Ethnic Russian music specifically deals with the folk music traditions of the ethnic
Russian peopleThe Russian people are an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
. It does not include the various forms of art music, which in Russia often contains folk melodies and folk elements.
Ethnic Styles
The performance and promulgation of ethnic music in Russia has a long tradition. Initially it was intertwined with various forms of art music, however, in the late 19th century it began to take on a life of its own with the rise in popularity of folkloric ensembles, such as the folk choir movement led by
Mitrofan PyatnitskyMitrofan Yefimovich Pyatnitsky was a Russian and Soviet musician, gatherer of Russian folk songs. He established the famous Pyatnitsky Choir in 1910 from 18 peasants originally from the Ryazan and Smolensk gubernias. After his death in 1927, the chorus was named after him....
and the Russian folk instrument movement pioneered by Vasily Andreyev.
In
Soviet RussiaSoviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia and Bolshevist Russia may refer to:*The part of Russia under the control of the Bolshevik government during the interval between the October Revolution and the formal declaration of the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic according to its first, 1918 Russian...
, folk music was categorized as being democratic (of the people) or proletarian (of the working class) as opposed to art music, which was often regarded as being bourgeois. After the revolution, along with Proletarian "mass music" (music for the proletarian masses) it received significant support from the state. In Post
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Russia, Proletarian mass music however lost its appeal, whereas folkloric music continued to have a widespread support among the population, inside and outside of the Soviet Union.
In the 1960s folk music in Russia continued to receive significant state support and was often seen as the antithesis of Western
pop musicPop music is a music genre that developed from the mid-1950s as a softer alternative to rock 'n' roll and later to rock music. It has a focus on commercial recording, often orientated towards a youth market, usually through the medium of relatively short and simple love songs...
. The fact that numerous Soviet folkloric ensembles were invited for foreign tours raised the prestige of the folk performer to that of academic musicians, and in some cases even higher because access to the West and Western goods was very desirable.
Ethnic (folk) music in Russia can often be categorized according to the amount of authenticity in the performance: truly authentic folk music (reproductive performances of traditional music), folkloric and fakeloric performance.
Russia is a multi-ethnic country with some 300 different ethnic groups, many of them non-Slavic, living within its borders. This article deals specifically with just Russian ethnic music.
Authentic folk music
This music is closely tied in with the village life and traditions. It was usually not performed by music professionals. In recent times, with the move to literacy and technology there has been a marked decline in authentic folk performance practice. Festivals, competitions and the work of
ethnomusicologistsEthnomusicology is a branch of musicology defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."...
have made attempts at preserving what has survived. In recent times there has been a movement by musicologists to study and reproduce authentic folk music in an authentic performance style on the concert stage. This movement in Russia is spearheaded by members of the Faculty of folk music at the
Moscow conservatoryThe Moscow Conservatory is a higher musical education institution in Moscow, and the second oldest conservatory in Russia after St. Petersburg Conservatory. Along with the St...
under the direction of Dmitri Pokrovsky
Folkloric music
This category includes music by groups led by music professionals who take authentic musical material, refine it, and perform it in a manner suitable for the musically tastes of educated Western audiences. The category includes many of the regional folkloric ensembles and dance companies popular in the Russian Federation such as the
Kuban Cossack ChoirKuban Cossack Chorus is one of the leading Folkloric ensembles in Russia. Its repertoire and performances reflect the songs, dances and folklore of the Kuban Cossacks.-Early years:...
. Often these folkloric ensembles specialize in collecting and maintaining the folk music traditions of the area of their origins which they service. They perform in stylized stage costumes based on the authentic costume designs used in the village but modified for stage use.
Fakeloric music
Includes music composed by city intelligentsia and professional composers in a folkloric manner. Some 60-80% of contemporary Russian folk music marketed to the West is not "authentic" and can be loosely labeled as
FakeFake means not real.Fake may also refer to:In music:*Fake , a Swedish synthpop band active in the 1980s*Fake?, a Japanese rock band*Fake book, a collection of musical lead sheets*"Fake", a song by Alexander O'Neal...
loric. Much of the music of the Russian folk instrument orchestras can also be categorized in this group as it is based on academic music traditions and playing techniques only taking a folk element as its inspiration.
In recent times music professionals who have completed diplomas in noted conservatories performing on "Russian folk instruments" are now questioning their "folkiness" when they perform, as none of their music was never really performed originally by the (village) folk. Some now refer to their music as being academic folk music which to many academic musicians is an
oxymoronAn oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory terms...
.
This category can also include singer songwriters such as
Zhanna BichevskayaZhanna Vladimirovna Bichevskaya , is a prominent Russian bard and folk musician.She was born in Zagorsk and in 1971 she graduated from the Moscow Circus and Performing Arts School....
,
Bulat OkudzhavaBulat Shalvovich Okudzhava was one of the founders of the Russian genre called "author's song" . He was of Armenian-Georgian origin, born in Moscow and died in Paris...
, and
Vladimir VysotskyVladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky was an iconic Soviet and Russian singer, songwriter, poet, and actor of mixed Jewish and Russian descent whose career had an immense and enduring effect on Russian culture...
( who are often inaccurately portrayed as "folk singers" in the singer songwriter style reminiscent of the American folk revival of the 60's.
Vocal music
Authentic Russian folk music is primarily vocal. Russian folk song was an integral part of daily life in the village. It was sung from morning to night and reflected the four seasons and significant events in a villager's life.
Authentic village singing differs from academic singing styles. It is usually done using just the chest register and is often called "white sound" or "white" voice. It is often described as controlled screaming or shouting. Female chest register singers only have a low diapason of an octave to 12 notes.
Chest register singing has evolved into a style used by many of the Folk Choirs in Russia and neighbouring countries. It was first pioneered by Pyatnitsky and Ukrainian folk choir director Demutsky in the early 1900'i.
Notable ensembles include: The Pyatnitsky Russian Folk Chorus, The Northern Russian Folk Chorus, The Omsk State Russian Folk Chorus, The Alexandrov Song and Dance Ensemble of the Soviet Army and the Moscow Military Area Song and dance Ensemble.
Instrumental music
Instrumental music for a long period was suppressed in Russia. In 1648 Tsar
Alexis I of RussiaAlexei Mikhailovich Romanov was the Tsar of Russia during some of the most eventful decades of the mid-17th century...
under the influence of the
Russian Orthodox ChurchThe Russian Orthodox Church ; or The Moscow Patriarchate , also known...
banned the use of all musical instruments. At that time it was stated that instruments were from the devil. As a result instrumental music traditions disappeared and did not have a fertile ground for development in Russia for many years. No musical instruments are used in Orthodox churches in Russia.
In the late 19th century Vasilli Andreyev, a salon violinist, took up the
balalaikaThe balalaika is a stringed instrument of Russian origin, with a characteristic triangular body and 3 strings ....
in his performances for French tourists to Petersburg. The music became popular and soon Andreyev had organized a club of balalaika players. This club grew into an orchestra, which in time grew into a movement. From a simple unsophisticated three stringed instrument this movement led to the development and implementation of many other Russian folk instruments.
The Russian folk instrument movement had its resonance in the cultures of other ethnic groups within Russia, the
Soviet UnionThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
and the Soviet Block countries. Folk instrument orchestras appeared in
BelarusBelarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered by Russia to the north and east, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the north. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel , Mahilyow and Vitebsk...
,
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
, Kirgistan,
YugoslaviaYugoslavia is a term that describes three political entities that existed successively on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe, during most of the 20th century.The first country to be known by this...
,
BulgariaBulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a country in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe. Bulgaria borders five other countries: Romania to the north , Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia to the west, and Greece and Turkey to the south...
,
MoldaviaMoldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
, and
RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
.
Chordophones
- Balalaika
The balalaika is a stringed instrument of Russian origin, with a characteristic triangular body and 3 strings ....
- Three-stringed, triangular sound-board, played with the fingers. It comes in many different sizes. Prima, Secunda, Alto, tenor, bass and contrabass). Two of the strings are tuned alike in prima, secunda and alto balalaikas.
- Domra
The domra is a long-necked Russian string instrument of the lute family with a round body and three or four metal strings.-History:In 1896, a student of Vassily Vassilievich Andreyev found a broken instrument in a stable in rural Russia...
- Small three or four-stringed Russian variant of the mandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It is descended from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family...
with a rounded soundboard, plucked or strummed with a plectrumA plectrum is a small flat tool used to pluck or strum a stringed instrument. For guitars and similar instruments, the plectrum is a separate tool held in the player's hand...
. Also made in various orchestral sizes.
- Gudok - (also hudok) A three-stringed, pear-shaped Russian bowed instrument tuned in 5th which is usually held vertically.
- Gusli
Gusli Gusli Gusli ( is the oldest Russian multi-string plucked instrument. Its exact history is unknown, but it may have derived from a Byzantine form of the Greek kythare, which in turn derived from the ancient lyre. It has its relatives throughout the world - kantele in Finland, kannel in...
- One of the oldest known Eastern Slav musical instruments, described by the Greeks as early as the 6th century CE. Many different varieties of this plucked string instrument exist.
- Relia
The kolyosnaya lira a Russian variation of the hurdy gurdy - came to Russia from Western Europe, has one melodic string, which is shorten by keys and few other strings which are tuned in definite note, sound comes from the friction of wooden wheel against the strings- History :The kolesnaya lira...
- Russian version of the hurdy-gurdy usually made with a violoncello body
- Semistrunnaya Gitara (Semistrunka)
The Russian guitar is a seven-string acoustic guitar that arrived in Russia toward the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, most probably as an evolution of the cittern, kobza, and torban. It is known in Russian as the semistrunnaya gitara , or affectionately as the...
- a seven string version of the acoustic guitar with its own preferred method of construction and unique open G major tuning.
Aerophones
- Bayan
The bayan is a type of chromatic button accordion developed in Russia in the early 20th century and named after the bard, Boyan...
- | A chromatic button accordionA chromatic button accordion is a type of button accordion where the melody-side keyboard consists of rows of buttons arranged chromatically. The bass-side keyboard is usually the Stradella system or one of the various free-bass systems. Included among chromatic button accordions are the Russian...
- Garmon'
The garmon is a kind of Russian button accordion, a free-reed wind instrument. A garmon has two rows of buttons on the right side, which play the notes of a diatonic scale, and at least two rows of buttons on the left side, which play the primary chords in the key of the instrument as well as its...
- | A kind of diatonic Russian button accordionA button accordion is a type of accordion on which the melody-side keyboard consists of a series of buttons rather than piano-style keys. There exists a wide variation in keyboard systems, tuning, action and construction of these instruments...
, featuring a unique unisonoric design.
- Kalyuki - | A hollow pipe with no additional air holes, used for whistling sounds.
- Kugikli/Kuvikly | Simple panpipes
- Svirel
Svirel is an old folk Russian wind instrument of the end-blown flute type. In the Old Rus’ this instrument was made either of hollow reed or cylindrical wood branches. A legend says that Lel', son of the Slavic goddess of love Lada was a svirel player...
- | Russian flute
- Vladimirsky rozhok - | Made in Russia's Vladimir Oblast
Vladimir Oblast is a federal subject of Russia . Its administrative center is the medieval Russian capital Vladimir, which is located 190 km to the east from the present-day capital, Moscow. For detailed information about the area's medieval history, see Zalesye and Vladimir-Suzdal...
by shepherds who composed melodious calls on it. This horn has a range of two octaves and a very distinctive idiosyncratic sound.
- Volynka
Volyňka is a river in the Czech Republic in the South Bohemian Region rising on the hill called Světlá hora and flowing 46.1 km northeast to city of Strakonice, where merging in Otava River. Volyňka flows through towns such Vimperk,Volyně,Strakonice. and villages such as Lčovice and Čkyně....
- | Traditional SlavicThe Slavic Peoples are an ethnic and linguistic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly in eastern and central Europe. From the early 6th century they spread from their original homeland to inhabit most of eastern Central Europe, Eastern Europe and the Balkans...
bagpipe.
- Zhaleika
The zhaleika is a Russian single-reed hornpipe. It is the most popular Russian folk wind instrument.-External links:*...
- | Russian folk clarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet...
/hornpipeThe hornpipe is a class of woodwind instruments consisting of a single reed, a small diameter melody pipe with finger holes and a bell traditionally made from animal horn. A reed cap of animal horn is also placed around the reed to contain the breath and allow circular breathing for constant play...
.
Idiophones
- Buben - |
- Bubentsy -
- Kokshnik
- Korobochka - |
- Lozhki
Spoons can be played as a makeshift percussion instrument, or more specifically, an idiophone related to the castanets. In U.S. culture, "playing the spoons" originated in Ireland as "playing the bones," in which the convex sides of a pair of sheep rib bones were rattled in the same way.-...
- |
- Rubel
A washboard is a tool designed for hand washing clothing. With mechanized cleaning of clothing becoming more common by the end of the 20th century, the washboard has become better known for its originally subsidiary use as a musical instrument....
- |
- Treshchotka
Treshchotka [singular] sometimes referred as Treshchotki [plural] is an Russian folk music idiophone instrument which is used to imitate hand clapping.-Treshchotka :...
- | .
- Vertushka
The Vertushka was a special internal telephone system in the Kremlin. Parallel systems existed in other cities as well as in the capitals of Soviet satellite states...
-
- Zvonchalka
External links