The Russo-Japanese war was still in progress a hundred years ago from now. Tsushima, the greatest disaster the Russian fleet has been through, was still a few months ahead. It is remarkable that three musical pieces written during or shortly after that unfortunate war, and about it, are well-known even to this day: The Varyag, On the Hills of Manchuria, and Cold Waves are Lapping (this last one is less famous). It is often assumed that the lyrics of The Varyag is a translation of a German poem, namely the one composed by a certain Rudolf Greinz in 1904 under the impression of the Varyag’s seemingly unnecessary feat.
I have come across an interesting take on the history of the Varyag song by a Russian gentleman who has suggested some interesting connections. As I am not sure of his conclusions, I would like to ask three questions in the hope that a reader may have a hint of a clue.
First, is it true that a certain Rudolf Greinz published in 1904, in Jugend, a Munich journal, a poem beginning with this stanza:
Auf Deck, Kameraden, all’ auf Deck!
Heraus zur letzten Parade!
Der stolze Warjag ergibt sich nicht,
Wir brauchen keine Gnade!
If this poem indeed appeared at that time, I would consider it proven that the Russian text is a calque from German, for the Russian version starts:
To the upper deck, comrades, all take your places:
The last parade is coming.
Our proud Varyag is not surrendering to the enemy,
Nobody desires mercy.
Suppose that the answer to question 1 is a more or less decisive “yes.” Two more queries are forthcoming then:
- What, if any, is the relationship between the author of the poem and Rudolf Greinz, the Austrian writer (1866–1942)?
- What, if any, is the relationship among the two aforementioned Greinzes (who may be identical) and Rudolf Greinz, the author of Die eiserne Faust–Marterln auf unsere Feinde, a book of verse published in Leipzig in 1915 and ridiculed in The Good Soldier Schweik?
Many, many thanks in advance.