How young we were: The most famous songs with comments, sheet music, and photographs

Alexander Pakhmutova and Nikolai Dobronravov — their names are inseparably linked both in life and in the consciousness of several generations of people. For almost 70 years, they wrote songs together that were performed not only by famous artists — the whole country sang them. Familiar since childhood, relevant in any times — these songs still confidently march across Russia today: “Melody”, “Tenderness”, “I can't do otherwise”, “Belovezhskaya Pushcha”, “Hope is my earthly compass”, “Bird of Happiness”, “Goodbye, Moscow”, “Russian Waltz” and many, many others. In the works of A.N. Pakhmutova and N.N. Dobronravov, our history is reflected from the post-war years to the present time, and the heroes became Olympic champions and conquerors of space, geologists and builders, defenders of the Motherland and pioneers, celebrities and humble nameless workers. This book collects the most famous poems by Nikolai Dobronravov, which Alexander Pakhmutova turned into songs with her music — sheet music for some of them is included on the pages of the publication. Here she also described how these songs came to life. And the greatest gift for the reader is the unique photographs from the personal archives of the authors.