Heart on Snow

Heart on Snow is the twelfth solo studio album by the British singer/songwriter Marc Almond. It was released by Blue Star Music, in conjunction with XIII BIS Records, on 21 October 2003.

Background

An article by the BBC describes how Almond "went to St Petersburg to interpret traditional Russian romance songs" to make what "may have become his most ambitious album so far".^[1] Almond mostly sang cover versions of traditional Russian songs, including a number from the Russian romance canon, and collaborated with a number of Russian artists on the album, such as Alla Bayanova and Lyudmila Zykina.

The album was released as a standard jewel case CD and a limited edition CD book in a slipcase containing a 44-page book with extensive background notes to all of the songs.

The single "Gone But Not Forgotten" was released from the album in September 2003 with two tracks ("Gosudaryunia" and "Just One Chance") and the video for the title track.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Uncut	^[2]
The Guardian	^[3]

Reviews for Heart on Snow were mixed. Dorian Lynskey in The Guardian describes Heart on Snow as "a labour of love for which it's hard to feel much affection" and as lacking "the sly humour of Soft Cell and his best solo work" yet admires the "boldness and integrity in making an album that only uses Russian musicians".^[3] The review in Uncut states that Almond keeps his versions of the material "respectful which, despite the lack of Russian wildness, makes it (Heart on Snow) all the more moving".^[2] Paul Taylor in the Manchester Evening News describes the album as "a cunning mixture of smooth, westernised productions and balalaika-plucking, raw Russky folk stylings" and states that "anyone remotely broad-minded about their music would find this a joy".^[4]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Origins	Length
1.	"So Long the Path (So Wide the Field)"	Marc Almond, Lev Knipper, Viktor Gusev	based on Polyushko-polye	3:12
2.	"Strange Feeling" (duet with Sergey Penkin)	Alex Prusov	originally performed by Sergey Penkin	3:42
3.	"Gosudaryunia" (featuring Aquarium)	Boris Grebenshchikov	originally performed by Aquarium	3:05
4.	"Always and Everywhere (I Will Follow You)"	Sofus Gerdel	originally performed by Vadim Kozin	3:40
5.	"Oh, My Soul" (duet with Alla Bayanova)	trad.	traditional	3:31
6.	"Two Guitars" (with Loiko)	Apollon Grigoryev, Ivan Vasiliev	traditional	3:32
7.	"Heart on Snow" (with 'Russia' orchestra)	Arno Babajanian, Aleksandr Dmokhovskij	originally performed by Arno Babajanian	4:03
8.	"Nuit De Noel" (with Boris Grebenschikov)	Alexander Vertinsky	originally performed by Alexander Vertinsky	2:53
9.	"Romance"	Nikolai Noskov, Nikolay Gumilyov	originally performed by Nikolay Gumilyov	4:59
10.	"The Storks"	Yan Frenkel, Rasul Gamzatov	originally Zhuravli (The Cranes)	3:53
11.	"Luna (The Moon)" (duet with Alla Bayanova)	Bayanova, Tatyana Flaviskaya	originally performed by Alla Bayanova	2:01
12.	"White Flowers of Acacia"	trad., A Pugachev	Russian romance song	2:33
13.	"The Glance Of Your Dark Eyes" (featuring Mikhail Aptekman)	Nikolai Zubov, I Zhelezko	Russian romance song	3:48
14.	"If Your Affectionate Smile Has Gone" (duet with Ilya Lagutenko)	Vasily Lebedev-Kumach	originally performed by V Kozin	4:11
15.	"Sleeping Beauty"	Andrei Samsonov, Almond		3:59
16.	"Just One Chance" (duet with Lyudmila Zykina)	Boris Fomin, Pedro Saint German	Russian romance song	4:22
17.	"Gone But Not Forgotten"	Almond, Martin Watkins		4:29
18.	"So Wide The Field (Reprise)" (featuring Mikhail Aptekman)	Almond, Knipper, Gusev	based on Polyushko-polye	1:38
19.	"The Glance Of Your Dark Eyes (version 2)" (featuring Mikhail Aptekman)	Nikolai Zubov, I Zhelezko	Russian romance song	4:15

Note - there is a discrepancy with the titles of tracks 13 and 19 between the liner notes, "Glance From Your Dark Eyes"; and the track listing, "The Glance of Your Dark Eyes".

Personnel

In addition to artists credited in the track listing:

Marc Almond - vocals, translation adaptation
Martin Watkins - piano, original keyboards, arrangements
Andrei Samsonov - keyboards
Oleg Belov - keyboards, grand piano
Mikhail Aptekman - grand piano
Sergey Erdenko - violin
Georgij Osmolovskij - violin
Aliosha Bezlepkin - guitar
Vladimir Kudryavtsev - double bass
Grigory Voskoboynikov - double bass
Albert Potapkin - drums
Garij Bagdasaryan - drums
Oleg Sakmarov - flute
Andrej Vikharev - percussion
Sergej Shurakov - accordion
Kirill Kravtsov - cello
Alexandre Kiahidi - trumpet
Dmitrij Kuzmin - tuba
Karin Brown - French horn
Viktor Bastrakov - guitar
Maria Shurakova - mandolin
Vladimir Miller - bass vocal
Anatoli Sobolev - conductor
The St Petersburg Higher Naval Engineering Choir - choir
Gardemarin Youth Choir - choir
Julia Khutoretskaya - choir leader

References

↑ Tim Bishop (5 November 2003). "Torch singer Almond lights up Russia". BBC. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
1 2 "Marc Almond - Heart on Snow". Uncut. 1 December 2001. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
1 2 Dorian Lynskey (5 December 2011). "Marc Almond, Heart on Snow". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
↑ Paul Taylor (12 August 2004). "Marc Almond - Heart on Snow". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 1 April 2015.

Marc Almond

Studio albums	Vermin in Ermine (1984) Stories of Johnny (1985) Mother Fist and Her Five Daughters (1987) The Stars We Are (1988) Jacques (1989) Enchanted (1990) Tenement Symphony (1991) Absinthe (1993) Fantastic Star (1996) Open All Night (1999) Stranger Things (2001) Heart on Snow (2003) Stardom Road (2007) Orpheus in Exile (2009) Varieté (2010) Feasting with Panthers (2011) The Tyburn Tree (Dark London) (2014) The Dancing Marquis (2014) Ten Plagues - A Song Cycle (2014) The Velvet Trail (2015)

Flesh Volcano	Slut (1987)

Marc and the Mambas	Untitled (1982) Torment and Toreros (1983)

Songs	"Total Eclipse"

Related articles	Discography Soft Cell The Immaculate Consumptive

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