and the recommendation for a position of the Head of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, signed by his immediate supervisor:

"The officer administers and directs the heads of military band services of military districts and fleets. He is engaged in the development and implementation of military band service guidelines in the daily activities of military educational musical institutions and staff military bands. He is the head of the Commission on the development of new curricula for military educational musical institutions. On a regular basis, carries out inspections of military band services of military districts and fleets, as well as examines combat and speciality training programmes.

As the deputy commander of the Moscow Garrison massed bands, he is engaged in the preparation and conduct of military parades. Capable of transferring quickly and effectively his knowledge and expertise to young officers in military districts and fleets; takes part in the selection and assignment of military band service personnel. The officer is an honest man of principle; thoughtful of needs and expectations of his subordinates; Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation; member of the Union of Composers of Russia.

Based on personal observations of Colonel V.M. Khalilov in daily efforts it may be concluded that the officer is capable of taking the command of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

I apply for Colonel Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov's appointment to the post of Head of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Chief Military Band Conductor.

Director-General, Main Organization and Mobilization Directorate of the General Staff, Lieutenant General V. Smirnov."

Such a high opinion and enthusiastic support of his immediate superior is worth a lot!

V.M. Khalilov took over the Military Band Service at a difficult time of reforming in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In those years, the number of military bands of formations and military units and military band personnel was significantly reduced. Some military bands numbered no more than ten people. And in many military units, military service members could not remember at all what a concert with a performing military band was like! Often, only a group of drummers consisting of two or three members performed at ceremonial reviews in regiments. And, worst of all, it was becoming a habit, accepted as a norm!

It was Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov, who thanks to his professionalism and full performance of the task received, succeeded in convincing the leadership of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation that at that stage of reforming, military bands should number at least fifteen members in deployed military units (regiments), and at least twenty-two members in large garrisons, such as under the directorates of military districts and armies, who were capable of performing not only military marches and waltzes, but also classical music by both Russian and foreign authors. Thus he was able to return music to military garrisons and military communities."

"Military retrenchments of the early 2000s severely affected also the Main Military Educational Institution, which trained unique specialists, that is, military band conductors. On April 10, 2006, the Moscow Military Conservatory was reorganized into the Military Institute (of Military Band Conductors) of the Military University of the RF Ministry of Defence. As a structural subdivision of the Military University of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, the Institute of Military Band Conductors was moved from Oktyabrskiye Barracks near the Begovaya metro station to Khamovnicheskiye Barracks, its historical location.

The number of students at each course was reduced from more than seventy to less than twenty including foreign students, which resulted in cuts in teaching staff. Many military positions at the departments were cancelled forcing officers to retire from active duty earlier than necessary; many academic programmes were revised. In addition, the Ministry of Defence had a big sale of real estate properties, and as part of that sale, the students of the Institute of Military Band Conductors were supposed to be moved from Khamovnicheskiye Barracks to Lefortovo and permanent structures in Khamovniki to be sold to commercial structures and third-party organizations.

Khalilov had great difficulty in convincing top leadership of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation not to do that, since "quite a lot of state funds had been used for equipping classrooms for indoor rehearsals of military bands" in Khamovnicheskiye Barracks. Not to mention the master overhaul of the premises meant for the Central Military Band of the RF Ministry of Defence. If all that had been put up for sale, no one knows where the famous military band would have been based.

As the Head of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Khalilov, like his predecessor Afanasyev, began to put together his team whose sincere support he could always rely on in his work. The former Head of the Moscow Military District Headquarters Band, Lieutenant Colonel Kolotushkin and Major Durygin, who was transferred from the Zabaikalsky Military District, took over the famous military band. Lieutenant Colonel Gerasimov, Head of the Military Band Service of the Moscow Military District, was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Shevernyov to head up the Moscow Military Music School. Major Mayakin from the Moscow Military Conservatory joined the Military Band Service. And Colonel Trunov was transferred to head the Military Institute (of Military Band Conductors) of the Military University of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.

It is worth noting that with the new Head of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, a big band, a violin ensemble, a string quartet, a jazz ensemble, a brass quintet, and solo singers joined the Central Military Band of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation in addition to the brass band and symphony orchestra.

The repertoire of the Central Military Band of the RF Ministry of Defence was also significantly updated. In addition to traditionally performed instrumental music by Russian, Soviet, and foreign authors, concert programmes included songs, music for solo instrumentalists, jazz and folklore music by composers from all over the world.

The service as well as performance and educational activities of the Central Military Band of the RF Ministry of Defence were focused on military service members, their families, veterans of the Great Patriotic War, working people of the capital and other cities of Russia, where the military band went on tour. And the Chief Military Conductor Khalilov actively contributed to every performance, be it on the stage of the Great Hall of the Moscow State Conservatory, the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall, the Concert Hall of the Military Academy of the General Staff or a club of a military unit somewhere in the Far East of Russia or Kamchatka, accepting the hardships of army life together with his subordinates.

In the capacity of the Head of the National Military Band Service, Khalilov suggested to the RF Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov that the massed military bands perform the Anthem of the Russian Federation a capella (that is, without instrumental accompaniment) for the first time in the history of military parades on Red Square in Moscow. To his surprise, the Minister of Defence not only supported him, but also suggested that the Russian Anthem should be performed by the massed military bands and all servicemen of the Moscow Military Garrison in order to "add a special emotional intensity to the parade of the garrison troops."

Moreover, Khalilov appreciably changed the programme of slow and quick military marches performed at the parade to include for the first time slow marches by contemporary composers E. Aksyonov and D. Kadeev, as well as many new arrangements of war songs by Soviet composers. Also, for the first time, several marches of Khalilov himself were included in the list of quick marches: "Lefortovsky March", "General Miloradovich", and others. These innovations significantly enriched the repertoire of the Moscow Garrison massed military bands.

It's not that everything progressed smoothly without encountering any serious problems along the road towards further achievements. Now, from the standpoint of time, it should be noted that the participation of "the thousand-pipe combined military band" in military parades on Red Square, as they wrote back then, "exposed the flanks" of military band services of peripheral areas in the Belgorod, Oryol, Lipetsk, Tula, Vladimir, and other regions. And at the military parades on May 9 in these cities, military bands consisted of only forty to fifty people. After all, all the country's resources were committed to activities related to the Moscow military parade. And administrative staff didn't care what was happening in the provinces.

Nevertheless, it was Khalilov who suggested to Defence Minister Ivanov that bad practices of involving military bands from the areas peripheral to Moscow be abandoned, saying that they could do their own! After all, why throw dust in people's eyes with a mythical thousand-pipe band on Red Square, when one can carry out this military ritual numbering seven hundred to eight hundred people exhibiting not the number of those who play, but quality in performance. That was the thing about Valery Mikhailovich: he could possibly do himself a disservice by suggesting his superior a competent solution to the problem. But in that particular case, he was understood and supported. No more priority is given to quantity, that is, the number of military musicians participating in the main military parade of the country on Red Square. The key indicator in present-day activities of the Head of the Military Band Service of the country, Khalilov's successor, General Timofey Konstantinovich Mayakin, is precision and finish of the massed military bands playing and its professionalism!"

***

"The sad passing away of Major General Mikhailov, the former Head of the Military Band Service of the USSR Ministry of Defence, on October 22, 2006 as a result of being struck dead by a car, was a most unfortunate affair for all military band conductors, including Khalilov."

"In later years, Nikolai Mikhailovich worked at the Department of Band Conducting of the Gnessins Russian Academy of Music together with his conductor friends: V. G. Lebusov, N. P. Sergeev, and V. V. Chistyakov. After a while, he was awarded a degree of associate professor, as having excellent professional knowledge and work experience, and very shortly afterwards he began to teach as a professor of the department. Of course, Nikolai Mikhailovich's death was a great loss for all his colleagues at work, but life went on and it was necessary to somehow compensate for staff losses. Nikolai Mikhailovich tried to persuade Valery Mikhailovich to start teaching at the Gnessins Academy, but Khalilov thought it was impossible because of his busy schedule. However, after the death of his dear mentor, Valery Mikhailovich took what Mikhailov was telling him as his last will. In memory of Nikolai Mikhailovich Mikhailov, the country's Chief Military Conductor Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov applied for a vacant associate professorship at the Department of Band Conducting of the Gnessins Academy to work two hours a week on Thursdays after work.

And in December 2006, Valery Mikhailovich was promoted to the rank of major general.

Despite the pressure of his service, as well as intense concert and touring schedules, Khalilov did his best to find time for his students. Even if, for different reasons, it was impossible for him to come to the academy, his students often would come to his place to have lessons in his office and also to attend rehearsals of the Central Military Band of the RF Ministry of Defence, which were conducted by Khalilov. It was during those rehearsals that many of them absorbed the knowledge of conducting rehearsals, learned conducting techniques, and mastered all the ins and outs of the work with the orchestra. In 2014, Khalilov was appointed on a competitive basis to the position of professor at the Department of Band Conducting of the Gnessins Russian Academy of Music.

But before that, at the initiative of Khalilov, Head of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, on 12-14 June 2004, the Commonwealth of Armies International Military Band Festival was jointly held by the All-Russian Musical Society and the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.

Addressing the participants of the Festival, Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation Sergei Ivanov noted in his speech of welcome the social and political significance of the Festival aimed at bringing together military bands of the former Soviet republics. "There is no doubt that demonstrating their creative skills and performing excellence, military bands will continue performing their missions, such as contributing to the revival and promotion of military-patriotic music, fostering the development of trust and mutual understanding, and promoting spiritual unity and cultural enrichment of nations."

The Commonwealth of Armies Festival was held at the CSKA Athletics Football Complex and became a grandiose celebration of military music, which was attended by more than six thousand people."

"Yet already at that time Khalilov thought much broader, planning to hold a truly International Festival of Military Bands the following year with the participation not only of military bands from the former Soviet republics. "Of course, the Exemplary Presidential Band of Kazakhstan, headquarters bands from Ukraine and Belarus are of great interest," thought Khalilov. "But we can invite other bands, for example, from Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the USA to honour the Victory anniversary. Why not? They also took part in the terrible and merciless war of the twentieth century!"

Indeed, exactly one year later, in 2005, at the Moscow International Festival of Military Brass Bands "Ode to Peace", in addition to the best bands of the Russian Armed Forces, there were military bands of the anti-Hitler coalition of France, Great Britain and the United States: the band of the US ground forces in Europe, the Central Band of the RAF, the Central Band of the French Air Force, the Grenadier pipers, and the drummers of the Irish Guard of Great Britain.

Of course, that was already a different level of training for military bands. Foreign ensembles showed their abilities in mastery of musical instruments, as well as quality in performance and excellent technique of military band soloists. It was then that Khalilov had an idea to hold annual military music festivals of the European-level military bands on the main square of the country.

"Comrade Colonel General, how come in Scotland the Edinburgh Military Band Festival has been annually held in August from 1950 to the present day? In Sweden, military band festivals have been held since 1986 at the Globen Arena stadium in Stockholm, not once, but twice a year. In Berlin, military band festivals have been held since 1995, in Bremen since 1964. Well, in London, this kind of military music festivals have been held, I'm afraid to say, since 1880!" Valery Mikhailovich persuaded the top military officers from the General Staff of the Armed Forces. "We, or rather our country, is several decades behind many European powers in this matter, and it is worth considering how to hold the first international military bands festival of this level in Russia!"

"And where, Valery Mikhailovich, do you think to hold this large-scale event?" Colonel General Belousov, First Deputy Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation, asked with a wary look on his face.

"Alexander Vasilievich! I think that the best venue for this kind of international festival is Red Square!" Khalilov said with flat certainty. "First, this is the heart of our country! The entire world knows Red Square. Second, I guarantee that many of my military band conductor friends from abroad will agree to participate in the first international festival of military bands, if Red Square is a venue. And third, if this festival is a success, it will be possible to talk about holding it in Russia annually. And this will be a good alternative to European festivals of this kind!"

"But the Federal Security Service of the Kremlin is to go into this issue. Red Square is their domain," objected Colonel General Belousov. "There's a question whether Sergei Dmitrievich Khlebnikov will agree with your proposal."

"I think that the Moscow Kremlin's Commandant will be on our side!" Khalilov answered, without hesitation. "Surely General Khlebnikov must understand that Red Square is the heart of our capital and holding a military music festival of this kind in this place is the world-class event, let alone the patriotic and musical education of our youth! How much good and useful this festival can bring!"

"Okay, Valery Mikhailovich, you convinced me. And what time of year is best to hold the festival?" Colonel-General Belousov asked accepting the fact that he would give his consent.

"The best time is late August - early September! It is better to have it during public open air celebrations dedicated to the City Day of Moscow!" Khalilov cheerfully replied. "And it can be held in the evening during the whole week, while the events related to the Day of the City are taking place!"

They also agreed on the need to develop regulations for the first military music festival on Red Square.

Valery Mikhailovich felt great esteem for the Deputy Director of the Federal Security Service (FSO of Russia), the Moscow Kremlin Commandant, Lieutenant General Sergei Dmitrievich Khlebnikov for being broad-minded, highly cultured and competent, civic-minded, creative, and sociable. Sergei Dmitrievich right away supported the idea of creating the festival, and eventually this played a decisive role. It was an immense responsibility!

It is only fair to add that Major General Khalilov came up with the idea of having a military music festival in Red Square provisionally named the "Kremlin Zorya" in 2006, when as part of the celebration of the City Day of Moscow there was a performance of honour escorts of the heads of State and military bands on Poklonnaya Gora. The event organized jointly with the Kremlin Suppliers Guild and with support from the Moscow government was attended by over fifty thousand spectators. Members of High Command and Military Attachés of embassies of France, Norway, Denmark, and Germany were guests of honour at the show. This event was considered by the organizers as a preparatory stage for organizing the annual Military Music Festival in Moscow.

A year later, the first Kremlin Dawn International Military Music Festival took place in Red Square in August 2007. The major feature of the Festival was a harmonious combination of military, classical, and folk music, dance shows, military band performances, and marching of military bands. The leading military bands of nine countries: Great Britain, Ireland, Canada, the Republic of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Germany, Denmark, and Italy took part in the first Kremlin Dawn Festival. The total number of participants exceeded 1 000 members of different branches of the armed forces, musicians, and other performers. Russia was represented by the best military bands of the Russian Army."

"The finale made a sensational impression on spectators when the International Massed Pipes and Drums (350 people) and the massed bands of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation marched to Red Square through the gates of the Spasskaya Tower to perform the musical adaptation of the Russian folk songs "A Young Cossack Walks Along the Don" and "The Moon is Shining". And Major General Khalilov conducted the combined international band. The instrumentation of all the finales was done by Valery Mikhailovich's brother, Alexander Khalilov.

According to the tradition that began a year earlier on Poklonnaya Gora, the massed military bands played the "Farewell of the Slavyanka" march of Vassily Agapkin, with a salute of salvoes fired to conclude the show. Among innovations of the Kremlin Dawn Festival, which made a great impression on all spectators, was the performance of the Cavalry Honour Escort of the Presidential Regiment. There has never been this kind of show at any of such festivals in the world. This sideshow was suggested by the Moscow Kremlin's Commandant, General Khlebnikov, who actively participated in addressing not only administrative, but also creative issues related to the Festival.

Five 100-minute shows took place during the Kremlin Dawn Festival. The daily audience exceeded 7000 people totalling more than 35 000 spectators during the Festival. Special prefabricated stands were put together in Red Square to accommodate spectators. In addition to performances in Red Square, all festival participants marched along Tverskaya Street.

When summarizing the results, the organizers decided to hold such kind of music shows "once every two years".

Having become fascinated by the history of the Russian Empire and the heraldry of the imperial military choirs, Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov submitted for consideration several sketches of service insignia for the Military Band Service drawn by the artists to the Heraldic Group of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. After minor improvements, service insignia, chevrons, and badges for the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the Military Institute (of Military Band Conductors), the Moscow Military Music School, and the Central Military Band of the RF Ministry of Defence were officially approved by the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation (Order No.41 of 2005).

At last military band conductors and musicians have got their own insignia! Also, the same Order approved the commemorative medal of N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov and the badge "For Meritorious Service" to reward the military for worthy service and civilian personnel for achievements in the development of the Military Band Service. At the same time, the first order was issued on awarding servicemen and veterans of the Military Band Service, who made a worthy contribution to the promotion of Russian brass music. Major General Khalilov's actions were aimed not only at raising the prestige of the military service for military band conductors and musicians, but also at motivating his subordinates in every possible way to bring maximum benefit to their bands. And that was regardless of the fact whether it was a musician of the military band who honestly performed his duties for many years, a military band conductor from a distant garrison, or a retired veteran of the Military Band Service.

When Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov headed the Military Band Service, annual meetings of the Board of Veterans of the Military Band Service, who had served many years in the army, began to be regularly held in Khamovnicheskiye Barracks. It was a carefully thought-out ceremony, which included a function attended by the Head of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Major General Khalilov and an awarding ceremony for those who, despite their age, continued to work. Then followed a gala concert prepared by the Military Institute (of Military Band Conductors) of the Military University of the RF Ministry of Defence and group photography of veterans. The event ended with a buffet table for the veterans to socialize with each other in an informal setting. It should be said that despite his high military rank and position, being pressed for time, Major General Khalilov never missed these meetings with veterans; was sincerely happy to talk to his former teachers, who gave him a start in life, and military band conductors, who he at one time served with or met when visiting their bands. Also, tickets were distributed to the veterans to attend concerts of the Central Military Band of the RF Ministry of Defence for them to feel that they are remembered, taken care of, and, most importantly, their good work and achievements are not forgotten.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, no military band contests whatsoever were held in our country for 20 years. At last, on the initiative of Major General Khalilov the First All-Russian Military Band Contest was held in 2007-2008. Before the final concert of the laureates of the contest, Khalilov organized in Moscow the first in the history of the Military Band Service of the Russian Armed Forces the study sessions for all military band conductors of the Ministry of Defence. The main purpose of having those study sessions attended by more than two hundred military band conductors from all parts of our country was to define the role and objectives of military bands during the restructuring of the Armed Forces. The mere fact that for the first time in 20 years funds were allocated for their business trip to Moscow was a cause of strong professional pride for military band conductors. After so many years they again had an opportunity to meet and to discuss pressing issues with their leadership! They were still needed as before and highly valued!

After the study sessions there was a gala concert of the laureates of the First All-Russian Military Band Contest of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall. It was late December 2008. The Deputy Head of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Colonel V. G. Ivanov read out the order of the RF Minister of Defence "On Awarding the Winners of the Contest". And again Khalilov did not forget about the veterans of the Military Band Service. He invited the laureates of the last All-Union competition of 1988 to the stage to award commemorative medals of G.V. Sviridov to them in a festive atmosphere.

In 2009, the Military Music Festival returned to Red Square, but with a new name "Spasskaya Tower", after the main tower of the Moscow Kremlin, near which it traditionally takes place. As known, the tower was named in the 17th century after the icon of Spas Smolensky (Smolensky Saviour) painted on the wall above the gates, which overlooks the Red Square, and the icon of Spas Nerukotvorny (Saviour Not Made by Hands) above the gate on the wall from the side of the Kremlin. According to the international protocol, all the rulers of Russia, starting with Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, met foreign diplomats at the front gates of the Moscow Kremlin. Therefore, symbolic was the discovery of the gate icon of the Smolensky Saviour in 2009, which was immured in the 20th century under a layer of plaster and restored shortly before the opening of the festival.

According to Major General Khalilov's original idea, each Spasskaya Tower Festival should be dedicated to a certain historical date. The theme of the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava became the leitmotif of the 2009 Spasskaya Tower Festival. Hence the theatrical procession of the retinue of Peter the Great, the theme of "poteshny" regiments (toy regiments of boy-soldiers under Peter the Great) entering Red Square in stylized costumes of soldiers from the Preobrazhensky and Izmailovsky regiments in the prologue of the theatrical show. "What if the things go wrong at the performance" troubled Khalilov beyond anything in the world despite the fact that there, on Red Square, it simply cannot happen. First, the support staff had radios to urgently contact the performers getting ready to enter Red Square. And second, each of the Spasskaya Tower team had certain commitments, which they were supposed to meet however difficult! While foreign musicians were performing, Valery Mikhailovich watched their performances, made jokes at times, and sometimes shared experiences from his life with the military conductors standing next to him. But when only a few minutes were left before the final performance of the combined military band, Major General Khalilov instantly was a new man straightening his ceremonial tunic and cap and mentally preparing for the finale of the show. That year, the famous French singer Mireille Mathieu came to Moscow to take part in the International Military Music Festival, who later became a kind of the Festival's mascot. And when they were rehearsing the compositions instrumented by Alexander Khalilov together with the combined military band, Valery Mikhailovich was struck by an idea: what if at the very end of the closing ceremony Mireille Mathieu would sing the Siniy Platochek (Little Blue Scarf) song with the combined band? And in Russian by all means! During a break, he offered the world-famous singer through an interpreter his own version of the closing ceremony, and surprisingly she agreed, asking only to write the words for her in Russian. It was a memorable finale for everyone! To the accompaniment of the combined military band, Mireille Mathieu sang in Russian not only "Siniy Platochek", but also "Ochi Chernye" (Dark Eyes), getting deafening applause from the audience.

Since then, the annual Spasskaya Tower Military Music Festival has made enormous strides: every year new military bands from different foreign countries expressed their willingness to participate in the Festival, the repertoire of the combined band in the finale was diversified, and every year the Festival was dedicated to a certain subject. All this added zest to the Spasskaya Tower Festival as compared to other military music festivals in the world!

For example, in 2010 the Spasskaya Tower Festival was dedicated to the 65th anniversary of the Victory of our country in the Great Patriotic War. In 2011, the Festival was held in honour of the 300th anniversary of staff military bands of the Russian Army and the 75th anniversary of the Presidential Regiment. In 2012, the Festival was dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the Victory in the Patriotic War of 1812. The artist of the Festival was the well-known cultural figure M. Shemyakin, who created visual firewheel images of history.

The main theme of the seventh Festival in 2014 was an important historical date, that is, the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War. The main theme of the Festival in 2015 was the 70th anniversary of the Victory over fascism. According to the statistical data, the Spasskaya Tower Festival featured more than a hundred performing groups from 40 countries during its history.

Famous artists were invited to perform at the Spasskaya Tower Festival. For example, in 2015, at the suggestion of the Moscow Kremlin's Commandant, Colonel-General Khlebnikov, People's Artist of Russia Tamara Gverdtsiteli performed on Red Square the songs written by Mikael Tariverdiev "Music" and "Light up the Candles".

"One day Valery Mikhailovich called his childhood friend, former cadet Yura Smirnov, and asked him to go with him to the Burdenko Military Hospital to visit their friend and former cadet Dima Atovmyan. He had throat cancer and did not have long to live. He could no longer speak and could only communicate through written notes.

"Yura, let's go?"

"Valera, don't you understand, I have things to do right now! A tour of the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Moscow Military District is planned to Germany." Yuri Smirnov answered.

"Yura, let's go! Things can wait! Afterwards will be too late, I tell you!" Khalilov insisted on his own way, and they both went to visit their friend in the hospital.

Dima Atovmyan had recently been operated on. And how grateful he was that his friends did not forget him! That even General Valery Khalilov himself threw up everything just to see him! Together with the classmate!

It was the same with their former officer-tutor David Erastovich Devdaryani, who Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov also visited with his classmates in the hospice, where because of oncology he spent the last year of his life, forgotten and abandoned by everyone. He buried his wife and daughter; he had no close relatives. And, perhaps, those visits of former cadets, his former students, gave some emotional warmth to the patient and prolonged his life, at least a little...

General Khalilov, who was busy in his service, might not have thought about it: life is life! But Valery Mikhailovich was not like that. Often to the detriment of his personal time he would offer a helping hand to his comrade, people who were near and dear to him..."

THE ORGANIZER OF MUSIC FESTIVALS

"It should be added that Khalilov was sure that patriotic education of young people could benefit from the Spasskaya Tower Military Music Festival. Only one year after the first Spasskaya Tower Festival, Valery Mikhailovich suggested to the Moscow Kremlin's Commandant, General Khlebnikov, that "the boundaries of the Festival be expanded".

"Sergey Dmitrievich, what if we expand the scope of our Festival and in addition to adults' bands, we involve also children and youth wind bands for performances? Just think about it! In the morning, the best children and youth wind bands from all over the country perform on Red Square, and in the evening - our performance!" Khalilov said.

"It's an interesting project! Indeed, the audience at the Military Music Festival in the evening is somewhat different, mainly adults and practically no children," Head of the Spasskaya Tower Directorate Sergey Nikolaevich Smirnov began to support Khalilov. "Moreover, in the morning we practically do not use our concert venues, which we could do easily! Everyone would benefit from this."

"Well, what will we call our children's mini-festival of wind bands, dear colleagues?" General Khlebnikov caught eagerly at the new idea, which was still only Valery Mikhailovich's idea and needed to be built upon and put to full use. So to speak, the first "trial balloon"!

"There is no need to invent anything new." General Khalilov had the action plan. "We call it also "Spasskaya Tower"! But "For Children"! Only one word is added but it changes a lot! Well, if you, dear colleagues, support me, then this issue is sure to be discussed with the Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky. And then "heavy artillery" in the person of Olga Golodets, who is in charge of the issues related to our youth patriotic education in the State Duma of the Russian Federation."

In any case, Khalilov's arguments in favour of the children's festival movement "Spasskaya Tower for Children" were very convincing, and only one month after that, the project was ready, as well as the Regulation on the Festival. After that, committees were set up in each federal okrug of our country to select the best youth and children wind bands, and the following year, on the eve of the Great Victory Day, the best youth and children wind bands from all over Russia performed at the Spasskaya Tower for Children Festival. All the participants performed at a special concert venue in the Alexander Garden.

The success of the Spasskaya Tower and Spasskaya Tower for Children festivals motivated General Khalilov to start thinking about holding such festivals not only in Moscow but throughout the country. Speaking about the development of traditions of the military music festival movement, at the initiative of Khalilov, the Festival of Russian military bands dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the Military Band Service was held in Yekaterinburg, capital of the Urals, in August 2011. The Festival featured 48 performing groups from 40 Russian cities. The culmination of the Festival was the performance of the massed military bands of the Central Military District numbering more than seven hundred musicians who played the anthem of the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) at the opening ceremony of the central stadium in the city.

One of the brightest events in the cultural life of Khabarovsk was the Amur Waves International Military Music Festival of the Asia-Pacific Region, which was also founded thanks to the efforts of Khalilov. In respect to the scale and number of participants, the Amur Waves Festival is currently the second most important festival in the country. The Festival was launched in 2012 with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Khabarovsk krai Government, the Eastern Military District, and the Khabarovsk City Administration. Every year, from late May to early June, Khabarovsk becomes the centre of cultural life in the region. There are no analogues to the Amur Waves Festival either in the Far East of Russia or Siberia.

At the suggestion of the country's Chief Military Conductor Khalilov, in 2012, for the first time in the world, military band conductors - participants of the First Amur Waves International Festival - launched in Khabarovsk the Music Walk of Fame honouring military musicians by planting a tree of his own! In November 2013, the Festival received the top national award in the Best City Day category at the All-Russian Award "Mass Theatre Edges" Ceremony in Moscow for creative achievements in the area of mass forms of performing arts.

Needless to say, the Central Military Band of the RF Ministry of Defence, headed by its Artistic Director General Khalilov and the Head of this band, Colonel Durygin, took part in the Festival every year. Since 2012, it has become a good tradition for this glorious group to tour annually the Far East of Russia, performing not only in Khabarovsk during the Amur Waves Festival, but also in Vladivostok, Ussuriisk, Sakhalin, the Kuriles, and other cities and regions of our vast country.

As remembered by the Head of the Central Military Band, Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation Colonel Durygin, as well as the musician from the Savitsky Orchestra, Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov never had his own, so-called, "rider" prescribing what should be in his room at the hotel when on tour, what products should to be put in the refrigerator, etc. During the flight to the Far East of Russia on board a military transport aircraft, he would sit with all the musicians of the band, conductors, and main vocalists. Once, they arrived to Sakhalin by military plane. It was late evening. Valery Mikhailovich and Colonel Durygin were taken by car to the local pedagogical hostel in the small town of Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky. There they were supposed to stay overnight together with the military band musicians who were driving in service buses to give a concert in the morning for the local residents. It was night, and the weak-sighted elderly woman on duty asked them who they were.

"We are from the military band!" The general dressed in civilian clothes simply answered. "We are here to give a concert in the morning."

"Why didn't you tell our administration beforehand about your arrival? Bed linen, as well as mattresses with pillows, will be given to you only tomorrow morning," the woman on duty said not knowing who she was speaking to.

To which Valery Mikhailovich, in a calm voice, asked her only to show the rooms where the band musicians who were still on the way to the hostel would stay until morning.

"What is there to choose? Go up to the second floor, where all the rooms are open. Choose any, students are on vacation now. Lie down where you want and sleep to your heart's content!" The woman returned calmly.

The sight of the army bunk beds did not bother General Khalilov at all. He just took off his jacket and put it on top of the wire mesh base of the iron bed without any complaints.

When Durygin looked into the room, he saw that Valery Mikhailovich was already sound asleep...

The military band musicians, who arrived a little later, also quietly settled in for the night in the same room, trying to speak in a whisper so as not to wake up their general.

Of course, their hosts apologized in the morning, promising that "this outrage won't happen again" but Khalilov pretended that everything was fine. The hosts either in Khabarovsk or in the Republic of Tyva, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, or Mongolia each time were somewhat at a loss when they received laconic answers to their questions about preferences of the artistic director of the band, "A visit to the local lore museum for the band musicians; the food for band conductors and main vocalists is the same as for the band musicians; it is imperative to have a swim; and a visit to an Orthodox monastery or a church".

Sometimes, passing by some river, General Khalilov would ask to stop the car to have a swim in the river together with Colonel Durygin. The Central Military Band of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation was on tour in the Republic of Tyva in the city of Kyzyl to participate in the "Trumpets of Asia" Music Festival. General Khalilov was driving in a car when he saw a rapid river and asked to make a stop. Without saying a word, he undressed and lay down on the stones holding on to them, as the river flow was turbulent and could carry him away. Colonel Durygin had no other option but to join General Khalilov. The head of the receiving delegation also had no choice but to take off his clothes and follow them into the river and lay down next to them on the stones. Similar situations occurred in other cities of our country. Wherever they would go, swimming in a river was Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov's tradition. There was a joke among the musicians that swimming could be cancelled only if the river was icebound because of terrible frosts. Who knows, but it may well be that this kind of swimming allowed Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov to practically not to get sick all the year round and withstand a heavy work and touring schedule.

It should be noted that Valery Mikhailovich was engaged in physical activity on a regular basis. Every Wednesday after the working day, a group of officers from the General Staff together with General Khalilov and Colonel Durygin met in the CSKA gym at 6 pm, where they divided into two teams to play indoor soccer. And despite his age, Valery Mikhailovich often would give a start to younger officers. Moving quickly across the football ground in a sports T-shirt with his favourite number 7, Valery Mikhailovich could easily dodge his opponent and score a goal from quite a range!

After the match, the whole group, without exception, would go to the cafe just outside the stadium, where the first and purely symbolic toast was raised for the next officers' match to take place! Even if Valery Mikhailovich and Colonel Durygin were on tour and were not able to come to play indoor soccer, they would find a replacement not to break the established tradition, which lasted more than nine years.

During their visit to a church or a monastery, while conductors and musicians were coming in and looking around and at the icons, Khalilov would quickly buy candles for everyone in their group and while explaining where this or that icon was in the church he would tell everyone where to put the candle. And after that Valery Mikhailovich often would buy icons to give them to his subordinates.

Going on an overseas trip, he would also buy icons for his colleagues or foreign colleagues. For example, on his way to North Korea, he asked the Head of the Military Band Service of the Pacific Fleet, Lieutenant Colonel Selivanov, to visit together with him the famous Marfo-Mariinsky female monastery in the vicinity of the Sedanka station near Vladivostok, which was fully restored several years ago in the territory of the former the bishop's stead. Valery Mikhailovich, half an hour after his landing in Primorye, and Selivanov were cordially received by the nuns of the monastery, who conducted an individual excursion for the distinguished guest. Since it was in June, right after the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, he was shown the cones that grew on the eve of the feast on blue spruce trees, arranged in three pieces. When they entered the monastery shop, Valery Mikhailovich bought two very beautiful and expensive icons to take them to North Korea, saying that he wanted to donate them to the Orthodox Church being built in Pyongyang with the care and efforts of the Russian diplomatic mission. Valery Mikhailovich also bought the icon of the Holy Royal Martyrs for Selivanov and asked him to put it in his office. And there were many other instances of this kind; he did good deeds for no particular reason, just as his heart directed!

One day, after a concert of the Central Military Band, Khalilov asked his soloist Yevgeny Vorobyov, why he did not go to the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music to continue his study.

"Zhenya, I can talk to the rector of the Academy Galina Vasilievna Mayarovskaya?" Khalilov offered.

"It is unnecessary, Comrade General," answered Evgeny Vorobiev, "the whole point is that I studied on a fee-paying basis at the jazz department of the Gnessins School of Music located in Ordynka. I finished my studies a year ago, but I still can't get a diploma! Until I pay all the money for my studies! And you say - the academy..."

"And what amount are we talking about?" Valery Mikhailovich cautiously asked.

"More than one hundred and forty thousand," Evgeny answered in bewilderment. "Why?"

The following day after the morning meeting, during which the work plan for the day was discussed, General Khalilov asked Colonel Durygin to stay in the office.

"Sergey Yurievich, in addition to all today's tasks, may I ask you to do me a favour?" Valery Mikhailovich said confidentially. "Here is an envelope with money in cash from my card, take it! Go right now to the administration of the Gnessin Academy while I'm having a rehearsal. Solve all the questions concerning Vorobiev's diploma. The guy is a talented musician, but he does not have a diploma of graduation, even if it is only a certificate of secondary education! So, we must help him! Just take all the financial documents due from the secretary. And I have a really big favour to ask," the general lowered his voice, "about this, please, do not tell anyone in the band. Let this be a small gift of fate to Zhenya Vorobiev from our Central Military Band!"

And that was General Khalilov: he did good without asking anything in return! How many times did Colonel Durygin want to pay for himself when they went to lunch together in the cafeteria in Komsomolsky Prospekt during lunchtime? General Khalilov paid for the two of them, each time joking that someday, when he has no money, Colonel Durygin would pay for his meal! Khalilov was not choosy and could eat a plate of boiled potatoes and fish that was put in front of him. He preferred ordinary brown bread "without any seeds or grains". Most of all he was fond of buckwheat or pasta with ordinary "army" tinned stewed meat. It was reminiscent of the days when he was a cadet. Khalilov was undemanding in private life. He was content with very little and under no circumstance did he flaunt in front of his subordinates both his high military rank and position."

***

"In 2010, the parade was held in Moscow on Red Square to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory. Heads of many states were invited to Moscow, including those from the anti-Hitler coalition. Top leadership of our country made the right decision to extend an invitation to Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel to attend the military parade. At that time, the Moscow Mayor's Office decided to hold the Festival of Military Bands "Ode to Peace" during public holidays in May and invited military bands not only from the former CIS countries, but also from America, Great Britain and France. That year, veterans of the Great Patriotic War did not participate in the parade because of their age. However, members of the armed forces of the CIS countries arrived from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and representatives of other peoples and nationalities who participated in the defeat of Nazi Germany.

According to the long historical tradition, the Turkmen team was headed by the commander riding on the beautiful Akhal-Teke horse. But the trouble was that the horse felt nervous when the brass band began to play! What is to be done? And General Khalilov was asked to practice separately with the commander of the Turkmen team on the Khodynskoye field, and cadets from the Moscow Military Music School were supposed to represent the marching servicemen. When the cadets were marching past the reviewing stand, one of them, just for fun, "gave a grunt" into the sousaphone (Sousaphone is a brass instrument, a kind of helicon but larger in size. It is named after the American bandmaster and composer John Philip Sousa (1854-1932. – ed. note). Frightened by the sharp sound, the horse galloped along with the rider across the Khodynskoye field away from the band.

Right away, General Khalilov was summoned to report on the incident. Despite the pressure he was put under, the general assumed responsibility for the situation. He only asked the Head of the Military Music School, Colonel Gerasimov "to stop it from happening again" without trying to find the person responsible. He could have done it differently but remembering that he himself was a cadet at heart and that he used to be the same, playing pranks on his officer tutors, Valery Mikhailovich was not of a vindictive nature and was fair to the people subordinate to him.

That year, American, British and French musicians performed at the parade together with the Moscow Garrison massed military bands. When the foreign musicians rehearsed for the Victory Day military parade, they were impressed by the fact that the musicians from the massed military bands knew the entire repertoire of three military parades – Army display, motorcade, and fly-over - from memory. To say nothing of having at each rehearsal two or three "run-throughs" of the parade, that took up to five hours. "It is not our way of doing things, to play as long as that and from memory!" foreigners said.

In the finale of the military parade, the combined band of the Moscow Garrison massed military bands and the military bands of America, Great Britain and France performed the final movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony – "Ode to Joy", the tune of which was adopted as the "Anthem of Europe".

As soon as the parade was over, Major General Khalilov got a call from the Presidential Administration:

"Could you please tell us whose idea it was to end the parade with Beethoven's "Ode to Joy"?"

The general became tense for a moment, thinking what he could have done wrong, but then confidently said:

"It was my idea, and I take personal responsibility for that!"

"Very good, Valery Mikhailovich!" was the answer on the other end of the line. "The country's top leadership and the Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel personally like your choice!"

The Decree of the President of the Russian Federation was issued barely one month after the parade concerning Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov's promotion to the rank of lieutenant general.

In 2013-2014, the Second All-Russian Contest of Military Bands was held in Moscow. Lieutenant-General Khalilov and officers of the Military Band Service were sure that such contests were very important for military bands, military band conductors, and musicians themselves. And that they need to be held on a regular basis, as in the former Soviet Union, once every five years. Which was done!

Summing up the results of the Second All-Russian Contest of Military Bands Lieutenant-General Khalilov offered the young conductor Guards Captain Gernets to conduct the Military Exemplary Band of the Honour Guard. And that meant that the captain would take up the post of colonel! And the general transferred another distinguished military band conductor Senior Lieutenant Klepchenko from the airborne assault brigade of the city of Ulan-Ude to replace Gernets in the Western Military District. General Khalilov asked the youngest laureate of the contest Guards Lieutenant Zvonov what he thought about his service and his plans, and Zvonov replied that he wanted to pursue postgraduate studies at the Institute of Military Band Conductors in order to become a faculty instructor at the Department of Military Band Service.

All military band conductors saw actual results of participating in the contest: if you serve well, if you have an excellent creative team with which you could prove yourself in the competition, then the command and personally the Head of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Khalilov will appreciate your contribution and offer to be transferred to a more prestigious place and to a more prestigious band. But you have to work very hard indeed."

TOURS ABROAD AND MUCH MORE

"In 2009, the Leader of the DPRK Comrade Kim Jong Il invited the Central Military Band of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. More than a hundred performers including musicians of the band, conductors, and soloists, arrived in the DPRK as a leading military musical group of friendly Russia for the people of North Korea to enjoy their performance again. "Again" because for the first time the Central Military Band was on tour in the DPRK in 2006 and its performance left an indelible impression on everyone who was lucky enough to get to the concert of this famous creative group. Leaders of North Korea really liked the performance of the band, and after the concert, Kim Jong Il invited the general and all the soloists to the testimonial dinner. In his conversation with General Khalilov the North Korean military attaché admitted that their symphony orchestra was good, but not the brass band and asked the general to conduct a workshop for the conductors of the Pyongyang Conservatory.

"We would like our conductors to learn from you, if you do not object." The military attaché asked Khalilov.

"On the contrary, I'll be glad to help our colleagues," Valery Mikhailovich smiled.

What struck him in these classes was that the four students, future military band conductors, were not only skilful musicians, but were all with absolute pitch. They wrote the dictation on solfeggio five minutes after the start of the lesson. Not knowing their level of professional training, Khalilov spent a long time telling common truths about the instrumentation of a brass band, which instrument and in which pitch is to be played in the band. Everyone listened to him attentively without interruption and did not say that they knew what the general was telling them and even knew how to play those instruments.

"I wish our military band conductors were here to learn from them how to study! And what a cast-iron military discipline here!" Valery Mikhailovich shared his impressions with Colonel Durygin.

And now, at the invitation of Comrade Kim Jong Il, the Central Military Band of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation was again in North Korea. The band gave two concerts in Pyongyang and one concert in the city of Wonsan on the coast of the Sea of Japan. And then, on the main huge square of Pyongyang, which bears the name of Kim Il Sung, the Central Military Band of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, the military band of the Korean People's Army and the band of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the DPRK, which consisted only of female musicians, showed their concert programme after marching along the central streets of the city. The concert in Wonsan attended by more than five thousand people was a great success of the Russian performing group. A real gift of the band conductors, General Khalilov and Colonel Durygin to the audience was the Korean march "Song Gun" and the waltz "Friendship" performed by the band and the Korean folk song "Charm and Respect" performed by the soloist of the band Natalia Manulik in the native language. General Khalilov conducted the final part of the concert!

In 2014, at the invitation of the republic's leadership, the Central Military Band visited the Republic of Tyva for the first time. The visit to the republic coincided with the Second International Festival of Brass Bands "Music in the Centre of Asia" in Kyzyl. And the concert's pièce de résistance was the performance by the band of the new march "Tyva", composed by Khalilov in early 2014 and dedicated to the centenary of the union of Russia and Tyva. The concert ended with the traditional performance of Khalilov's song "Forever a Great Country" (lyrics by A. A. Savitsky), which was conducted by the author, Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov.

The following day, the Central Military Band gave the concert in the city of Chadan. The 250-km-long drive to Chadan made a great impression on the musicians and soloists of the band: the Yenisei, which had not yet gained full strength, flowed to the right of the road, and to the left, the snowy peaks of the Sayan Mountains beyond the nearest hills. It was an open-air concert and the number of viewers was huge. The beauty of natural scenes of Tyva, openness of people, their hospitality, and the touching Buddhist tradition to meet guests by tying a white silk scarf – kadak - a symbol of hospitality, purity and unselfishness of the giver, all that struck home both to the principal conductor and all the musicians of the band.

Another concert in the village of Buren-Khem, one of the leading livestock-rearing farms of the republic, deepened the impression. The performance of the Central Military Band took place right on the football pitch. The viewers were seated in a semicircle three to four meters from the musicians. There were parents with children, young and old alike, and people advanced in years. For the villagers, an opportunity to attend the concert of that very band, which they could watch only on TV on Victory Day, was something magical and memorable for the rest of their lives!

At the end of the Second International Festival of Brass Bands "Music in the Centre of Asia", the gala concert of the famous musical ensemble for residents and guests of the capital of the Republic of Tyva and, of course, for all festival participants was given in the Republican Drama Theatre. There were guests from Mongolia, the USA, Latvia, and Canada. During the award ceremony, the Head of the Republic of Tyva, Sh. V. Kara-ool thanked the military band for the excellent concert, the virtuoso performance by the soloists and expressed confidence that the band would perform in Tyva more than once again. In that same year, by the Decree of the Head of the Republic of Tyva, the Chief Military Band Conductor, People's Artist of Russia, Lieutenant-General Khalilov was awarded the honorary title "Honoured Artist of the Republic of Tyva".

In 2014, at the initiative of the Chief Military Band Conductor of the Russian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Khalilov, the famous International Sevastopol Festival of Military Bands "War and Peace" for the first time was held under the banners of Russia. The two Khalilov brothers, who participated in the festival, found joy in the success of their relative, Senior Lieutenant Mikhail Aleksandrovich Khalilov, the military conductor of the Headquarters Military Band of the Black Sea Fleet, who followed up the military band conductor's dynasty.

The Festival of Military Big Bands "Army Jazz" took place in 1994 to keep the festival of big bands going after a twenty year break. Lieutenant General Khalilov understood perfectly well that it was necessary to hold competitions not only of staff military bands, but also to develop other types of military bands, which with their reduced size were able to professionally perform other genres of brass music, for example, jazz.

Telling about the touring and concert activities of Lieutenant General Khalilov, it should be noted that thanks to his initiative, a number of brass band festivals have been launched in present-day Russia. In the Far East of Russia, a new International Military Music Festival dedicated to the end of World War II has been held annually since 2009 thanks to the concerted efforts of the Sakhalin Oblast administration and Khalilov. As a regular participant of the Festival, the Central Military Band of the Ministry of Defence not only toured the entire island, but also visited the main islands of the Kuril Ridge.

In 2012, it was decided to hold in Tambov the All-Russian Festival of Brass Bands named after V.I. Agapkin "March of the Century", dedicated to the centenary of the march "Farewell of Slavyanka". Previously, the Festival was an annual regional-level event, which was attended by brass bands of cities and districts of the Tambov Oblast. The March of the Century Festival was held at the suggestion of Pyotr Sosnovsky, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Governor's Brass Band of the Tambov Oblast, which was supported by Y. N. Golubev, Head of the Department of Culture and Archives of the Tambov Region, S. A. Chebotaryov, Deputy Head of the Tambov Oblast Administration, and endorsed by O.I. Betin, Head of the Tambov Oblast Administration.

The following year, it was decided to make the Festival an international event. At the meeting with O.I. Betin, Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov was offered to become the Musical Director of the Festival. And in 2015, Sergei Alekseevich Chebotarev managed to provide financing for creating the monument to the great bandmasters Agapkin and Shatrov (Ilya Alekseevich Shatrov (1879 (1885?) - 1952) - Russian military musician, bandmaster and composer, Major of the Soviet Army. The most prominent is his waltz "On the Hills of Manchuria" (the beginning of the century; dedicated to the soldiers of the 214th Reserve Mokshansky Infantry Regiment who were killed during the battles of in the Russo-Japanese War) – ed. note), which was opened at the Fifth Festival in 2016. It was agreed that the Festival would bear their names. Valery Mikhailovich was actively involved in decision-making.

The band's fame attained as a result of touring activity contributed to the fact that heads of different regions of the country dispatched their letters to the Culture Department of the RF Ministry of Defence, which had just been established under the Ministry of Defence, inviting the Central Military Band of the RF Ministry of Defence to perform in this or that region. And there had not been a single case in which the Minister of Defence S.K. Shoigu refused a tour of the famous performing group. In a fairly short time, from 2006 to 2016, the Central Band toured Kemerovo, Novokuznetsk, Leninsk-Kuznetsky to perform during Miner's Day festivities, in Smolensk to celebrate the 1150th anniversary of the city and 70th anniversary of liberation of the Smolensk Oblast from the Nazi invaders, and participated in the inauguration ceremony of Governor of the Republic of Khakassia. The musicians of the band performed with much applause in St. Petersburg, Samara, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Yekaterinburg, Kostroma, Belgorod, Khabarovsk, and other cities.

The audience of foreign countries, such as Austria, Belgium, Hungary, Germany, North Korea, Lebanon, Mongolia, Poland, the USA, Finland, France, Switzerland, and Sweden also highly appreciated the creative range of maestro Khalilov...

Early August 2015, the Belgorod Philharmonic invited the Central Military Band to participate in the parade of national brass bands "The First Victory Day Salute" in Belgorod. Eighteen bands of the country, totalling about eight hundred musicians, led by the Central Military Band of the Ministry of Defence of Russia and conducted by the country's Chief Military Conductor Valery Khalilov participated in the grand brass band march in Belgorod, Prokhorovka and Staryi Oskol!

One major benefit of all those guest performances was that Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov created many of his musical compositions in a fairly short time. A member of the Union of Composers of Russia, Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Khalilov occupied a niche of his own in the circle of composers writing music for military bands. It was he who showed the audience new aspects of the military march, expanding its range from a piece of marching music (intended function) to a self-contained orchestral concert piece. It was the period when he created his concert marches "Ratnyi", "Cannoneer", "Popadi", "Up to 7", "Platz" (Drill Ground), "Memory", "Ulan", "Shield", "March of Songun Victory", "Standard", "Tyva", "Heraldic March", "Signal March", "Alexandr", and others.

Khalilov devoted many of his marches to the colleagues and friends. He dedicated the "Heraldic March" to Colonel Oleg Vyacheslavovich Kuznetsov, Head of the Heraldic Department of the General Staff, with who he played football on Wednesdays in the CSKA sports complex; the march "Alexandr" to his brother, and the march "Kant" was dedicated to his chief, General of the Army Alexandr Vasilyevich Belousov, with who he had close friendly relations.

But it is positively wrong to think that Khalilov composed only military marches. He also composed waltzes, overtures, elegies, and romances. But, as he once told Colonel Durygin, for him the song was second only to the march. He composed wonderful songs with lyrics by I. Reznik, E. Hanok, V. Fedorov, and A. Savitsky: "Army and Navy", "Crimson Leaf Fall", "Ballad of Twelve Roses", "Lifelong Love", "Jasmine Petals On the Window...", "Sakhalin", "And Good Luck Will Come". And also a very soft and persuasive "Sit By My Side, Dear..." (verses by Yesenin).

Two more songs by Valery Khalilov, "I Serve My Country" and "Beloved Country Forever" with lyrics by A. Savitsky, were repeatedly performed in the finale of gala concerts dedicated to the Defender of the Fatherland Day in the State Kremlin Palace, which were attended by top officials of the state, high military-service officials, veterans, cultural and art workers and military personnel..."

ASSOCIATION OF LIKE-MINDED WIND INSTRUMENT BLOWERS

"Talking to his colleagues during frequent tours and being aware of the actual situation at the local level, Lieutenant General Khalilov realized that for the development of brass bands nationwide it was necessary to set up an association of like-minded people, a public organization. He knew that not just military bands should be promoted but brass bands throughout the country. After all, there are brass bands in towns and cities, rural areas. There are brass bands at children's music schools and children's schools of art.

"Why are there over 1 200 brass bands in Japan and more than three hundred in small Latvia? And we cannot find enough brass bands for public holidays! We scrape brass bands for festivals, as they say, "Many a little makes a mickle…"! We should speak to outstanding figures of art and culture, public authorities, and deputies of the State Duma! At the extreme, the Kremlin itself!" Khalilov often thought.

Participating in negotiations, meetings with outstanding figures of culture and art, and training conferences on the promotion of brass bands in Russia, the country's Chief Military Conductor Lieutenant General Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov was actively involved in working out a strategy for action.

He often would regret that there was no person in the government who would focus on issues related to the brass bands. Khalilov spoke about it in his interviews back in the 2000s. And he did hope that someday there would be such a person. In 2015, when Valery Mikhailovich met with Olga Yurievna Golodets, there was a good understanding between them on that issue. On August 17, 2016, the Association of Wind Bands and Wind and Percussion Performers "The Wind Society" was officially established in our country. It was a very important stage in the creative activity of Valery Mikhailovich. The All-Russian organization "Wind Society", established thanks to his efforts, united all the brass bands of the country! On October 21, 2016, the Central Museum of Musical Culture hosted the first meeting of the Association, attended by Olga Golodets.

Khalilov said at the meeting that there were many problems pertaining to brass music: state-funded places in schools, colleges, and universities for training brass band students were reduced, the number of brass band personnel was reduced, and some of the bands were even closed, lack of domestic factories manufacturing wind instruments, a need for new repertoire for brass bands, and others. But in addition to posing problems, Khalilov also proposed ways of solving them such as the establishment of specialized cadet music corps (for example, Moscow State Institute of Culture in Moscow) to train professional musicians for brass bands, holding numerous festivals of brass bands throughout the country, and setting up children's activity summer schools throughout Russia for children playing wind and percussion instruments to get together in summer.

(One cannot fail to mention here the Silver Trumpets Festival in Artek. One evening in the summer of 2016, Valery Mikhailovich looked happy when he came home and said that he succeeded in resolving the issue of holding a festival of brass bands in 2017, as part of the children's summer session in Artek. Many memories of youth were associated with that summer camp, and he had a dream to reintroduce in the children's camp a specialized session for wind instrument blowers. We must thank Mikhail Arkadyevich Bryzgalov, who implemented this project, and for the third year in a row the Silver Trumpets Festival has been successfully held in Artek.)

Valery Mikhailovich also spoke about budgetary financing of children's projects: vouchers to children's health improvement camps must be free of charge; money must be allocated from municipal and regional budgets to buy new uniforms and instruments for musicians, as well as to pay for advanced training courses for conductors of amateur brass bands. Khalilov also touched upon the establishment of the combined children's brass band in Moscow under the authority of the Military Historical Society and the organization of performances by the best children's brass bands as part of the Spasskaya Tower for Children. (Olga Golodets still supervises the activity of the Association of Wind Bands and Wind and Percussion Performers "The Wind Society". In 2017, at the Cultural Forum in St. Petersburg, she proposed to name the association after V. M. Khalilov.)"

THE HEAD OF THE ALEXANDROV ENSEMBLE

"The personal file of Lieutenant General Khalilov contains an extract from the Order of the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation No.201 dated April 5, 2016: Lieutenant General Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov, Head of the Military Band Service of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Chief Military Conductor, is to be appointed Head of the Ensemble and Artistic Director of the Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of the Russian Army (named after A.V. Aleksandrov).

First of all, by the time Khalilov was appointed to that post, none of the musicians of the ensemble paid attention to the fact that from year to year they had the same concert programme and practically the same musical compositions. The first thing Lieutenant-General Khalilov did when he came to the ensemble was to update its concert programme. He practically lived in the ensemble's music library, where he found the opera "Wedding in Malinovka" composed by A.V. Aleksandrov himself. Khalilov found in Tambov three villages named Malinovka and visited the three of them to chose the most suitable one for the festival. It was there, near Tambov, that he wanted to build a large stage to put on it that well-known operetta and, on its basis, launch the annual All-Russian Festival of Musical Comedy involving the dancers, soloists, band, and choir.

Then he found long-forgotten songs, such as "The March of Budyonny" that lost its relevance with the collapse of the USSR, to perform them again after a long break.

Secondly. Khalilov was capable of thinking "outside the box". His appointment to the Alekaandrov Song and Dance Ensemble, for example, yielded an idea to add a female group to the male chorus to make the vocal range of the chorus much wider. His idea materialized when on November 21, 2016, the Aleksandrov Song and Dance Ensemble together with the Sveshnikov State Academic Russian (Female) Choir performed the famous song "Sacred War" on the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre. And everyone realized that the song took on a completely different quality. Moreover, at the same concert, after a long, twenty-year break, the choreographic piece "Polovtsian Dances" from Alexander Borodin's opera "Prince Igor" was performed in new stage costumes specially made for that concert. And again, the female chorus harmoniously added its vocal colours to the male chorus. The second part was opened by the Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the ensemble Lieutenant General Khalilov with the Russian folk song "Oh You, Wide Steppe".

Changes were also made to the orchestra. Valery Mikhailovich worked long hours with the musicians, personally conducting rehearsals. He worked with them on his own compositions. During rehearsals, he often would highlight certain things, which musicians of the ensemble had never paid attention to before. Thus, he noticed that in the folk orchestra there was practically no domra group, that is, those musicians who carried the melody. After the introduction of additional domras, the folk orchestra sounded completely different. The thing was that Khalilov's perception of the folk orchestra was that of the symphony orchestra: melody, counterpoint, and accompaniment. Therefore, all the adjustments to the scores that he made always "made the bull'-eye".

The musicians also noticed that when Khalilov came, new performance venues were made available for their ensemble in Moscow. Previously, they performed practically only in the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall or the Theatre of the Russian Army and now they were welcomed at the Great Hall of the Moscow State Conservatory and the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre! Wait till tomorrow..."

***

"In the early morning hours of December 25, 2016, the RA-85572a Tupolev Tu-154 transport plane of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation crashed into the Black Sea 1270 meters from the coast after takeoff from the Adler airport. A total of 92 people perished including eight crew members and nine employees of federal channels (NTV, Channel 1 and Zvezda TV channels). Among them were members of the Aleksandrov Academic Song and Dance Ensemble headed by Lieutenant-General Khalilov. There were no survivors of the crash. There was also another plane with New Year gifts for the servicemen of the Khmeimim airbase, which took off from the Chkalovsky airfield to make an intermediate stop in Adler for refueling. It landed at its destination at night.

The ensemble was accompanied by Anton Gubankov, Director of the Department of Culture of the Ministry of Defence, and his assistant Oksana Badrutdinova, who turned 34 on the eve of that fateful day. There was Elizaveta Glinka, known as "Doctor Liza", Head of the Just Help Charity Foundation, who dedicated her life to saving children. She was taking medicine for a local hospital in Syria.

The artists flew to Syria to congratulate Russian military personnel with Happy New Year. Because of the small stage in Khmeimim, which could not accommodate all the musicians, it was decided to use recorded music, the so-called "instrumental tracks". The plan was to perform only one concert, after which the ensemble was supposed to return to Moscow, since there were a number of scheduled performances including a tour to China. The ensemble lost about a third of musicians and dancers and most of its chorus members in the crash. Those were young people of talent, graduates of the Moscow and Rostov conservatories, the Moscow Institute of Culture, and other universities of the country, who the glory of opera singers and ballet dancers awaited. But many of them, having been called up for fixed-term military service were designated for service in the Aleksandrov Ensemble and remained faithful to it for life.

The members of the ensemble were given a funeral on January 16, 2017 at the Federal Military Memorial Cemetery in Mytishchi. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Federation Council Chairman Valentina Matvienko attended the memorial service. The Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation M. Sokolov and the Deputy Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation V. Aristarkhov, who also attended the service, spoke out on behalf of the Government. The rite of the funeral service for the dead artists was performed by the Patriarchal Viceroy, the oldest metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church, Juvenal. The memorial service for V.M. Khalilov, Head of the Aleksandrov Song and Dance Ensemble, was on January 14, 2017 at the Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhov, which was performed by a close friend of Valery Mikhailovich, Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk. On the same day, "Christmas Oratorio" of Metropolitan Hilarion was performed at Crocus City Hall to commemorate the memory of Valery Khalilov. Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov was buried on January 16, 2017 according to his will, at the Arkhangelsk churchyard, which is not far from the Novinki Village of Kirzhachsky district, Vladimir Region, which is the homeland of his mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Novinki, where he built a house for his family and a chapel, he last visited on December 11, 2016, shortly before his death.

APPENDICIES

Maria Khalilova
(January 30, 2017)

LEAVE IN ORDER TO STAY AND THE LAW OF THE BOOMERANG

Today Khalilov Valery Mikhailovich, my dad, is 65, which is a maximum age for a lieutenant general for military service. We were somewhat nervous waiting for this day to come, because an officer who dedicated all his life to his favourite service in the army (from the age of 11) approaches a point when only one word changes everything: an active officer becomes a retired officer facing psychological distress because a man of activity, strong health and will is given the status of a military pensioner. When talking to my dad about this date, and there were many reasons for that, the sadness in his eyes and voice was perceptible. He didn't know what to do or where to move on. He told me that he would live in the village and enjoy himself on the Black Sea coast. But for such a creative, energetic, social-minded and, dare I say it, popular person, it would be difficult to just simply "enjoy himself". He wouldn't be able. Maybe that is why he left before reaching retirement age, and remained in his "on active service" status. He is young, he is in the army, and he is a recognized authority!

God took him away almost a month before today's jubilee date while everyone was asleep, while he was on the way from the caressing sea to the starry sky. His soul departed instantly without suffering as there is not pain in heaven. In the moment of his death he was surrounded by bright and talented people. And we realize that, probably, everything is to happen in its due time. So, that's the way it has to be, and at last my dad can truly rest in peace. But we stay here on Earth with the pain of losing him. What is behind this line? Everyone is looking for answers to these questions. But I know for sure that my dad is by my side. Several times I have felt his presence. How - I won't tell! But please believe it and give our loved ones an opportunity to reveal the signs of their presence. They will always be with you and will always help but only when you really need it.

Dad gave me 34 years of happiness. In addition to career success, my dad has created values on which our family is based, and he did it creatively as he would do everything in his life. Our parents taught us the main thing - to enjoy the little things in life. Dad taught me to love and appreciate nature. Strawberries, blue cornflowers, lilacs, the smell of wormwood, the smell of hay, mushrooms, dew, trees, and much more - that's what made him happy and filled him with energy and what he passed on to us. And if you combine nature and music, then it's called Harmony; Harmony of body and soul. And this Harmony gives us the strength to face and deal with painful life events, from which the whole inner world turns upside down.

I can spend hours, even days, talking about my dad, because I can think of only one word that best describes him, which is, Perfect. He is perfect in everything. All-forgiving, most kind-hearted, cheerful, creative, inspiring – it's all about him.

Yesterday, my 11-year-old daughter just said: "You know, Mom, God takes only the very best so early." "Why?" I wondered. "Everyone knows it!"

Though being the eldest among those on board, my dad was young at heart. They were all the very best; the best and inspiring personalities! When reading what friends and relatives say about the members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, I never fail to come across the same phrases: "He was kind, always smiling, loved everyone ..." They were there all together. God was filling up the flight until the very last minute.

And about the law of the boomerang. Dad gave people love, attention, and respect despite his rank and social position. What goes around comes around and now my father's love is returning to us. All my father's friends, acquaintances, and relatives surrounded us with their love, and this love helps us to cope with desperation, a terrible and grave condition. But THANK YOU for your support, attention, and care. Love each other and do good deeds because there are no statuses before God. We are all equal before God. And eventually we are all to get together where our grandmothers, great-grandmothers, fathers, and children are.

Dear daddy, the best daddy ever, I wish you a happy birthday! I feel your presence! We'll be fine. We'll do our best to continue where you left off. And you achieved much! You did everything for us! We all thank you. Thank you for teaching us to love life, love and respect nature, love each other and everyone! We'll be worthy of your beautiful surname Khalilov. We'll pass on from generation to generation all your lessons, patient teaching, and your most beautiful brass and spiritual Music.

P.S. Once before taking a vacation I told my dad that I was afraid of travelling by air, to which he said: "Really! I just love flying. Most of all takeoffs and landings!" And moved his hand to show a smooth rise...

He also said that he did not want to live to a very old age gradually becoming helpless so that someone would have to take care of him. He said that happy are those who die suddenly, from the rupture of a blood vessel, for example. "I would want it this way", his saying. We often talked about the burial place, which gave him a thrilling emotion. He felt glad and quiet. Everything has come true. Everything! A lifetime of happiness, accidental death... "We cry our eyes out with self-pity," as our Mom says, "but you can only be happy for Dad!"

Dad's favourite phrase is "Everything will be fine"...

ABOUT VALERY KHALILOV

Olga Yurievna Golodets, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation:

Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov is an amazing musical genius, a man of inexhaustible energy. He had so many ideas and so many projects that sometimes we had a hard time keeping up with his brilliant initiatives. Valery Mikhailovich has gone away too soon, as well as the members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, Dr. Lisa, and those who were on board on December 25, 2016. But they did great things and they remained…

…It was Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov, Head of the Alexandrov Ensemble, who came up with the idea to unite children and youth brass bands from different cities of the country into the combined children's brass band. This idea we discussed in October last year. Thanks to his efforts, The Wind Society was established to promote and foster brass band movement in all cities and small remote settlements of Russia. Despite his premature death, his ideas live on.

Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu, General of the Army, Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation:

Valery Mikhailovich, the Legendary Man who dedicated his life to the Army, Music, and Russia, will forever remain in our memory...

Hilarion Alfeyev, Bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan of Volokolamsk, Vicar of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, composer:

I happened to know Valery Mikhailovich for many years, and today I would like to say about him as a wonderful person and a wonderful musician.

Valery Mikhailovich was a man with true faith. He said: "How could one not love the Church? I can't understand."

Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov showed equal consideration to military music, classical music, and church music. It is no coincidence that in the repertoire of the performing groups headed by him one could enjoy different kinds of music, such as military, classical and church music. He was a regular participant of many events organized by the Russian Orthodox Church, including concerts on Red Square on the Day of Slavic Written Language and Culture attended by tens of thousands of people. Valery Mikhailovich was a very positive person always with a smile and so much joy. He was not afraid of any difficulties or challenges. He knew how to inspire those around him with his optimism. The whole country knew Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov. His death in a plane crash was a huge loss for many, just like the death of Dr. Lisa, members of the Alexandrov Ensemble and those people who perished in the plane crashed into the Black Sea on December 25 last year. Remembering Valery Mikhailovich in our prayers, we cannot separate our memory of him from the memory of all those who lost their lives on that tragic morning.

Iosif Davydovich Kobzon, Deputy of the State Duma, People's Artist of the USSR, professor:

When concerns are expressed about the replacement of the lost members of the Alexandrov Ensemble, I say: "Think how to replace Khalilov." We can't replace him. Musicians, chorus members and dancers can be found, but we won't find another Khalilov. We all mourn the victims of the plane crash. The members of the Alexandrov Ensemble were my colleagues, all wonderful performers. But I'm deeply saddened by the loss of such an outstanding musician... I felt very comfortable and easy in his company; we worked together for many years - in the Great Hall of the Conservatory, in the Tchaikovsky Hall, in France, in Serbia... Those were the hands of a real conductor. He was very sensitive to my voice intonations, as I was sensitive to all his gestures. Khalilov is an amazing person and musician. The person very dear for me has gone away…

Alexandra Nikolaevna Pakhmutova, composer, pianist, public figure, People's Artist of the USSR, laureate of two State Prizes of the USSR:

Valery Khalilov was recently appointed as director and artistic director of the Alexandrov Ensemble. He had many plans as to how breathe new life into the performing team and expand its repertoire. The first results were quite staggering. Not only military music and Soviet songs were performed at the concert on the Historical Stage of the Bolshoi Theatre in late November. The programme of the concert included also the most complex choral fragments from operas and dance scenes. No wonder the audience gave a standing ovation. It was the result of Khalilov's work, and it could not be otherwise. It was he who would gather in Moscow the best military bands in the world at the Spasskaya Tower Festival; he was well known and loved in many countries. Chief military conductor of Russia, he led the massed military bands at all large parades. Possessing a rare sense of tact, Valery Mikhailovich never pushed himself forward. He was a composer, and his marches and songs could well be on the posters. But the classics and the rich heritage of Soviet music remained his main priority. Khalilov is as much a personality as a musician who could have done a lot more. The band and the choir under the direction of Valery Mikhailovich performed in all my concert-portraits. Only he was able to unite performers with such a powerful force, to use music to tell about the exploits of our army, about the people who made history.

Alexander Mikhailovich Khalilov, Colonel, Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation, composer, arranger, associate professor, military conductor, brother of Valery Mikhailovich:

There'll never be another man like my brother. We suffered an unspeakable loss. I'm completely objective now in saying that he is a man and a musician of the highest calibre and integrity in a broad sense, which includes the amount of education, competence, worldview, wisdom, experience, and musical prowess to the highest degree. Only now did I fully realize whose brother I was. I sometimes took offense at him, thinking that he was too hard on me, too unfair, and so on. I didn't like it but I was patient because I knew intuitively that my place in life was next to that very sun, my brother. Nothing can fill the deep void left by the sudden loss of him. This phenomenon is gone and cannot be replaced. Now there can only be something else. It only remains for those who came to replace him to gain experience and authority. And how to gain authority? Only by deeds and professional mastery. After all, the Lord God won't let the meaning of Valery Mikhailovich's life work fade…

Alla Nikolaevna Solovskaya, photographer:

The Spasskaya Tower Festival in Moscow is attended by military bands from all over the world. For several years it has become a very popular and prominent event thanks to Valery Khalilov, who tragically died in the plane crash in the Black Sea off Sochi.

I remember it was raining chilly, and the wind was blowing from the river, as usual. At the press conference, Khalilov asked all military band conductors to come up to the regular buffet table and said: "I understand that we have expensive instruments, woollen suits; some suits with gold embroidery are very, very expensive. But we are military people, and the stands are already full of spectators. It is my personal decision that our team will perform." The tense faces of the military band conductors attentively listening to the translation of Valery Mikhailovich's speech were worth seeing. When the Chief Military Conductor of Russia finished his rather short and concise speech, the answer ricocheted in different languages: "Yes!" It was very impressive to see the conductors from other countries follow the will and energy of the Russian Lieutenant General. Although at that moment he rather looked like a soldier loyal to the Motherland and Duty without the pathos. May his memory live in our hearts.

Ilya Rakhmielevich Reznik, Soviet and Russian songwriter. Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Arts, People's Artist of the Russian Federation:

He was ingeniously simple, if we talk about genius. He was modest; he was approachable; he was democratic; was never presumptuous, never meddled in intrigues, never got involved in squabbles. Creativity was his way of life. He took his job very seriously. He was our national identity. Yes! And he did it admirably. In fact, he was one of the symbols of our nation. Iconic figure, do you understand? Therefore, of course, he was treated with great respect. I cannot imagine the Parade on Red Square without these hands, without this bearing, without this look, without this upsurge of joy. They say everyone can be replaced. No, Khalilov Valera is irreplaceable. He was a man in a thousand; a man of great talent, extreme noble simplicity, soulfulness, and perfectionism. He was a man of integrity. He was, as Maxim Gorky said, a man with a capital M. "Man" sounds proud. In fact, he is the pride of our country!

Sergey Dmitrievich Khlebnikov, Lieutenant General, Deputy Director of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSO of Russia), Commandant of the Moscow Kremlin:

The well-known phrase "nobody is irreplaceable" is irrelevant here. He was a competent person with encyclopaedic knowledge in his field. Valery Mikhailovich was a real military intellectual. He was very natural and well-wishing in communicating with people. But when it came to work, he became punctilious and exacting. He was a very noble personality. And at the same time, he was very specific in his liking. I was very surprised by the lyricism of his music since at first I believed that Valery Mikhailovich composed only military marches. But it turned out that he also composed a considerable amount of symphonic music. Valery Mikhailovich was a polymathic personality. Perhaps less well-known is the fact he was also a sporting man. He played sports as much as the service allowed.

He tried to treat everybody alike, but if he realized that he disliked a person, he lost interest in him and tried to avoid his company. He kept military musicians' issues at heart every time. At the time of parades he always made sure they were properly fed and kept warm. And if there were musicians from other regions, he made sure they were proposed a cultural programme. Sure enough, he had a great respect for his brother, a military musician.

Alexander Ageikin, Mitred Archpriest, Rector of the Moscow Epiphany Cathedral in Yelokhov:

He was an amazing man of great faith, a true patriot invariably full of positive energy. As a leader, he inspired young people and his colleagues and promoted traditional values inherent in Russia. Much depended on him. He was the mainstay of all military festivals, including the famous Spasskaya Tower Festival on Red Square. I know his family and baptized his grandchildren. As soon as we learned about the tragedy, in our cathedral we had a service sung for him, which was attended by his colleagues and friends. And we just had the feeling that Valery Mikhailovich was with us. Hopefully his work would continue. Memory eternal!

Alexander Vladimirovich Kibovsky, Minister of the Government of Moscow, Head of the Department of Culture of the City of Moscow:

Once again we applaud the unchallenged Music Director of the Spasskaya Tower Festival, Valery Khalilov, who tragically died in the plane crash. He was the initiator of the idea to bring back performances of military bands in parks and gardens of Moscow. Given the enthusiastic response of the audience, the Military Bands in the Parks project was a success. Many thanks to the musicians who made Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov's dream come true.

Timofey Konstantinovich Mayakin, Major General, Head of the Military Band Service - Chief Conductor of the RF Armed Forces:

Valery Mikhailovich used to say about our work: "Military music is powerful, without being aggressive, contrary to stereotypes. It hurts me to hear that the performance of military march music is a step towards the militarization of the entire country. It seems to me that one should think in terms of artistic taste. A good march is as difficult to compose as a good song. Music is out of politics." Therefore, Valery Mikhailovich was at all times in a state of composing and left us a rich legacy. He even composed romances. Moreover, his creative projects and ideas were best realised in numerous military music festivals, including the Amur Waves Festival. He was our good and trusted friend. All of his rich talent he dedicated to the audience. The life of this talented person ended abruptly when he was full of creative ideas and initiatives. But his work continues.

Sergey Alekseevich Chebotarev, Head of the City of Tambov (2017-2019), Deputy Head of the Administration of Tambov Oblast (2009-2017):

Khalilov was welcomed enthusiastically in Tambov. I remember him walking down the street and people shouting: "Glory to the great Khalilov!" Of course, at that time it was looked at with a smile, but today we understand that it is really so. I remember how he sat down on the steps of the monument to Shatrov and Agapkin and said: "Take pictures! Three great military conductors". Valery Mikhailovich was a very cheerful person, despite all his sternness and generalness, he had a good sense of humour and could be utterly charming. We all keep calling him a "military" conductor, which in my opinion, is not quite right. With all due respect to this wonderful profession and those who belong to it, Valery Mikhailovich is a unique phenomenon. He is an incredible musician with perfect taste. In addition to extensive knowledge, he had something that is unknowable. God blessed him with an ability to intuit what is remarkable, beautiful, and what needs to be abandoned... He also had the ability to take any joy in life just like a child. Only a genius and a child can be that way, live like this. And he got this amazing smile that can be compared only with Gagarin's smile. A smile that conquers you at once, that conquered the world. Today they are lying in the earth, near Kirzhach, near the crash site of Gagarin's aircraft. This is also symbolic, because no one saw them old and weak, and they remain remembered as having flown away. Wonderful words of Nikolai Dobronravov: "Earth has become empty without you… Come back sooner if you can..." May the memory of Valery Mikhailovich live forever!

Igor Dyrtyzh-oolovich Dulush, Honoured Artist of the Republic of Tuva, Director of the Tuva State Philharmonic Society named after V. M. Khalilov:

There are many great conductors of the past and present in the world, and undoubtedly, there will be in the future. I hope few would disagree with me that Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov stands out on his own among leaders of this profession - a man of a lofty soul and the highest level of skill. We have a clear understanding of the magnitude of his personality, as well as the subtlety and grace of his very unobtrusive, precise and very powerful effect on us in the positive sense. Just being with him fills everyone with confidence and renews strength. As artists would say, he is a man of character. A man of character is responsible for his decision and will do whatever it takes to honour his commitments. He has the strength to pursue whatever he wants to achieve. He is that kind of a man.

For all of us who met him, talked to him or watched him only from afar, Valery Mikhailovich remained forever in the memory as a brief glimpse, because one second is enough to change perception. Tuva saw the hands of the conductor of the Victory Parade in white gloves. They are very similar to the wings of a bird. And I realize that we are all very fortunate, because the hands of Valery Khalilov the conductor blessed the art of Tuva with the wing-beats of the Muse of art. A very big responsibility rests on us. The most important task of the entire Philharmonic Society is to be up to his name. It is a very high bar, and we are to reach it. We have no options. No way back now. We are ordered not another step backwards!

Oleg Alexandrovich Fedoseev, Head of the Amur Waves Festival, Khabarovsk:

The name of Khalilov is like a quality mark known throughout the world. He never did anything half-heartedly. The popular festivals Spasskaya Tower (Moscow), Amur Waves (Khabarovsk), and March of the Century (Tambov) are all his brainchildren. He launched a lot of projects, but if it was not possible to put his ideas into practice as he saw them, he just wound down any activities on the project without saying another word about it. Now the name of the founder of the festival that attracts military musicians from all over the world is its chief asset. Military bands from Mongolia, Korea, Kazakhstan, and from all over Russia come to Khabarovsk and the distance doesn't hold them back.

Vladimir Nikolaevich Snegirev, Russian international journalist, writer, military journalist:

On many occasions I saw the most important military musicians from different countries, conductors, chiefs of the military bands, and people with big stars on their epaulets stiffening to attention when Valery Mikhailovich Khalilov appeared. Despite his command "At ease", they looked at him with due respect and some even with a touch of awe. And one can understand why. Our general enjoyed indisputable professional authority. As military men, they understood: Khalilov is the commander-in-chief of all military musicians of the Earth.