three sisters
dramaturgy
porch song
Andrey, Tuzenbach, and Chebutykin sing this song in Act Two as a celebration complete with dancing and followed by drinking. In this page, I'll provide sheet music, the Russian text, the transliteration, the English translation, and the history behind the song.
LYRICS TRANSLITERATION
Ах вы, сени мои, сени новые мои,
Ahk vee, syai-nee mah-ee, syai-nee noh-vee-yeh mah-ee
Сени новые, кленовые, решётчатые
Syai-nee noh-vee-yeh, kleh-noh-vee-yeh, reh-shyoht-chah-tee-yeh
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Oh you, my porch, you, my nice porch, new and dear, so you are,
My porch new and made of maple tree, the latticed you are.
Ах вы, сени мои is one of the most well known folk songs in Russia. In the past, Russian houses were divided into parts (one part for men, one part for women, etc.). However, the porch united all of these parts. Young girls ("porch girls") would sit on the porch and work. They would also compose and sing songs, like this one. This is a dancing song, so when they sang it, they'd take a brief break from their work to dance along.
This song is also featured in Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. It is said that when it was being translated into French, he was horrified at the translation, after discovering that this song was translated to "Vestibule, Ma Vestibule."
The song is about a girl who is in love with a boy that her father refuses to let her see.