A piece of classical music a bit similar to the soviet national anthem. It has no words, just a humming choir?

Question

A friend told me it was played in a submarine movie, but it was not the movie by Sean Connery. I have looked for it everywhere. Some people suggested it was a Russian orchestra, I am not sure though. It is a classical with a humming choir the whole way, sounds a bit patriotic. If you can, please post all the suggestions.

Answer 1

I think the movie is probably "The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming" from 1966 where a Russian sub gets stuck on a sandbar and part of the crew goes into a small New England fishing village to find a boat to tow them off the bar. The choral arrangement for men is, if memory serves me well, the "Volga Boat Song" :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG-KiYnIn2U

Musician, composer, teacher.

Answer 2

This is almost certainly the most famous piece by the Soviet composer Lev Knipper (1898-1974) called 'Polyushko polye' ('Oh, my field' OR 'Oh, my land' in inadequate translation). This melody originally appeared in his 4th Symphony in 1934 taken from an old Civil War tune but soon became a classical patriotic Soviet song in Knipper's version. It is often heard in arrangements by the Red Army Choir and usually (but it depends on the arrangement) begins quietly with the men's voices humming the tune.

The link below gives a bit more background information.

I think (and hope) this is the piece you're after.

Edit:
Apparently, this is not correct. The other idea I had is a hymn from the film music that Prokofiev wrote for Ivan the Terrible. This has a hummed tune like you describe which one could say sounded patriotic.

Answer 3

It could be Song of the Volga Boatmen, which is a traditional Russian piece.

Answer 4

It might be the "humming chorus" in the 2nd act of the opera Madame Butterfly by Puccini. It's very famous. I'm not sure about any submarine movies, but it's very possible that it has been used in film. see wiki article, 2nd act - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madama_Butterfly


Try listening to the sample given for it on amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/Puccini-Madam-Butterfly-Highlights-Barbirolli/dp/B0000269YS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1196350469&sr=1-1


EDIT: hehe...judging from the poor marks...I'd say my answer is incorrect! :P

Answer 5

Could it be Mozart's Requiem?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-zDH_ekIUg