Gagarin's Constellation

Released1971

Recorded1968–1971

LanguageRussian

LabelMelodiya

Gagarin's Constellation
EP by Yuri Gulyayev
Released	1971
Recorded	1968–1971
Language	Russian
Label	Melodiya

Gagarin's Constellation (Russian: Созвездие Гагарина, Sozvezdie Gagarina) is a Soviet vocal song cycle by composer Alexandra Pakhmutova and lyricist Nikolai Dobronravov, first issued as an EP by the state label Melodiya in 1971, performed by Soviet tenor Yuri Gulyayev.^[1]

The cycle was conceived as a lyrical tribute to Yuri Gagarin, whom Pakhmutova and Dobronravov knew personally, and was written in the years following his death in 1968.^[2] Its best-known song is Do You Know What Kind of Guy He Was.

The original 1971 release contained four songs and was included in Melodiya’s official catalog of recordings.^[1] A later concert variant expanded the cycle to five numbers by adding the title song "Созвездье Гагарина".^[3] The song Do You Know What Kind of Guy He Was quickly became associated with both Gagarin's Constellation and Gulyayev, and has been widely covered in subsequent decades.^[2]