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Ruba'i

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Metre#

The usual metre of a Persian ruba’i, which is used for all four lines of the above quatrain by Rumi, is, as follows: : – – u u – u – u – – u u – In the above scheme, quantitatively, “–” represents a long syllable, and “u” a short one. As variations of this scheme, any sequence of – u, except the final syllable of each line, can be replaced by a single “overlong” syllable, such as gēkh, tīf, luṭf in the poem above, containing either a long vowel followed by a consonant other than “n”, or a short vowel followed by two consonants. An overlong syllable, as mentioned, can freely be substituted for the final syllable of the line, as with bād above. Another variation, as a poetic licence rule, is that occasionally a sequence of two short syllables (u u) can be replaced by a single long one (–). A third variation is to use the same metre as above, but with the sixth and seventh syllables reversed: : – – u u – – u u – – u u –

Rumba

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

In Cuba#

During the second half of the 19th century, several secular dance-oriented music styles were developed by Afro-Cuban workers in the poor neighbourhoods of Havana and Matanzas. These syncretic styles would later be referred to as “rumba”, a word that also meant “party”. Traditionally, the three main styles of rumba are yambú, columbia and guaguancó, each of which has a characteristic dance, rhythm and singing. Although still a purely folkloric genre, numerous innovations have been introduced in rumba since the mid 20th century, including new styles such as batá-rumba and guarapachangueo.

Rumba flamenca

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Rumba flamenca was primarily influenced by guaracha, an uptempo style of vocal music which originated in Havana’s musical theatre. Some elements from Cuban rumba were also incorporated, although minor, despite the name. Although unlikely, both guaracha and Cuban rumba might have been influenced by flamenco earlier in the 19th century. Guarachas can be traced back to the Spanish jácaras, thus justifying the classification of rumba flamenca as a cante de ida y vuelta.

Runic song

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Description#

Runic song is typically monophonic among most Baltic Finnic groups, though it is generally polyphonic when practiced among the Seto. Runic song usually does not contain rhyming couplets, but is frequently heard in alliterative trochaic tetrameter, or Kalevala meter. Runic song is usually sung in , though quadruple metre and sextuple metre singing also exists. In addition to their musical character, runic singers also are required to follow certain practices as they sang, such as Karelian runic singers holding hands while singing in a call and response fashion. Ingrian runic singing includes additional choralists. Vocal ranges usually correspond with the range of a kantele.

Russ music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Some notable artists#

;Russ music producers *Tix / The Pøssy Project *Soppgirobygget *El Papi *Dj Smellhodet *DJ Loppetiss *BEK & Wallin *Roc Boyz *BEK & Moberg *Kudos *Golfklubb *KANSELLERT *Truse Tarzan *Smörebua *Fjelltopp *Lurifaks *Spasme *Mackarinø *Hugge *Olav Haust *Solguden & Mannen *Sandmans *Ringnes-Ronny *Kuselofte *Öresus *Heux *B3nte *LIL FAT *Prells *J-Dawg *Lille Saus *Kobojsarna *FERDY / Sleiken ;Recurring producers *Skrillex *ItaloBrothers *Technikore ;Former producers *Mikkel Christiansen / Simen A *Kygo *DJ Walkzz *Ketz *K-391 *Tungevaag / Tungevaag & Raaban *Stian K *Russetunes *Lensko

Russian chanson

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The Russian chanson originated in the Russian Empire. The songs sung by serfs and political prisoners of the Tsar are very similar in content to the songs sung in the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation today. However, during the Soviet Union, the style changed, and the songs became part of the culture of samizdat and dissent. During the Khrushchev thaw, the Soviet Union released a lot of prisoners from the gulag. When the former prisoners returned from the gulags back to their homes in the 1950s, the songs that they had sung in the camps became popular with Soviet students and nonconformist intelligentsia. Then, in the second half of the 1960s, the more conservative Leonid Brezhnev and Alexei Kosygin made a slight reversal to this process, albeit never reaching the tight, stringent controls experienced during the Stalin era. This, combined with the influx of cheap and portable magnetic tape recorders led to an increase in the popularity and consumption of the criminal songs. These songs were performed by Soviet bards; folk singers who sung with simple guitar accompaniment. Since Soviet culture officials did not approve of the songs, many of the bards initially became popular playing at small, private student parties. The attendees at these gatherings would record the concert with a tape recorder. The songs of the bards spread through the sharing and recopying of these tapes. After the fall of the Soviet Union and the establishment of the Russian Federation, the musical style of the songs began to shift, although the content did not. Modern artists affiliated with the Chanson genre often sing not in the traditional style used even by the Khrushchev-era performers, but more professionally, borrowing musical arrangements from pop, rock, and jazz. Although the strict cultural control of the Soviet Union has ended, many Russian officials still publicly denounce the genre. Russia’s prosecutor general, Vladimir Ustinov, referred to the songs as “propaganda of the criminal subculture”. However, there is a radio station called Radio Chanson that broadcasts chanson round the clock. Radio Chanson is also the founder of the Chanson of the Year awards ceremony held annually at Russia’s main concert venue, the State Kremlin Palace, awarding artists performing in the genre. Many politicians are fans of the genre, and one of the popular modern chanson singers, Alexander Rosenbaum, was a member of the Duma as part of the United Russia Party. Rosenbaum was also awarded the title of People’s Artist of Russia by a decree of Vladimir Putin. In the Russian music industry, the term “Russian chanson” was introduced as a euphemism in the 1990s, when criminal songs began to be heard on stage, radio, and television , and were popularized by the Moscow radio station of the same name, the St. Petersburg radio station Night Taxi, and the production companies Master Sound Records (which existed from 1997 to 2017) and “Russian Chanson” (2002–2016), along with their subsidiaries. The founder and director of Russian Chanson, who remained active until his death in 2006, was businessman and producer Yuri Nikolaevich Sevostianov (1961–2006) . Since 2002, the Song of the Year award ceremony has been held at the State Kremlin Palace with the participation of these production companies, and its official founder was the management of Radio Chanson. The participants were performers of a wide variety of genres and styles, sometimes loosely related to song .

Russian classical music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early history#

In medieval Russia, a distinct line was formed between the sacred music of the Russian Orthodox Church and that of secular music used for entertainment. The former draws its tradition from the Byzantine Empire, with key elements being used in Russian Orthodox bell ringing, as well as choral singing. Neumes were developed for musical notation, and as a result several examples of medieval sacred music have survived to this day, among them two stichera composed by Tsar Ivan IV in the 16th century. One of Russia’s earliest music theorists was the Ukrainian Nikolay Diletsky (c. 1630, Kiev – after 1680, Moscow). Although several of his compositions survive, Diletsky’s fame rests chiefly on his composition treatise, Grammatika musikiyskago peniya (A Grammar of Music al Singing ), which was the first of its kind in Russia; there are three surviving versions of this work, of which the earliest dates from 1677. Diletsky’s followers included Vasily Titov, whose most enduring composition was the prayer Mnogaya leta (Многая лета), or Bol’shoe mnogoletie (Большое многолетие), which was sung well beyond his time possibly because its relatively simple polyphony was more in line with the ideals of Classical music era. It was sung in Russian churches up to the October Revolution.

Russian folk music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Ethnic styles in the modern era#

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 Pyatnitsky and the Russian folk instrument movement pioneered by Vasily Andreyev, helped by the creation of Russian folk song collections. In Soviet Russia, 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 II 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. However, the authentic nature of folk music was severely distorted by the drive to “professionalise” performers, regardless of the genre they worked in; thus, all folk singers were obliged to learn both Western-style classical notation and to perform classical repertoire—or else risk losing their right to perform as “professionals”. In the 1960s, folk music in Russia continued to receive significant state support and was often seen as the antithesis of Western pop music. 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.

Russian hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

1980s#

Hip hop culture in Russia began during the mid-late 1970s from the growing influence of the Eurodisco movement in Soviet Russia. However, breaking was one of the first elements of American hip hop culture to become popularized in the country, along with skateboarding, DJing, and MCing shortly after. The beginnings of Russian hip hop’s musical form, rap, can be traced back the 1980s. Regarded as the first ‘rap group in Russia, the group “Rush Hour” (Chas Pik) created one of the first attempts at rap in their 1984 album, “Rap.” The album contained a track called “Rap” which featured lyrics based on multiplication tables and letters and took its inspiration from the funk-based style of the popular track, Rapper’s Delight by Sugarhill Gang, released five years earlier. The 1980 Summer Olympics, held in Moscow, was one of the main catalysts for bringing hip hop culture to Soviet Russia, and by 1985 events like the 12th World Festival of Youth and Students and Mikhail Gorbachev’s policy of Perestroika further brought Western culture into the country.

Russian jazz

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early work in the 1920s#

Jazz music began to be played in the Soviet Union in the early 1920s, around the same time that it was gaining popularity in the United States. The introduction of the genre is often credited to Valentin Parnakh, a poet and choreographer inspired by American jazz performances he had seen during travels in Paris. Upon returning to the Soviet Union, Parnakh founded the RSFSR Eccentric Orchestra: Valentin Parnakh’s Jazz Band, considered the first official jazz band in the country. Their debut performance took place on October 1, 1922, sparking the gradual spread of jazz across the Soviet Union. Pianist Alexander Tsfasman, singer Leonid Utyosov and film score composer Isaak Dunayevsky also helped its popularity, especially with the popular comedy film Jolly Fellows that featured a jazz soundtrack. Eddie Rosner, Oleg Lundstrem, Coretti Arle-Titz and others contributed to Soviet jazz music. During this period, Utesov moved to Leningrad and set up one of the first Soviet jazz bands. In Leningrad, he began collaboration with the popular composer, Isaak Dunayevsky, which turned out to be a breakthrough for both artists. At that time, Utesov built a band of the finest musicians available in Leningrad, and created a style all his own – a jazz show with stand up comedy, which blended several styles, ranging from Russian folk songs to a variety of international cosmopolitan genres. In 1928, Utesov toured Europe and attended performances of American jazz bands in Paris, which influenced his own style. During the 1930s, Utesov and his band, called “Thea-Jazz” (a portmanteau of Theatrical Jazz) had a regular gig at the Marble Hall of the Kirov Palace of Culture in Leningrad. Utesov’s jazz band also performed at the Leningrad Maly Opera theatre, at the “Svoboda-teatr,” and at the Leningrad Music Hall. In his performances, Utesov delivered a variety of musical styles, including such genres as American jazz, Argentine tango, French chanson, upbeat dance, and Russian folk music.

Russian liturgical music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins#

When Prince Vladimir of Kiev converted to Orthodoxy, Mount Athos was the musical center of the Orthodox world. Monks from all over Eastern Europe and Byzantium traveled to Mount Athos for musical training and to learn the ways of Orthodox chant. At Mount Athos, Russian monks learned the Byzantine neumatic notation for chant, which they readily adopted and brought back with them to Russia. This Byzantine chant quickly changed to a distinct Russian style, the Znamenny Chant. The chant flourished and spread to the north (Novgorod principally) and southwest. From the sack of Kiev in 1240 and subsequent occupation of the Rus’ by the Mongols until their expulsion in 1480, few resources regarding Russian music date, but what little records exist show little change to the Znamenny chant other than small notational changes.

Russian opera

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

18th century#

Opera came to Russia in the 18th century. At first there were Italian language operas presented by Italian opera troupes. Later some foreign composers serving to the Russian Imperial Court began writing Russian-language operas, while some Russian composers were involved into writing of the operas in Italian and French. And only at the beginning of the 1770s were the first modest attempts of the composers of Russian origin to compose operas to the Russian librettos made. This was not a real creation of Russian national opera per se, but rather a weak imitation of Italian, French or German examples. But nevertheless, these experiments were important, and paved the way for the great achievements of 19th and 20th centuries.

Russian pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Since the mid-1970s and 1980s, Russian-language pop music has experienced development. Many musical compositions, such as “Lavender” and “Moon” (Sofia Rotaru), “Million Roses”, “Iceberg” and “Ferryman” (Alla Pugacheva), “I Want Change” (Kino), created during this period, will become signature a card of Soviet and then Russian pop music in the world. Russian music is becoming popular in Eastern Europe, the Baltics, Scandinavia and Central Asia. In 1990, the song “Moscow Calling” by Gorky Park became an international hit. From the mid-1980s, into the 1990s and 2000s, in addition to Russian performers in Russia, performers from other countries in Europe, Asia and America became popular, including Marylya Rodowicz from Poland, Army of Lovers and Roxette from Sweden, Gloria Gaynor from USA, Ricky Martin from Puerto Rico, In-Grid from Italy, Natalia Oreiro from Uruguay, Dan Balan from Moldova, Patricia Kaas from France, Laima Vaikule from Latvia, Thomas N’evergreen from Denmark, Svetlana Loboda and Verka Serduchka from Ukraine, A-Studio from Kazakhstan, Tarkan from Turkey, Arash from Iran, Avraam Russo from Syria and others. For several years, one of the most popular music programs on Soviet television was the show Melodies and Rhythms of foreign pop, which also showed the best performances from the Sanremo festival in Italy.

Russian romance

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

By the early 20th century, several types of the Russian romance had emerged. An elite type of the Italianate opera-influenced song known as the “salon romance” is contrasted to the lower-class genre of “cruel romance” which features “sentimental courtship, illicit love, pained rejection, and often suicide”. The latter is supposed to have given birth to the Russian chanson. The Russian romance had its heyday in the 1910s and 1920s when the top performers included Anastasia Vyaltseva, Varvara Panina, Nadezhda Plevitskaya, Tamara Tsereteli, Pyotr Leshchenko, and Alexander Vertinsky. A new generation of singers, such as Valentina Ponomaryova and Nani Bregvadze, emerged in the 1970s. Several vocalists from the pre-WWII era, including Izabella Yurieva (1899–2000), Vadim Kozin (1903–1994) and Alla Bayanova (1914–2011), also returned to prominence in the late Soviet years. Alexander Malinin, Sergey Zakharov and Oleg Pogudin are among the Russian romance singers active in the 21st century. In 1994, . Alexander Malinin received the World Music Award as best selling Russian artist. César Cui’s 1895 book Russian Art Song: A Study of Its Development was translated in J.R. Walker’s Classical Essays on the Development of Russian Art Songs (Northfield, MN, 1993).