Genres of songs: description and examples.

The song is one of the most popular genres of vocal music, it combines verse text with a simple melody to memorize. Songs can be performed by one performer, as well as by a group or choir, with instrumental accompaniment and a cappella.

What is a song?

The most popular genre of vocal music is a song. The main genres of songs: folk and composer. Their main difference is that the composer has at least one author, and the national author does not have it, its creator is the people.

Folk songs are transmitted from the older generation to the younger one. They spread through the country thanks to wandering musicians, who replenished their repertoire and moved from city to city, bringing them to different listeners. The common people were not literate, could not write music and lyrics, so the songs were memorized by heart. Naturally, in different cities they could sing the same work with different words or melodies. In addition, each artist could change the text or the motive at will, so in our time one can find several different variants of one song. At first the people sang at weddings, funerals, on the occasion of the birth of a child, during rituals. Then people began to sing when they worked, and rested when they were sad, or happy.

Composer songs appeared around the 16th and 17th centuries, with the development of secular culture. These are works that have at least one specific author and that should be performed as intended by the creator. The song creativity of composers reaches the listener in its original form, even if several centuries have passed since its creation.

Kinds of songs

There are the following genres of songs:

• Author's (or bardic);
• Neapolitan;
• Hymns;
• People's;
• Historical;
• Rock ballads;
• Variety;
• Country;
• Romances;
• Chanson;
• Chastushki;
• Lullabies;
• Children's;
• Drill.

Here are listed both the long-established, and modern genres of songs. Examples of some of them: "It's great that we all are here today" O. Mityaeva (bardovskaya); "Oh, frost, frost" (folk); "I remember a wonderful moment" by M. Glinka on the words of A. Pushkin (romance); "Return to Sorrento" by E. de Curtis and J. de Curtis (Neapolitan); "Soldiers, bravo children" (drill) and so on.

Russian folk songs

Folk songs are divided into ritual and uncircumcised. The ritual accompanies a ritual: a wedding, a funeral, the birth of a child, harvesting, etc. Unordered - are not performed on a particular occasion, but on a get-together, during conversations and evenings, they are sung for the mood, express the emotions and emotions of people. The themes of folk songs can be anything: love, heavy peasant or recruit share, historical events or real historical personalities ...

Genres of Russian songs:

• Wedding;
• Recruiting;
• Lullabies;
• Nursery rhymes;
• Pestles;
• Calendar ritual;
• Weeping;
• Ямщицкие;
• Chastushki;
• Funerary;
• Robberies;
• Burlatskie;
• Lyrical;
• Round-marble;
• Dance;
• The naming.

Chastushki, by the way, is not too ancient genre, they appeared a little over a hundred years ago and sang about love in them. Initially they were performed only by guys.

The lyric genre of the folk song includes works that express the feelings and moods of those who sing them. These songs are divided into family and love. They can be different in character, even reckless and unrestrained fun. But for the most part, Russian folk lyrics express sadness and longing. Often in the lyrics, a person's mood is compared to natural phenomena.

Folk songs can be performed by a soloist, a group or a choir, accompanied by instruments and a cappella.

Romances

There are such genres of songs, where no less than words and melody, the accompaniment is important. This kind of romance refers to. This genre originated in Spain in the Middle Ages. The word "romance" refers to works performed in Spanish style. Later all the secular songs began to be called. Russian composers wrote romances for verses by Alexander Pushkin, Afonas Fet, Mikhail Lermontov and other poets. In our country this genre was at the peak of popularity in the 19th century. Many great composers composed romances, the most famous works of this type of song art belong to MI Glinka, P.I. Tchaikovsky, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, S.S. Prokofiev, S.V. Rakhmaninov, A. Alyabyev.

Bard's Song

The genres of songs that appeared in the 20th century are the stage, chanson, bardic song and others. In our country this kind of musical creativity arose in the second half of the 20th century. The bard song is different because, most often, the author of the text, the composer and the performer are the same person. That is, the author himself performs his own work under his own guitar accompaniment. In this genre, the main role belongs to the text. Initially, these songs were divided into student and tourist, later the subject was expanded. Bright representatives of this genre: V. Vysotsky, J. Wisbor, B. Okudzhava, S. Nikitin, O. Mityaev, V. Dolina. The singers of such songs were often called "singing poets". In the 50-60s of the 20th century this genre was called "amateur song", as often bards are not professional composers, poets and singers.