I was a member of the Russian Choir at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California more than forty-five years ago and Kalinka was one of the liveliest songs in our repertoire. We started out slowly and softly, building up gradually to a final chorus of wild Cossack exuberance with all the hoots, hollers, and whistles we could muster. Ah, to be young again, singing and dancing along the Steppes in the days of Czarist Russia. Thanks for the memory, eh? :-)