Vasilij Agapkin was born in the vicinity of Ryazan. Later his parents moved to Astrakhan, but died soon after. The juvenile orphan thus was forced to lead a street urchin’s life until he was accepted into the band of the 308th Reserve Battalion in Tsarjov as an apprentice. Farewell of the Slavic Girl (Slavianka) was composed in 1912 when he was a member of the band of the 7th Reserve Cavalry Regiment in Tambov. He allegedly was inspired by film clips of the Balkan Wars during his employment as a...