I have noticed that there are a number of melodies that are common to both Italian and Russian folk music. Odd, since they aren't adjecent, and, musically, as well as geographically, there's a lot of distance between the two.

I remember watching the Torino Olympics, and in a little bit of filler space, they had some footage of a Saint's Day parade, a small group of people, marching behind the Saint's Statue, with a wobbly little brass band playing--the thing was, the melody they were playing was "Katyusha"--those parades are a tradition that probably hasn't changed much since the middle ages, so that it is unlikely they learned it from an "Odessa Balalaikas" album (like I did)--

In Russian music, it sounds like it is typically and unmistakably Russian, and in the Saints parade, you couldn't imagine anything sounding more Italian--truly a puzzle.