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Why the story of a folk song is perceived. History of folk music. Not the evening is evening

23.11.2019

Regional scientific and practical conference of students

Section "The world of my hobbies"

Topic: "Folk song - a mirror of folk life"

I've done the work

Ivanova, Elizabeth

4th grade student "B"

MBOU "Secondary School No. 56"

Supervisor:

Lychenkova Irina Vitalievna,

music teacher

MBOU "Secondary School No. 56"

Novokuznetsk 2015

Table of contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………3-4

Main part…………………………………………………………………..5-11

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………....11-13

List of used literature………………………………………………..13

Introduction

Today we are beginning to look at many things in a different way, we are rediscovering many things for ourselves. This also applies to the past of our people. How Russian people lived, how they worked, how they rested. What customs and traditions did they observe? To answer this question means to restore the connection of time, to return the lost values. Folk musical works unobtrusively, often in a cheerful, playful way, introduce us to the customs and life of the Russian people, work, respect for nature, love of life. Folk musical creativity N.V. Gogol figuratively called "sounding history", "vociferous living chronicles". Songs are the most popular and massive genre of folklore. They are sung by all the people from young to old. Truly, the song is the soul of the people. The eternal folk aspirations for goodness and beauty found in it a deeply emotional and highly artistic expression. Songs spiritually unite people, educate entire generations in the spirit of the people's moral and aesthetic ideal. Due to its sincerity and sincerity, folk songwriting has a profound impact on the emotional world of children.

Among the students of the 4th grade of MBOU "Secondary School No. 56" I conducted a survey on the topic: "Russian folk song". (Slide 2) The following questions were asked: Do we need a folk song? What recordings of Russian folk songs do you have at home? Which of the Russian folk songs do you like the most and why?What is sung about in Russian folk songs? What folk groups of our city do you know?

Analysis of diagnostic results.

130 students were interviewed. Based on the results of the questionnaires, it turned out that 87% of students answered the question “Do I need a folk song” that they do. The song is needed to find out how the Russian people lived, how they worked, how they rested, what customs and traditions they observed. There was also such an answer: to give joy to lovers of Russian folk songs. 13% answered that the song is not needed.

To the question, “What kind of recordings of Russian folk songs do you have at home?” 93% noted the recordings of Nadezhda Babkina's concerts, 23% - Nadezhda Kadysheva, 12% - Lyudmila Zykina and 7% answered that they do not have recordings of Russian folk songs.

To the question, "Which of the Russian folk songs do you like best and why?" the students singled out the songs that took place in the lesson "Soldiers, brave kids", "The moon shines", "Chatushki", "Oh, frost", "Kalinka".

“What is sung about in Russian folk songs?” 93% answered that it was about love and the hard life of women in Russia. 7% - about what a person lived, about that he sang.

To the question, “what folk groups of our city do you know”, 97% noted the ensemble “Romashka” and 3% answered - I don’t know.

Examining the works, I came to the conclusion that at present many children know little about folk songs and are little familiar with Russian folklore, many are not interested in Russian folk art. (Slide 3)

Objective: to draw the attention of my peers to Russian folk songs.

Tasks:

1. Find out how well we know the culture of our people.

2. Analysis of the Russian folk song "Mother, mother, what is dusty in the field ..."

3. Study, analyze and systematize the material on the chosen topic.

The object of my research: Russian folk song.

Subject of study: lingering lyrical Russian folk song.

As a hypothesis I assume the following: the Russian folk song will live as long as the Russian people are alive.

Main part

The song has always been there for both joy and sorrow. From birth to death.Russian folk song - , words andwhich have developed historically in the course of development. The folk song does not have a specific author or the author is unknown. Russian folk song is original, colorful, its melody deeply reveals the plot, creates a single, complete artistic image. In music lessons, we highlighted the features of Russian folk songs: (Slide 4)

1. Ancient words;

2. Intrasyllabic chants;

3. Solo and pickup;

4.Ac cappella;

5. Chant, length;

6. The name is equal to the beginning.

A folk song, like a resonant chronicle, reveals the history of our people. Whatever a person does: sting, mow hay, float timber or pull a huge barge behind him - everywhere a song helps him. They also sang at needlework, they sang about the heavy female lot. The song has been around for a very long time. Back then, there was actually no division into storytelling and singing. Buffoons wandered around the world - jacks of all trades: they sing and dance and tell a fairy tale. Russian folk songs are divided into genres and types. I found the most detailed classification on the Internet site "Wikipedia". (Slide 5)

Epic folk songs:

1.Epics

2. Historical songs

3. Ballads

Ritual folk songs:

1. Songs of the calendar circle

2. Ritual and household (wedding, funeral, lamentations - lamentations, lullabies, etc.)

Round dance, game, dance songs:

1. Lyrical round dance (circular round dance processions)

2. Comedy - comic

3. Fast round dance

4. Remote valiant

5. Conversational, guest, etc.

Labor folk songs:

1. Rural (sowing, reaping)

2.Factory

3. Burlatsky (artel, etc.)

Songs of the revolutionary struggle:

1 Revolutionary songs of struggle and protest

3.Patriotic songs, etc.

City folk songs. Chastushki:

1. Russian song

2.City song

3. Choruses, dances

4. Suffering, etc.

Long lyrical songs:

1. Women's lyrical (family, love)

2. Men's lyrical (love, coachman, recruit, soldier)

3. General lyric, etc.

In those songs that talk about the fate of each person: about what is dear to him, what he loves, what he is sad about, what he dreams about, they are called lyrical. I want to dedicate my work to lyrical songs. They are characterized by smooth melodies on a wide breath, singing several sounds in one syllable. Therefore, these songs are also called lingering. The feelings of people or the events described in the song are often first experienced in nature:

Not a rain white face fell silent -

Wet his white face with tears.

Not frost zealous poznobilo -

Loved the heart melancholy.

Songs-reflections, songs-dreams, songs-stories about the experience. The melodies of these songs are sincere, with frequent sighs "ai", "oh", the pace is unhurried, unhurried.

The people have many songs about their native home, about separation from it. Indeed, in peasant families, each child was an extra mouth, and they tried to give him “to the people”, i.e. into workers. Girls were given in marriage, forever into a strange family, and young men were taken into recruits (for a service that lasted 25 years). The man yearned for his native father and mother, and poured out this longing in songs. A wounded soldier dies in an open field, in the last hour of his thoughts about his home. A person is happy when he feels free, free, when dear, close relatives are next to him. And in the last hour, a person's thoughts are turned to his native home.

Man cannot live without love. And the people composed the largest number of songs about this. In them - about happy love, when a good fellow with a red maiden, like a dove with a dove, side by side and look, do not look enough at each other. And people all admire them, and envy their joys. But there are few such songs.

More often, a good fellow and a red-haired girl are separated, because the “clear falcon” has a long path ahead, or because the young man loved, loved the girl, but “left”:

Vanechka, you are my dear little friend,

But where are you, falcon, leaving,

Who are you putting me down on?

I remain alone in grief,

In tears, as in the sea.

Separation is especially difficult when a girl is given in marriage to another. And the good fellow sings: “Farewell, joy, my life!”

In Russia, weddings have been played for a long time. Each locality had its own set of wedding ritual actions, lamentations, songs, sentences. Depending on the specific circumstances, the wedding could be “rich” - “two tables” (both in the bride’s house and the groom’s house), “poor” - “one table” (only in the groom’s house), “widow”, “orphan ". In a word, there could not be two identical weddings, and each one who married had his own, one of a kind, wedding in his memory. But with all the endless variety, weddings were played according to the same laws. Matchmaking, conspiracy, farewell of the bride to the parental home, wedding in the bride's house, wedding in the groom's house - these are the successive stages along which the wedding action developed.

Many wedding rituals during the wedding were "retelled", "commented", "sung" in songs, lamentations, sentences. Poetic wedding reality is different from what actually took place, so to speak, from real reality. In this magical world, the bride is always a white swan, the first princess; the groom is a clear falcon, a young prince; mother-in-law is a fierce snake; the other side (the groom's house) is “watered with tears” ... Everything is like in a fairy tale.

In Russia, young people got married at the age of 13-15. Everyone who stayed in brides or grooms until the age of 20 caused fear among neighbors and acquaintances. Parents tried to find a suitable match for their child when he was just starting to walk and talk. The opinion of the children themselves was almost never taken into account, since the older generation was more experienced and knowledgeable. From here came the sayings: “To endure - fall in love”, “Do not drink water from the face” and many others.

This state of affairs could not but be reflected in the Russian song.

LISTENING: Russian folk song "Mother, mother, what is dusty in the field" performed by Lyudmila Zykina. (Slide 6)

The song "Mother, mother, what is dusty in the field ..." is built in the form of a dialogue between a girl and a mother. Looking at the music, one can see the Daughter Theme and the Mother Theme.

The excited appeal of the daughter is built on repeated descending and again soaring intonations that do not get completed. Confusion, anxiety, experience, dramatic intensity of feelings. The soothing responses of the mother are built on a slow, gradually descending melody, which leads to the upstoy (sustained sound in the tonic). Submission, humility with a hopeless situation.

The song sounds tense, in a minor key. Why is the heroine of the song so disturbed?

The works of artists will help you understand the meaning of the song and everything that happens in it.

Look at the paintings “Preparing the Bride for the Crown” by V. Feklistov, (Slide 7) by V.V. Pukirev “Unequal Marriage” (Slide 8), (Slide 9) “Major’s Matchmaking” by Pavel Fedotov.

What emotions are experienced by the heroines of these paintings? Confusion, anxiety, or resignation to one's lot? Are these experiences similar to the mood of the heroine of the song "Mother ..."?

Wedding songs attract us with clarity of form, harmonious combination of words and music, and crystallized intonations. Family relationships, the difficult position of a woman in a patriarchal family are most vividly depicted in these songs.

... You spared me, dear father, One evening.

You wanted me, dear mother, In the tower - then plant.

Planted me, dear mother, In melancholy - kruchinushka.

Today, hardly anyone follows all the rules of the wedding. Probably, only the ransom of the bride remained from the traditional rite. And for sure no one sings ritual songs at the wedding.

There are some points that unite all folk songs - these are symbols.

Bitter wormwood in Russian folk poetry is a symbol of melancholy, sadness. Sad and sad was the life of the people of enslaved Russia.

... Well, now, wife, those worker,

From Russia, a Russian polonyanochka ...

Polonyanochka, Russian from Russia,

She guards the swans with her eyes,

And he spins a tow with his hands,

And the cradle sways with its legs...

Images such as the month - a symbol of the father, the sun - mothers and stars - children, as well as the month-well done (husband) and dawn-girl (wife).

Quite widely in folk lyrical songs, various birds act as symbols. So, the symbol of a young man in them is most often a nightingale, a falcon, a drake and a dove. The symbol of the girl in them is a white swan, a gray duck, a peahen and a gray dove. The symbol of a sad girl or a bitter female fate, as a rule, in songs is a gray cuckoo.

Even more widely than from the world of birds and animals, objects of the plant world act as symbols in traditional lyrical songs. For example, very often the symbol of a girl in them is a white birch, viburnum, raspberries and sweet cherries. A bird pecks a cherry - well done woo a girl, etc.

The symbol of a woman in folk lyric songs, as a rule, is a pear, pine, mountain ash and aspen.

Oak, and sometimes hops or grapes, most often acts as a symbol of a young man in folk songs.

Wedding songs were both cheerful (for guests) and sad (the bride was mourned).

Conclusion

In a friendly circle, in loneliness and in a noisy company, in moments of joy and sadness - a song is with us everywhere. Ancient and modern, sincere and singsong, perky and mischievous - they are all in our hearts. The poetic content of the songs reflects various aspects of everyday life, family and social relations, thoughts and feelings of the Russian people. With special reverence, the Russian people treated the song, and not only because it accompanied him from birth to death, but also, probably, because the performance of the song required a special, elevated state of mind. The folk song both healed and consoled, educated and taught, warned and cheered, amused and ridiculed. “Veselukha”, “We have a Saturday afternoon”, “Malanya scattered beans ...”.

One should not be surprised why our people are so reverent about singing and song. The song, in all its manifestations, was a natural need for self-expression. Only spiritually rich and talented people could create, appreciate and constantly recreate such masterpieces. No wonder they say that the song is the soul of the people.

Studying a Russian folk song, you realize with admiration how rich, generous, talented, sincere, and pure it is. The song reflected and kept in the memory of generations the history of our Motherland!

The songs reveal the fate of the people, the unique national character in all its wealth of thoughts and feelings.

As a kind and wise mentor, the song inspires us with love for the traditions and customs of our native land, for its heroes and masters. The song teaches to live according to the laws of justice, to help neighbors in difficult times, not to be afraid of suffering, defending the truth and one's human dignity.

Like a free bird, the song does not recognize state borders and freely flies from one country to another. The folk song has an enviable fate. Fashionable for one season "hits" and "hit hits" disappear without a trace from memory. And the folk song breaks out of the captivity of oblivion and again sounds pure and fresh in the mouths of people from another era.

During the walk, you can hear a cheerful ditty or a folk song. And the guys from generation to generation pass on riddles, rhymes, teasers, without thinking that they are the keepers of folk musical wisdom.

It is in this immortality that the great secret of the national character of the folk song lies. In today's social situation in our country, when the policy of the state is aimed at the revival of spiritual values, the promotion of folk art is becoming more important. Isn't folk art honed over the centuries, preserved in hundreds of generations, one of the highest spiritual values of the Russian people.

The material of the work can be used in music lessons, world art culture, for conversations at class hours.

Literature

Alekseeva O. I. Russian folk song as an ethno-cultural concept: Belgorod, 2006

Knyzeva DV The origins and formation of Russian comic opera in the last third of the 18th century in close connection with the study of folk songs. 2011

Shchurov V. M. Song, tradition, memory. - M .: State Musical Publishing House, 1987.

The writing

Since ancient times, people have been composing songs about their lives, about important events. Over time, these events fade into the past, their participants die. The songs themselves become old, but they are not forgotten - people continue to sing them.

Songs that depict important events and prominent personalities of the past are called historical.

Old historical songs tell about the heroic struggle of the people against foreign conquerors and enslavers. They have a high spirit of patriotism. They sing about glorious campaigns and brilliant victories, hard roads of military glory. They also manifested people's dreams and hopes, they also reflected the character of the Russian people, their kindness, generosity, sincerity.

There probably isn't a place that wouldn't exist one way or another.

captured in oral folk art. So, in historical songs, the Volga-mother, and Rostov-father, and Novgorod, and the Kerzhinka river, and the “glorious city of Kostroma” are mentioned; these songs tell about folk heroes: about the good fellow Emelyan the Cossack (Pugachev), Stepan Razin, about Yermak and their heroic death.

The songs of the Razin cycle, unlike other historical songs, are not only epic, but also lyrical. These songs cannot be called a simple chronicle of events. Their meaning is wider. They contain not only an objective narrative of what is happening, but above all they are an expression of people's sympathy for the uprising and its leader. Truthfully expressing the attitude of the people to the Razin movement, they idealize the image of Razin, poeticize the activities of the Razin people. Poetry is fanned with pictures of their exploits, gatherings, clashes with the royal troops, their dramatic fate. So, for example, referring to his "brothers" - daring good fellows, Razin says:

Oh, how can we get to quiet places,

What about the groove of Chervony,

As far as the glorious Kavalersky Island.

Ah, is it there for us, brothers, to share the duvan,

We have satin and velvet in size for everyone,

Golden brocade according to merit,

Pearls for youth,

And how much gold treasury is needed.

The main idea of such songs is an expression of the desire for freedom. They reflect the innermost thoughts and aspirations of the serfs from the 17th century until the reform of 1861.

In the XVIII - first half of the XIX centuries. a large number of so-called soldiers' songs arose, original in their content. They reflected the most important military events of those years. These are songs about the Seven Years' War (1756-1761), about Suvorov's campaigns (1799) and the Patriotic War of 1812, about the hardships of long military transitions. The historical songs of this time truly reflect the everyday life of soldiers "in a distant foreign land", difficult exercises, longing for their homeland and family. Soldiers' songs of that time replenished the folk song repertoire with works of new themes, new images, thoughts, feelings.

The Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878 was also reflected in historical songs. This war in songs is regarded as a war for the national independence of the Slavs.

Many songs were written about the First World War. They talked about the endurance, courage and patriotism of Russian soldiers. And the main genre of songs of that time was the genre of the song-story of a participant or eyewitness of certain events. All these songs are sad content, with a touch of tragedy.

The main thing in folk songs is the expression of the attitude of the people to various life phenomena. And historical songs reflect the attitude of the common people to the most important events of history, from ancient times to our days.

A huge number of musical and poetic works are passed on from generation to generation among the people. Their totality is what is commonly called folk music, otherwise - folk music or musical folklore.

Folk music is part of folklore and is traditionally transmitted by word of mouth, that is, it does not have a written form. At the same time, one should take into account the fact that folklore music is characteristic not only of oral, but also of written socio-historical formations. Therefore, it is advisable to consider folk music as a significant part of the musical art as a whole, opposed to academic and popular music.

Formation of folk music

It is believed that folk music took shape in the preliterate period. In other words, until it became possible to record musical works on paper, the entire existing musical tradition was transmitted orally, which means that it had the main feature of folk music.

During this period, the main characteristic features of folk music were formed. It is very difficult to study them due to the lack of written sources. You can go by searching for analogies in related areas of human activity or analyze the few available written or material sources (in particular, chronicles, ancient musical works found ...). Another way is to analyze modern folk music, which largely inherited the principles of its ancient forms.

Religious origins of folk music

The question of the relationship between folk and spiritual music is acute to this day. On the one hand, religious songs, gaining popularity among the people, gradually passed into the category of folk musical tradition. In particular, this happened with religious Christmas songs in Poland, France, England and Germany, which over time began to be considered folk (carols, carols, noels ...). On the other hand, folk music often developed in opposition to religious canons.

Stages in the evolution of folk music

Music historians distinguish three stages in the development of musical folklore.

The first stage concerns the history of society, which is usually limited to the moment of the first mention of the tribe, on the one hand, and the period of official adoption of a single state religion in the society that grew out of this tribe, on the other.

The second stage in the development of folk music was when individual nationalities finally took shape and folklore appeared in its classical form. In Europe, the folklore of this period was represented by oral works of the so-called peasant music.

The third epoch concerns modernity, more precisely modern and recent history. Its main feature is diversity. In most countries, this is primarily the transition to the capitalist system and the development of urban culture. The folk music of the modern period is characterized by a change in traditions, the emergence of new forms.

However, due to the difference in socio-historical features, folk music in different countries at the present stage develops in different ways. In particular, in the eastern countries there is no such division of folk music into a peasant and urban tradition, as in Europe.

If we consider European folk music, then all three of the above stages of development are clearly traced in it. Thus, the oldest forms of epic and ritual folklore passed into the period of lyrical genres in the Middle Ages, and at the present stage they acquired a written form and dance accompaniment.

The writing

Songs that depict important events and prominent personalities of the past are called historical.

There probably isn't a place that wouldn't exist one way or another.

Oh, how can we get to quiet places,

What about the groove of Chervony,

As far as the glorious Kavalersky Island.

Ah, is it there for us, brothers, to share the duvan,

We have satin and velvet in size for everyone,

Golden brocade according to merit,

Pearls for youth,

And how much gold treasury is needed.

The main idea of such songs is an expression of the desire for freedom. They reflect the innermost thoughts and aspirations of the serfs from the 17th century until the reform of 1861.

The Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878 was also reflected in historical songs. This war in songs is regarded as a war for the national independence of the Slavs.

I see a wonderful pleasure

I see fields and fields...

This is Russian expanse,

This is Russian land!

F.P. Savinov

1. Russian philosophers and writers about folk song

The study of the Russian national character will always be incomplete, truncated without reference to the Russian folk song. The laconic formula: "The song is the soul of the people" directly and directly expresses the meaning of the folk song. The song reveals such depths, such secrets of the Russian character, which are inexpressible, incomprehensible in other life situations. Russian people sang and sing almost always - on a campaign, in short moments of rest, in sorrow and joy, on weekdays and holidays, in youth, adulthood and old age. The song so fully expresses the features of the national character that this was noted by many Russian thinkers. “Show me how you believe and pray; how kindness, heroism, a sense of honor and duty wake up in you; how you sing, dance and read poetry, - said I.A. Ilyin, - tell me all this, and I will tell you what nation you are the son of.

Folk song is the most democratic, accessible to all form of familiarization with musical creativity. Where, if not in a song, one can comprehend the character of the people: its boundless breadth, kindness and generosity, native disposition, prowess and youthful enthusiasm. In the song, as in prayer, there is a purification of the soul, catharsis, as the ancient Greek sages said. Unfortunately, today, in the context of universal globalization, we are witnessing negative trends in the development of Russian culture, including the oblivion of Russian folk songs and their displacement by pop music. For modern mass media, the Russian song turned out to be “out of format”. It turns out that the graduates of the “star factory” incubator, numerous rock ensembles and inveterate entertainers-laughers correspond to the format of the media and TV.

As my personal teaching experience shows, students of the last two decades do not actually know Russian folk songs. Imagine for a moment the following situation: in a youth student camp, where students from different countries have gathered, a concert is held in which folk songs are performed. Each of the participants in this impromptu concert performs the songs of their homeland with fervor and genuine pathos. And only a Russian student, who has erased folk songs from his memory, is left to shrug or mumble something in bad English, which many people do today.

All this is a great misfortune, which was the result of erasing the deep foundations of Russian national identity at the present stage. According to the artistic director of the Academic Chapel. M.I. Glinka, People's Artist of the USSR V. Chernushenko, the song is the repository of the soul of the people, and without the soul there will be no people. In the ensemble of choral singing, which Russia has always been famous for, souls and hearts unite in harmony, and if the people stop singing their songs, then it will cease to exist as a nation. In choral singing, catholicity is expressed to the maximum extent, as the most important feature of the Russian national character. Today we are faced with a life-meaning dilemma: will we be the heirs of the great Russian culture, including songwriting, or will we become Ivans who do not remember kinship.

It is very difficult, almost impossible, to make a folk song an object of reflection. Singing, the very act of performing a song, is more connected with emotional experience than with rational comprehension. Therefore, in the study of this topic, we will have to turn to Russian fiction and Russian philosophy, where we find precious placers that testify to the Russian song, its significance for understanding the originality and originality of the Russian national character. Another way of analysis is to turn to the work of outstanding experts in Russian folk songs from Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin to modern performers.

Russian folk song - the main type of musical creativity of the Russian people - from ancient times; sung solo, ensemble, choir ("One cannot sing, artel - it's easier"). Closely connected with life and everyday life, transmitted orally from generation to generation, it is polished in the process of execution in all strata of the people. Folk song is rich in various genres: labor songs, ritual, calendar, wedding, choral, game, dance, historical songs and spiritual poems, romances, lyrical lingering songs, ditties, etc. An old peasant song is characterized by a polyphonic warehouse in the form of sub-vocal polyphony, harmony, rhythmic freedom, singing without musical accompaniment. City songs have their own specifics, diverse in content and style, created by various social groups (workers, soldiers, students, petty-bourgeois). These songs are distinguished by their harmonic structure, alternation and combination of major and minor intonations.

Since the end of the 18th century, Russian folk songs have been recorded and published; she played a significant role in the formation of the Russian school of composers. Choral folk song has long been a favorite form of everyday music-making. The song has always been an organic combination of words (text) and music. Russian folk song found a new life in Soviet times, thanks to its wide distribution (amateur choirs, professional groups, radio programs, gramophone records and tape recorders), the study of the song heritage and the emergence of new songs that began to be considered folk ("Katyusha", etc.).

It is impossible to overestimate the importance of the Russian folk song in the formation of national identity and national character, what today is called the mentality characteristic of the Russian people. According to I.A. Ilyin, a child should hear a Russian song even in the cradle. Singing brings him the first spiritual sigh and the first spiritual groan: they must be Russian. Singing will teach him the first spiritualization of spiritual nature - in Russian; singing will give him the first "non-animal" happiness - in Russian. “The Russian song,” he wrote, “is deep, like human suffering, sincere, like prayer, sweet, like love and consolation; in our dark days, as under the yoke of the Tatars, it will give the child's soul an outcome from threatening bitterness and stoneness.

In life, a Russian sings at every step, especially peasant girls, during and after work, passers-by, soldiers on the march, students at the first opportunity, and all sectors of society during some hard and boring work. Ilyin gives the point of view of a person of a different nationality. In 1879, the Russian German prof. Westphal from Yuriev (Derpt) published a remarkable work on Russian folk song. On the basis of Yu.N.Melgunov's research, he established that the Russian folk song occupies a unique place in world music. It is sung in an exceptionally peculiar key, which resembles the Greek, but is not identical to it. These songs are notable for originality of harmony, voicing and cadenza, which sound great, but do not correspond to European music theory, the doctrine of harmony and compositional practice. They are performed by a peasant choir without any musical training, without a tuning fork and conductor, without accompaniment, a capella; this is a four-voice, in which there is never a bad and boring unison, and hence - free variations and mobile undertones, which from time to time improvise, proceeding directly from the inner feeling, hearing and taste. The richness of these songs is inexhaustible, sometimes their age cannot be established, their melody, rhythm and expressiveness simply captivate, especially when performing ancient diverse wedding songs, sometimes plaintively sounding, sometimes thoughtfully blessing.

Russian people, according to I.A. Ilyin, have lived for centuries in a fluctuating rhythm: burning or calm, concentrated or relaxed, swiftness or drowsiness, jubilant or twilight, passionate or indifferent, "joyful to heaven - sad to death." It is like a flame that has been extinguished for the time being, a weakened concentration and a drowsy intensity that can be found in the glow of the eyes, in the smile, in the song and in the dance.

Who wants to get to know the Russian soul better, he should get acquainted with the Russian song. “When, for example, after the exercises, the soldiers return to the barracks in formation, or especially when, after a successfully completed review, the command is given to the troops: “Leaders, forward!” - then the choir marches ahead, singing folk songs, and the singer starts, and the choir joins in every second or third stanza of the song. You need to hear this enthusiasm, this excitement filled with humor. This freely syncopated rhythm, this suddenly exploding sharp whistle, these pickups, these frets that swell in the key. You will never hear a unison, you will never hear false voices, a song will never become a choral recitative. Everyone stands, captured by this, and cannot hear enough.

Russian classical literature of the 19th century contains numerous testimonies about the originality, spiritual structure and emotional depth of Russian folk songs. The amazing, enchanting power of a folk song was captured by N.V. Gogol in Dead Souls: “Rus! Russia! I see you, from my wonderful, beautiful far away I see you: poorly scattered and uncomfortable in you ... But what incomprehensible, secret force attracts you? Why is your melancholy song, rushing along your entire length and width, from sea to sea, heard and heard incessantly in your ears? What's in it, in this song? What calls, and sobs, and grabs the heart? What sounds painfully kiss and strive to the soul, and curl around my heart? .

L.N. Tolstoy has a story “Songs in the Village”. But, perhaps, the story “Singers” in I.S. Turgenev’s “Notes of a Hunter” makes the strongest impression. In this story, we are talking about a competition between two singers, which takes place in the Prytynny tavern. This competition is a kind of competition in which two heroes of Turgenev's story take part: a hawker and Jacob the Turk. The hawker was the first to sing a cheerful dance song with dashing prowess, and everyone present decided that he had won. But it was the turn of Yakov-Turk to perform his song. I.S. Turgenev describes in detail how the singer "enters the image", tunes in psychologically. “He took a deep breath and sang ...“ Not one path ran through the field, ”he sang, and it became sweet and creepy for all of us. I confess, I rarely heard such a voice: it was slightly broken and rang like cracked; he even at first responded with something painful; but there was genuine deep passion in him, and youth, and strength, and sweetness, and some kind of fascinatingly carefree, sad sorrow. The Russian, truthful, ardent soul sounded and breathed in him and so grabbed your heart, grabbed right by his Russian strings! The song grew and spread. Jacob, apparently, was seized with rapture: he was no longer shy, he gave himself entirely to his happiness; his voice no longer trembled - it trembled, but with that barely noticeable inner trembling of passion, which pierces the soul of the listener like an arrow, and incessantly grew stronger, hardened and expanded.

Turgenev repeatedly uses phrases - "Russian soul", "Russian heart strings", "Russian people", "Russian people", thereby emphasizing that such song creativity is fully an expression of Russian national identity and Russian character. “He sang, and from every sound of his voice there was something native and immensely wide, as if the familiar steppe was opening up before you, going into the endless distance. I felt tears boil in my heart and rise to my eyes; muffled, restrained sobs suddenly struck me ... I looked around - the kisser's wife was crying, leaning her chest against the window ... I don’t know how the general languor would have been resolved if Yakov had not suddenly ended at a high, unusually thin sound - like his voice broke off. Nobody called out, nobody even moved; everyone seemed to be waiting for him to sing more; but he opened his eyes, as if surprised by our silence, looked around with an inquiring gaze and saw that the victory was his ... ".

The very lengthy fragment I have cited from the story "The Singers" clearly represents one of the many Russian nuggets nurtured in the very midst of people's life. It is those who are characterized by the immeasurable breadth of the Russian soul, talent and ability to higher forms of experience. Turgenev, known among us as a writer-Westernizer, managed to show the originality of the Russian national character in songwriting with unusually expressive artistic means.

Russian folk song has always been and, I hope, will be the embodiment of the life of the people and their culture, their memory, their historical existence, their everyday everyday life: work and rest, joy and sorrow, love and separation. The Russian person in the song personifies the world of nature, projects his spiritual properties and experiences onto it: “What is clouded, the dawn is clear ...”, “The century-old linden stands above the river ...”, “Kalinka ...”. We comprehend this personification of nature with some special heart-wrenching sadness in The Thin Rowan:

What are you standing, swinging,

thin rowan,

bowing head

To the very tyn?

In the words of the famous Russian historian V.O. Klyuchevsky, the direct existence of the Russian people is a river and a forest, a steppe and a field, thereby he affirms the fusion of man with nature, rooted in it. And in the Russian song, the immeasurable breadth of the Russian character is affirmed, corresponding to the immensity of the Russian vast expanses: “Oh, you, the steppe is wide ...”, “Down the mother, along the Volga ...”, “I traveled the whole universe ...” . The image of the Motherland is shrewdly captured in the song "Native" to the poem by F.P. Savinov:

I hear the songs of the lark,

I hear the trill of the nightingale.

This is the Russian side

This is my homeland!

Lidia Ruslanova, speaking at a rally of coachmen in the late 1920s. of the last century, she said that there were more than 80 songs about coachmen, and she herself performed about 30 of them. In each of these songs, boundless Russian expanses and equally boundless passions and spiritual impulses are merged. Altai and Valdai, the Urals and Siberia, the Quiet Don and the Volga, Baikal and the Russian North are sung in Russian folk songs: “On the wild bank of the Irtysh ...”, “Glorious sea - sacred Baikal ...”, “Zhiguli”, “Along A young Cossack walks to the Don ... ". Even when the action of the song unfolds within the limits of the capital city of Moscow, and here there is the immense breadth of the Russian soul: “Golden-domed Moscow” and “Along the Piterskaya ...” - a song performed by the great Russian singer Fyodor Ivanovich Chaliapin.

Russian folk songs reflect both generalized and specific images of dear, especially revered, sacred natural phenomena for Russian people - one of the diverse faces of Holy Russia. A Russian person communicates with them, talks, as if they were alive, personifies, personifies them, endowing them with their own, inherent only to man, properties. Especially widely known are songs that sing about more revered natural phenomena - the Volga, the Don, the sacred Baikal. All of Russia knew these songs. Some of them are joyful, others are sad, but in all the songs the rivers or lakes, as if alive, “their life” and the fate of the Russian people - the heroes of the song - are merged into one. With such songs, of course, revered natural phenomena of the Russian land are fixed in the memory of people for a long time.

Of no small importance is the folk song in school education and upbringing. Among the many terms that form the basis of the national character, the famous teacher of the early XX century. V.N. Soroka-Rosinsky calls a folk song. Such a song goes back to the archetypes of our ancestors, through it the involvement of new generations of Russian people in national shrines and moral values is carried out. “It is necessary,” he wrote, “that a schoolboy hears his native song from an early age and gets used to being inspired by its sounds and feeling the blood of his people in himself and all that heroic and high that lurks in the people's soul; it is necessary that the national song accompanies all the solemn moments of the student's life, so that he feels the need to express his feelings in those moments when the soul is full, as any normally developing people does - in a folk song performed by the choir, by the whole world.

2. Outstanding performers of Russian folk songs

The Russian folk song is becoming even more famous and popular thanks to the great Russian performers, among whom the first places were and are occupied by Fyodor Chaliapin, Nadezhda Plevitskaya, Lidia Ruslanova, Boris Shtokolov, Lyudmila Zykina, Dmitry Hvorostovsky and many others.

A special place in this list is F.I. Chaliapin(1873-1938), who, being an opera singer, constantly gave concerts, performed Russian folk songs. In his autobiographical book “Mask and Soul. My forty years of life at the theater,” he repeatedly noted the importance of Russian folk song for his development as an opera singer. According to him, mathematical fidelity in music and the best voice are dead until mathematics and sound are inspired by feeling. Chaliapin absorbed this lofty spirit from a folk song. The song is not a random combination of sounds, but the result of a creative act of the people. “I consider it significant,” he wrote, “and highly typical for Russian life, that simple Russian artisans encouraged me to sing. Russian people sing songs from birth. So it was in my boyhood days. The people who suffered in the dark depths of life sang songs of suffering and joyful joy to the point of despair. And how well they sang! They sang in the field, they sang in the haylofts, in the rivers, by the streams, in the forests and beyond the torch. From nature, from everyday life, a Russian song and from love. After all, love is a song.

Chaliapin studied singing in the church choir, like many singers from the people of that time. Thanks to natural data, and Chaliapin had a heroic physique, he was a true hare, he was characterized by immense talent and some kind of special plundering prowess. He embodied a certain standard of a Russian person on stage. Nevertheless, he always emphasized that the spiritual beginning, the state of the soul must be in every word, in every musical phrase, and they are impossible without imagination. The imagination of the actor must come into contact with the imagination of the author and catch the essential note of the plastic being of the character. Nothing can save a singer who has no imagination from creative infertility - neither a good voice, nor stage practice, nor a spectacular figure.

Chaliapin illustrates this thesis by sharing the experience of performing the folk song “I Remember, I was still a young woman.” "The singer must imagine what kind of village it was, what kind of Russia it was, what kind of life it was in these villages, and what a heart beats in this song." It is necessary to feel all this in order for the singer to feel pain if he imagines how they worked in the village, how they got up before dawn, in what dry atmosphere a young heart awakened. These Chaliapin reflections have been repeatedly confirmed in practice; he tells how they performed “Luchina” together in nature with the miller Nikon Osipovich, what nuances, what subtleties he borrowed and was able to embody in his concert activity. Thanks to sound recording, even today we can listen to the sound of Chaliapin's voice, as he sang "Because of the island to the rod ...", "Dubinushka" and many other songs. The signature number in every concert of Chaliapin, of course, was the well-known song:

Eh, along the Piterskaya,

Along Tverskaya-Yamskaya,

Along Tverskaya-Yamskaya, yes

With a bell...

I.A. Ilyin in his article "The Artistic Vocation of Chaliapin" analyzes the influences under the influence of which the artist's talent awakened, grew and strengthened. This is, first of all, a Russian folk song that has been flowing throughout Russia from end to end for many hundreds of years. Her sincerity and emotionality, her expressiveness made Chaliapin, as a national phenomenon, possible. We know that Chaliapin heard enough of her and went from her. There is no doubt that the gypsy song gave Chaliapin its own. Church Orthodox chanting influenced Chaliapin. Only in the best prayer places of his roles can one trace some tradition of spiritual chants. It was these influences that marked the beginning of Chaliapin's creative path. “Chaliapin did not just sing, but breathed into your soul with his sound: in his massive, to a bell-like deep sound, the breath fluttered, and in the breath the soul fluttered; his voice had the power to take the listener and bring him immediately to suggestive submission; in order to make him sing with him, breathe with him and tremble with him; breathing and breathing gave life to the sound; the sound ceased to be a ringing, but became a groan: you heard in it a rising and falling, thickening and rarefying line of feeling - and your soul floated in it and lived by it; the result was a sound extremely saturated with animation, commandingly embracing the soul of the listener.

However, I.A. Ilyin, to some extent and rightly, points out the negative traits of his character. All this led to the fact that Chaliapin did not create, did not leave behind a school, like the school of K. Stanislavsky, in which it would be worthwhile to embody the method of his work and the living school of the new operatic art. The song legacy of Chaliapin has always been a kind of tuning fork and a model for many generations of professional singers and lovers of Russian folk songs.

An outstanding performer of Russian folk songs was Nadezhda Plevitskaya(Vinnikova) (1884-1941). The nugget singer - Plevitskaya was born in the village of Vinnikovo near Kursk in a simple peasant family. Her love of singing led her to the church choir of the Trinity Monastery in Kursk, where she was a student for more than two years. The first big success came on tour in Nizhny Novgorod in 1909 at a charity concert during the days of the Nizhny Novgorod Fair, where she performed at the invitation of L.V. Sobinov. A year later, Plevitskaya already sang triumphantly in Moscow and St. Petersburg. F. Chaliapin greeted her very warmly, who, after the concert, fatherly admonished the singer: “God help you, dear Nadya. Sing your songs that you brought from the earth, I don’t have those - I’m a Slobozhan, not a village one. All her life, Plevitskaya kept a photograph of Chaliapin with a dedicatory inscription: “To my dear Lark Nadezhda Vasilievna Plevitskaya, F. Chaliapin who sincerely loves her.”

About how Plevitskaya sang, the testimony of an admirer of her talent, journalist A. Kugel, has been preserved: “She sang ... I don’t know, maybe she didn’t sing, but she said. The eyes changed expression, but with a certain artificiality. But the movements of the mouth and nostrils were like an open book. Plevitskaya's dialect is the purest, most sonorous, most charming Russian dialect. She twists her fingers, clasping her hands, and these fingers live, speak, suffer, joke, laugh. Many connoisseurs noted her rare musicality, flexible and juicy naturally delivered voice - a mezzo-soprano of a wide range.

Plevitskaya's repertoire was huge. She performed well-known Russian folk songs: "Pedlars", "Ukhar-merchant", "Troika", "Stenka Razin", "Along the Murom path", "Among the flat valley", "Along the wild steppes of Transbaikalia" and many others. She sang at the evening of K.S. Stanislavsky in the presence of Russian masters of the Art Theater. In 1910, Plevitskaya received an invitation to Tsarskoye Selo, where she successfully spoke to Emperor Nicholas II and his family. The emperor liked Plevitskaya's singing so much that subsequently she repeatedly performed before the Sovereign, the Grand Dukes and the highest ranks of the Russian Empire. During the First World War, Plevitskaya performed in concerts in front of Russian soldiers, and during the Civil War - in front of the soldiers of the Red Army.

In the future, the fate of Plevitskaya was very tragic. The outstanding singer ended up in exile. In 1937, she was arrested by the French government in connection with the kidnapping of General E.K. Miller. Despite the lack of direct evidence, the court sentenced Plevitskaya to 20 years in hard labor, where she died in 1941. The name of Plevitskaya still lives in Russia in legends, songs and romances.

Great Russian singer Lidia Andreevna Ruslanova(1900-1973) was born in the village of Chernavka, Saratov province (real name - Agafya Leykina). Throughout the 20th century, she was one of the most popular performers, and her performance of Russian folk songs is considered to be a reference. Ruslanova had a beautiful and strong voice with a wide range. She created her own style of performing folk songs, which she collected all her life. Among her most popular songs are “Steppe, yes steppe all around”, “Golden Mountains”, “The moon has turned crimson”, “The moon shines”, “Valenki”, “Century Linden” and many others. One of the first she performed "Katyusha" by M. Isakovsky. For some time, thanks to the help of teacher M. Medvedev, Ruslanova studied at the Saratov Conservatory, but after that she decided that her life should be connected with the folk song: “I realized that I should not be an academic singer. My whole strength was in immediacy, in a natural feeling, in unity with the world where the song was born.

During the First World War, Ruslanova was at the front as a sister of mercy. In the 1920s, her style was finally formed in performance, behavior on stage, and in the selection of concert costumes. These were peasant sundresses, colored scarves and shawls. In the 30s, the singer went on tour throughout the Soviet Union. Her voice had great strength and endurance, often in one evening she participated in 4-5 concerts. From the first days of the Great Patriotic War, Ruslanova went to the front as part of one of the best concert teams. Once, in 17 days, this team gave 51 concerts. The song "Valenki" became the "calling card" of the popularly beloved singer. I had to perform in the open air, in trenches, in dugouts, in hospitals. With her songs, Ruslanova poured into the soul of the soldiers a vital elixir - the Russian national spirit. With her own funds earned while touring the country in the pre-war years, Lidia Ruslanova purchased two batteries of Katyusha guards mortars, which were sent to the First Belorussian Front.

Ruslanova sang on the front line, under fire in the back of a truck in a bright Russian national costume. She sang about Russia, about the Volga, about the Motherland, reminding someone of a mother, someone of a wife, someone of a sister. And after the concert, the soldiers went into battle. Once on the front line, Ruslanova gave a three-hour concert, which was broadcast on the radio through amplifiers. For three hours there was not a single shot from either side of the front. During these three hours, the redeployment of our troops was carried out, preparations for the counteroffensive were completed. And in defeated Berlin, several concerts of Lydia Ruslanova took place - near the Reichstag building and at the Brandenburg Gate. In total, on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, she gave more than 1120 concerts. For all these achievements, Ruslanova was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree.

Ruslanova's performing style goes back to the singing traditions of the peasants of the Volga region. She had a deep, chesty voice (a lyrical soprano, turning into a dramatic, but "folk plan") of a large range and could move from contralto to the upper notes of a soprano sound. Possessing absolute pitch and an excellent musical memory, Ruslanova did not strive to perform the same repertoire all the time, collecting Russian folk songs. She knew so many songs - Volga, Central Russian, northern, Siberian, Cossack - that she could surprise even experienced folklorists. She performed memorable, heroic, valiant, robbery, lingering, mournful, cheerful, playful, circular, round dance, dance, joker, burlak, buffoon, ritual, wedding, ghoul, spy, woman, gathering songs, as well as epics, laments, lamentations and thoughts. Each song became a small performance.

The ease with which Ruslanova performed folk songs was given by hard work. She said more than once: “It is very difficult to sing well. You will be exhausted until you comprehend the soul of the song, until you solve its riddle. I don't sing the song, I play it. It's a whole play with several roles." Ruslanova was rightly called the "Queen of Russian Song" and "Guard Singer" during the Great Patriotic War. And today, in a number of Russian cities, competitions of folk songs named after Lidia Ruslanova are held (Saratov, Volgograd, Penza, Kozelsk, etc.). In her work, Ruslanova fully embodied the best features of the Russian national character - spiritual generosity, immensity, passion, talent, catholicity and patriotism.

Such talented Russian nuggets as Fyodor Chaliapin, Nadezhda Plevitskaya, Lidia Ruslanova - flesh from flesh, blood from the blood of the Russian people - expressed in their work the best properties of the Russian national character. The song is the embodiment of the life of the people, their culture; is and has always been an expression of sincerity, emotionality, and expressiveness of the people's soul. And as you tighten the song - and hard work is not a burden, and grief is not grief, and trouble is not a problem. For a Russian person, singing is like a prayer: in a song you will cry, and you will repent, and you will confess, and you will lighten your soul, and the weight will fall off your soul like a stone. Famous opera singers - Sergey Lemeshev, Ivan Kozlovsky, Boris Shtokolov, Alexander Vedernikov, Yuri Gulyaev, Elena Obraztsova, Dmitry Hvorostovsky - made a huge contribution to the popularization of Russian folk songs. In the second half of the 20th century, the Russian song was constantly performed in the concerts of Lyudmila Zykina, Claudia Shulzhenko, Valentina Tolkunova, Vladimir Troshin and many other performers.

3. "Burn, burn, my star..."

Romance is another and very important component of the treasury of Russian songwriting. According to the People's Artist of Russia Isabella Yuryeva, romance is an amazing phenomenon in our song culture. Romance is a purely Russian phenomenon. In the Russian romance, as well as in the old Russian song, the soul of our people was expressed with its subtle lyricism, with its inescapable melancholy and dreaminess; with her cheerful prowess and desperate recklessness.

What is the difference between the Russian romance and other genres, other vocal forms? What specific features inherent in the romance can be called? First of all, this is a simple plot. The space of romance plots is limited by the sphere of human experiences: the first meeting, love, betrayal, separation, loneliness, the death of a beloved (beloved) - something that is accessible to the understanding of every person. To this we must add the simplicity and accessibility of forms, if the way of expression becomes more complicated, the language of the romance ceases to be understandable. All feelings are expressed directly, openly. The content of the romance is saturated with words-symbols, behind each of which a real story is hidden:

Everything was just lies and deceit

Farewell to dreams and peace

But the pain of unclosed wounds

Stay with me.

Sensitivity, the ability to evoke human feelings is another essential feature of Russian romance. The more sentimental the romance, the higher its popularity. The most important thing in a romance is intonation, which is confidential, but not familiar with the listener. This is another advantage of the Russian romance. It is in the intonation that the elusive charm of the romance lies, which gives it genuine depth, sincerity of the feelings experienced, elegiac mood, light sadness. A distinctive feature of the Russian romance is a specific language, in which there are a lot of Slavicisms that give the romance a high style:

I will cover with kisses

Mouth, and eyes, and forehead.

Replace these words with modern ones and all the aroma and charm of the romance will crumble and disappear.

The most valuable thing in the music of the Russian romance is a rich and expressive melody. The wide chant, flexibility and plasticity of the romance are inherited from the Russian folk song. It should be noted that some romances, far removed from folk song sources, never lose touch with them. Often Russian romances were also performed by the gypsy choir, which led to an increase in melodramatic moments, exalted the pattern of the melody. And then the Russian romance became, allegedly, gypsy. In this case, the Russian origin of the romance is forgotten (“Oh, talk to me at least, seven-string friend” by A. Grigoriev, “Dark Eyes” by E. Grebyonka.)

Romance-elegy became the artistic epicenter of Russian musical and poetic culture in the 19th century. Romance has always been a synthetic art - the unity of word and sound. On the part of poetry, the development of the romance was deeply influenced by the work of the great Russian poets - A.S. Pushkin, F.I. Tyutchev, A.A. Fet, A.K. Tolstoy. At the same time, talented composers - M.I. Glinka, A.A. Alyabyev, A.N. Verstovsky, P.P. Bulakhov, A.L. Gurilev, A.E. Varlamov and many others gave the romance a variety and amazing musical forms. And today, classic romances are works based on Pushkin's poems "I remember a wonderful moment ...", on Tyutchev's poems "I met you ...", on A.K. Tolstoy's poems "Among a noisy ball ...". To this should be added numerous texts of poems by M.Yu. Lermontov, E.A. Boratynsky, A.V. Koltsov, A.A. Blok, S.A. Yesenin, which became the basis of romances. The pinnacle of romance creativity are the works of P.I. But this kind of romance resonates with the elite, not the mass public. Classical romance becomes intellectual, while losing lightness and innocence.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the romance became more of a performing art than a composer's and poet's. We can judge this by comparing the various performing manners of that time, thanks to the surviving records. These performers are the stars of urban romance - A.Vyaltseva, V.Panina, N.Plevitskaya, A.Davydov, N.Dulkevich; a little later - A. Vertinsky, P. Leshchenko, I. Yuryev, A. Bayanova and others. The appearance of the gramophone and records contributed to the popularization of the romance. The performance of romances was enthusiastically received not only by the regulars of restaurants, but also by visitors to concert halls and outstanding artists. The performance of a romance always presupposes a coincidence, consonance of a spiritual impulse, an inner mood of the performer and listener, artist and audience. The listener is most often a person who has felt and suffered a lot, has heart wounds and unhealed scars. Only such a listener can fully comprehend the enchanting power of romance.

A documentary report by the famous Russian journalist of the early 20th century, Vlas Doroshevich, about the performance of Sasha Davydov in the opera performance "Gypsy songs and romances in faces ..." has been preserved:

“-I remember the performance in Lentovsky's Hermitage.

It was fun, crowded, chic.

There were "Gypsy songs".

Davydov sang "Cry" and "Nochenka".

And so he came to the ramp.

His face became stern and solemn.

A pair of bay harnessed with the dawn ...

The first performance of the new romance.

And from the second, from the third verse, the theater stopped breathing.

Where now, in what new goddess

Are they looking for their ideals?

The actress E. Hildebrandt swayed. She was taken off the stage.

Raisova - Stesha - leaned over the table and began to cry.

Beautiful chorus girls wiped away tears.

There were sobs in the hall.

The sobs grew.

Someone was carried out unconscious.

Someone ran out of the box crying loudly.

I glanced to my left.

In the box sat the opera actress Tilda, from the French opera Gunzburg, who was touring at the Hermitage at the time.

Big tears ran down her cheeks.

She didn't understand the words.

But she understood the tears with which the artist sang.

The French writer Armand Sylvestre, a light, pleasant writer, a fat, cheerful bourgeois, who was visiting the theater in Moscow, shrugged his hands during the intermission:

Amazing country! Weird country! They cry in operetta.

You, only you, are faithful to her to this day,

A pair of bay... a pair of bay...

Davydov finished himself with a face flooded with tears

Under some general sobbing.

I saw such a performance only once in my life ... ".

Such a demanding judge as K.S. Stanislavsky, who was very far from the stage, wrote, evaluating the work of A. Davydov: was known to him. It is not surprising that the enthusiastic audience often literally carried their favorite performers of Russian romances in their arms after the concert.

We meet similar judgments from the famous Russian writer A. Kuprin, who attended the concert of Nina Dulkevich (Baburina): “I will never forget this sudden, strong, passionate and sweet impression. As if in a room that smelled of fashionable perfume, the scent of some wild flower suddenly wafted. I heard how the enchanted spectators gradually fell silent, and for a long time not a single sound, not a rustle was heard in the huge hall, except for that sweet, yearning and fiery motive ... You listen to her - and you listen not only with your ears, but with all your nerves, with all your blood and blood. with all my heart." N.Dulkevich often performed 30,40 and even 50 romances and songs during one concert! And this is without a microphone and other sound-enhancing equipment. It is unlikely that a "foreign" ear and another soul is capable of understanding the full depth, passion and magical power of the Russian romance. But all this is open to the Russian soul, which, according to cultural genetics, is able to merge harmoniously in the performance of the artist and the perception of the listener.

Russian romance has come a long way - through high-society salons, noisy hussar and student gatherings, soldiers' rests - has reached our time, continuing to excite people's hearts with its soft lyricism and sincere sentimentality. Russian romance - unpretentious and touching - has absorbed the whole gamut of human feelings: sublime love and fatal passions, inescapable sadness and cheerful prowess, desperate recklessness and sentimental daydreaming. Russian romance is eternal, just as the loving and suffering soul of a person is eternal.

4. Songs of our Victory

A special place in the songwriting of the Russian people is occupied by songs of the Great Patriotic War. Songs of the Great Patriotic War... And "Dugout", "Dark Night", "Nightingales" immediately come to mind. Why, despite the repeated change in fashion in pop songs, does the songs of the Great Patriotic War retain a warm, reverent attitude? Probably because they are simple, like a soldier's life, and sincere, like a memory of a loved one. They are amazingly melodic and easy to remember. They are distinguished by optimism, inexhaustible faith in friendship and love, all the best for which it was necessary to fight and win.

And today, more than half a century after the end of the Great Patriotic War, the heart of a Russian person stops and the soul trembles when a soft chant is heard:

Fire is beating in a cramped stove,

Resin on the logs, like a tear.

And the accordion sings to me in the dugout

About your smile and eyes.

The song of the Great Patriotic War is a layer of the spiritual life of our country, our people. They are like a Russian folk song. My personal attitude to the military song is the attitude of a person belonging to a generation whose fathers died at the front. Therefore, the words from the song - “it’s not easy for me to reach you, but four steps to death” - I perceive not as a poetic device, but as a line from my father’s last front-line letter. Therefore, the victory of our army, our country, I have always perceived and perceive as my personal victory.

The song of the Great Patriotic War reflected the events of the war, became its musical chronicle. The themes, images, content of the song perfectly convey the emotional atmosphere of wartime. It presents all shades of heroics and lyrics of the war years: a high civic position and patriotism (“Holy War”); the spirit of courage and struggle ("The Treasured Stone"); soldier friendship and front-line fraternity (“Two Friends”); love for the hearth and the woman ("Wait for me"); a joke song that creates an atmosphere of youthful enthusiasm and fun (“Vasya-Vasilek”); front-line ditty, written on the topic of the day.

The English military journalist A. Werth, who was on the Eastern Front, said that the song could determine the psychological state of the Red Army. If "Dugout", he wrote, reflected the extreme degree of psychological breakdown in 1941, then "Dark Night" became an expression of faith and hope. The love for the song, the awareness that the song relieves physical and mental suffering, is very clearly expressed in the poetic lines:

After the fight, the heart asks

Music doubly.

A person, even in wartime conditions, cannot be endlessly in a state of constant anxiety and mental discomfort. With the greatest insight, this situation was reflected by A. Tvardovsky in the poem "Vasily Terkin":

And the accordion is calling somewhere

Far, easy...

No, what are you all guys

Amazing people(...)

The memory of a military song is the memory of its authors and performers. These are the composers A. Alexandrov, V. Solovyov-Sedoy - the author of the songs "Evening on the roadstead", "Nightingales", "On a sunny meadow"; N. Bogoslovsky - author of the song "Dark Night"; T. Khrennikov, M. Blanter, I. Dunaevsky. These are the poets A. Surkov, M. Isakovsky, A. Fatyanov, E. Dolmatovsky, V. Lebedev-Kumach, N. Bukin. These are famous performers L. Utyosov, G. Vinogradov, K. Shulzhenko, M. Bernes, L. Ruslanova, V. Bunchikov and V. Nechaev. These are, finally, the artists of the front-line concert brigades, unknown authors and performers.

More than a thousand songs were written by professional poets and composers during the first two months of the war. Not all of them received recognition and popularity, but one thing is certain: the song arsenal of the war is exceptionally large. Front-line songwriting gave rise to numerous adaptations to well-known motifs: “The sea spread wide”, “Katyusha”, “Oh, apple”, “Spark” and many others.

There are amazing collections of songs preserved for us by devotees of song art: songs of the Battle of Stalingrad, songs of the Southern Front, songs of the Karelian Front, etc. Once published in military newspapers, they testify to the scale of folk song creativity. They reflect the motives of front-line life. Their heroes are the defenders of our Motherland. Therefore, even today a large and painstaking folklore-collecting work is needed.

The most popular war songs written after the war should be given their due. These are “Victory Day” (authors V. Kharitonov and D. Tukhmanov), “Cranes” (R. Gamzatov and Y. Frenkel), “He did not return from the battle”, “Common Graves” (V. Vysotsky). These songs are perceived by us today as front-line. One thing is clear: there is a huge song heritage that tells about the tragic and at the same time heroic pages of our history. Much has been forgotten, lost, erased by time, superseded by fashionable modern rhythms. The preservation of this heritage is similar to the creation of the Red Book, which will include disappearing spiritual values. We should save them, not lose them in the hustle and bustle. Perhaps the songs of the war years will help us overcome the upheavals and hardships that have fallen to our lot today.

May the road lead us to mass graves on each Victory Day, where "there is not a single personal fate - all fates are merged into one." Eternal memory to the defenders of our Motherland! Let our path lead us to the temple, where a prayer service will be served for the fallen soldiers of the Great Patriotic War. Let the few veterans of the Great Patriotic War who have survived to this day constantly feel our attention and care.

One thing is certain - the songs of the Great Patriotic War formed and today form the properties of the Russian national character - patriotism, heroism, national stamina, brotherhood, inexhaustible patience and a sense of catholicity. Today, in post-Soviet Russia, there is a shortage of these qualities. How necessary they are for new generations of Russian people.

5. "I love you, Russia..."

A huge layer of Russian song creativity is represented by songs of the Soviet era, which coincide chronologically with the second half of the 20th century. They continue the traditions of the classical Russian national song - in terms of content, intonation, and genre diversity. But most importantly, they have a cultural genetics identical to the Russian folk song, they express the basic features of the Russian national character. Among the diverse themes, plots and motives of these songs, I would like to dwell on two main themes.

The first theme is Russia, Motherland, Russian nature, the existence of the Russian people. The songs of this theme are characterized by immeasurable breadth, chant, boundless freedom and a deep patriotic feeling. These are “Moscow Nights” by M. Matusovsky; “The Volga is flowing” - L. Oshanina, “Russia is my Motherland!” - V. Kharitonova, "Russian Field" - I. Goff, "My Village" - V. Gundareva, "My Quiet Homeland" - N. Rubtsova, "Grass at the House" - A. Poperechny, "Hope" - N. Dobronravova , "Russia" - I. Talkova.

The boundlessness of Russia and the equally boundless love for the Motherland are shrewdly expressed in the song "Russia" by M. Nozhkin:

I love you Russia

Our dear Russia,

unspent power,

Unexplained sadness.

You are immense in scope,

There is no end to you

You are incomprehensible for centuries

foreign sages.

The second theme is Russian songs of the lyrical genre, which tell about love and separation, joy and sorrow, hopes and disappointments. They, like folk songs, are unusually melodic, sometimes sentimental, but in each of them the loving and suffering Russian soul trembles. The following popular songs can be attributed to this topic: “Orenburg downy shawl” to verses. V. Bokova, “Where can I get such a song” - M. Agashina, “Look at the dawn in the river” - O. Fokina, “A snow-white cherry blossomed under the window” - A. Burygina, “I am standing at a half-station” - M. Ancharova, “Ural mountain ash” - M. Pilipenko, “White birch friend” - A. Ovsyannikova, “What a song without button accordion” - O. Anofrieva. The list of these songs is endless.

During this period of the history of our song culture, many poems by S. Yesenin, N. Zabolotsky, N. Rubtsov were set to music. A. Safronov, V. Soloukhin and many other Russian poets. The popularity of Russian songs of this era became possible thanks to famous songwriters - A. Pakhmutova, E. Rodygin, G. Ponomarenko, as well as performers - Lyudmila Zykina, Vladimir Troshin, Maria Mordasova, Alexander Strelchenko, Oleg Anofriev, Valentina Tolkunova, Nadezhda Babkina and many others.

Unfortunately, today it is rare to hear a Russian folk song. Various imported and home-grown hits and hits that have nothing to do with our song culture are suitable for the “format” of the mass media today.

Nevertheless, Russian folk songs, Russian romances and songs of the Soviet period are quite widely in demand outside of our homeland. On the stage of many foreign countries, “Black Eyes” (E. Grebenka), “Two Guitars” (S. Makarov), “A Pair of Bays” (A. Apukhtin), songs of the Soviet era - “Katyusha” and "Moscow Nights". But, perhaps, until now, K. Podrevsky's romance “Dear Long”, to the music of B. Fomin, has enjoyed the greatest success. This romance has been translated into many languages. In French and Italian, it was repeatedly performed by the star of French cinema Dalida. This romance was performed by the famous trio of opera singers - P. Domingo, L. Pavarotti, J. Carreras, and they performed one verse in Russian. Russian songs and romances were performed for many years by Boris Rubashkin, a descendant of Russian emigrants of the first wave. The Yale University Choir (USA) has long been performing Russian folk songs - "Kalinka", "Oh, you are our Russian expanse." These songs were performed even during the Cold War years on Red Square in Moscow in 1958.

Valery Ganichev, chairman of the Union of Writers of Russia, says with deep regret that today the Russian folk song has disappeared, they don’t know it, they don’t sing it. “And the Russian song is also our great Russian shrine. They fought with it in the same way as Emelyan Yaroslavsky with the church, destroyed, perverted, replaced. The country was flooded with precocious, jaunty marches, and only the Great Patriotic War again called the Russian song to life. The ingenious amulet song "Holy War" gave rise to new spiritually sublime, dramatic heroic, lyrical and romantic songs ... Alexandrov's choir, Pyatnitsky's choir, "Birch" were known to the whole world, the Arkhangelsk, Voronezh, Ural choirs were the standard of song culture. The country sang its songs. Every evening at 7:15 pm throughout the Soviet Union, folk songs, songs of the Great Patriotic War were learned on all radio stations. And suddenly everything collapsed... On Vasilyevsky Spusk, visiting rock musicians sing, and all kinds of pop music sounds, only one broadcast of the folk song "Play, accordion!" Only Viktor Zakharchenko, wounded by many years of struggle, breaks through with his outstanding Kuban folk choir to the country's main concert venue - the Palace of Congresses. The departure of the folk song from the life of the country deprived it of the spiritual oxygen of tradition and self-awareness, the age-old sound and movement. The cells of consciousness and soul of our young man were filled with the rhythms of Florida and Texas, the melodies of the London suburbs, the discos of Amsterdam and Hamburg. He ceases to be Russian and Russian, he does not know our songs, he does not know how to sing them.

V. Ganichev tells about one trip of the youth delegation to America. There we were asked to sing our songs. The guys from Armenia tightened their motive, two Ukrainians and I sang “Povy Vitra to Ukraine”, but Muscovites and St. Petersburg did not remember anything. The American owners suggested: "Kalinka" - the guys did not know, "Black Eyes" - too. Let's at least "Moscow Nights" - I suggested with anger. Without the support of the entire delegation, they would not have sung. Good compatriots. And compatriots? So, second-class citizens of the world.

Tanya Petrova said that in Japan, in music schools, the obligatory rule is the knowledge of ten Russian songs, as the most perfect melodic and harmonic samples. Can we boast of such knowledge? Does our student know ten folk songs, can he perform them? Clearly not. A great black hole has formed in the musical image of Russia... Either we will sing our songs, or our people will dissolve in an alien melody, which means in other people's thoughts and spirit... .

The outstanding head of the Moscow Chamber Choir Vladimir Minin complains that in Russia now they don’t sing at all. He sees a way out in the musical education of children, who could absorb the genuine traditions of national polyphony that have been preserved in some places. The famous bass, People's Artist of the USSR Yevgeny Nesterenko said that we are Russians by nature, a singing nation.

But the ascetic performers of Russian songs have not yet died out in Russia. Alexander Vasin-Makarov, creator of the Nadezhda trio, says: “We have taken on the task of combining all types of Russian songs - folk, Soviet and author's. In Russia it is impossible not to sing, they sing over a newborn, they sing at the apogee of his development, at a wedding, they sing at his burial; they sing, going from hard daily work, soldiers sing, returning from a hot exercise, and sometimes going on an assault. He notes that over the past 20 years, 150 melodies have been composed on the verses of N. Rubtsov! On the verses of M. Lermontov - 450! The Nadezhda Trio performs songs based on poems by Tyutchev, Apukhtin, Fet, Blok, Rubtsov, Peredreev, Tryapkin, as well as Vasin-Makarov's own poems set to music composed by him.

Sincerity, emotionality and expressiveness of the Russian folk song, with special force, presented by I.A. Ilyin in his book “The Singing Heart. The Book of Quiet Contemplation. According to Ilyin, the human heart sees the Divine in everything, rejoices and sings, the heart shines from that depth where the human-personal merges with the superhuman-divine to the point of indistinguishability: for God's rays penetrate man, and man becomes God's lamp. The heart sings at the sight of the trusting, affectionate and helpless smile of a child. The heart sings when it sees human kindness. The heart sings at the sight of the mysteries, wonders and beauties of God's world. The heart sings during inspired prayer, which is a concentrated turning of a person to God. The heart sings when we contemplate a true shrine in art, when we hear the voices of angels in the melody of earthly music. “We need to see and recognize and make sure that it is the divine moments of life that constitute the true substance of the world; and that a man with a singing heart is the island of God - His beacon. His intermediary.

Russian folk song has always been and will be the expression of Russian national self-consciousness and Russian character. Traditions coming from Chaliapin, Plevitskaya, Ruslanova and other outstanding performers of Russian folk songs are continued today by Tatyana Petrova, Svetlana Kopylova, Elena Sapogova, our countryman Evgeny Buntov and many performers who carefully preserve the traditions of Russian folk songs, which are truly the embodiment of the soul of the people, essential element of our spiritual substance.

Vitaly Ilyich Kopalov , Professor, Doctor of Philosophy. Sciences, UrIB im. I. A. Ilyina, Yekaterinburg

1. Ilyin I.A. The path of spiritual renewal // Ilyin I.A. Sobr. op. : in 10 volumes - M., 1993. - T. 1. - S.202.

2. Ibid. S. 203.

3. See: Ilyin I.A. Essence and originality of Russian culture// Ilyin I.A. Collected works: in 10 t. M., 1996. T.6, book. II. P.389.

Russian song - Russian history.

A. M. Gorky

Created over many centuries, the songs have become a genuine artistic encyclopedia of the working and social life of the people, their way of life, psychology and ideology. Poetically charming and sincere, deeply revealing in their content the inner world of a person, folk songs are evidence of the high talent of the Russian people, both in poetic and musical terms.

They vividly reflected the best features of the Russian national character: resilience in life's trials, willpower and courage, a sense of human dignity, prowess, courage and ardent love for the motherland and freedom.

So what is a Russian folk song? It is a natural need for self-expression.

The songs reveal the fate of the people, the unique national character in all its wealth of thoughts and feelings.

Round dance and wedding songs attract us with the clarity of form, the harmonious combination of words and music, and the crystallization of intonations. Family relationships, the difficult position of a woman in a patriarchal family are most vividly depicted in these songs.

“... You beat me, dear father,

The only one in the evening.

You wanted me, dear mother,

In the tower - then plant.

Planted me, dear mother,

In melancholy - kruchinushka. "

The enormous power of the influence of a song on those around it inspired our ancestors many centuries ago with the confidence that singing can communicate and influence the forces of nature. This is how rituals and calendar ritual songs, surprising in their unique simplicity and conciseness, arose. The poetry of ancient calendar agricultural songs possessed a great attraction.

They sound motives associated with the labor activity of the peasant. The theme of labor is also reflected in the round dance lyrical songs. No wonder the people said: "Conversation spends the road, and the song - work."

In children's carols, one could feel immediacy, cheerfulness, sparkling with fun and humor of the people's "avsenki", "tausenkmi".

"Tausenki, tausenki!

Grandma cooks jelly

On the mountain

In the skull ... "

The lullabies conveyed a clear image of the children's world, one could feel the warmth and depth of maternal caress, and her tender tenderness of the child's peace.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh...

Oh, sleep, angel, rest,

Close your eyes."

Tender feelings of love, longing for a sweetheart, the severity of separation are captured in lyrical songs.

And the lamentations! How much feeling, expression, bright poetic talent the captives invested, trying to throw out their grief in the momentarily stingy, but unusually capacious word coming from the depths of the soul - intonations.

L.A. Ruslanova, being a girl, heard how her grandmother yelled when her father was taken away to the soldiers: “Whom did you leave us for, bright falcon?”

That is why the song, performed sincerely, disinterestedly, touches the nerve, makes you think, excites.

With special reverence, the Russian people treated the song, and not only because it accompanied him from birth to death, but also, probably, because the performance of the song required a special, elevated state of mind.

The soul of today's man, who sings the songs of his ancestors, or at least listens to them, comes into contact with the harsh thoughts of Yermak, with the robbery prowess of Stenka Razin, with the quiet sadness of a spinner in a low room, with the bitter share of a coachman frozen in the steppe, with the difficult service of little soldiers - children , with the enviable love of a person who is ready to give mountains of gold for "caresses - looks."

As a kind and wise mentor, the song inspires us with love for the traditions and customs of our native land, for its heroes and masters.

The folk song has an enviable fate. Fashionable for one season "hits" and "hit hits" disappear without a trace from memory. And the folk song breaks out of the captivity of oblivion and again sounds pure and fresh in the mouths of people from another era.

It is in this immortality that the great secret of the national character of the folk song lies.

“The Russian song is not naked,

No debauchery, no hysterical chest,

Sit next to me and look into my eyes.

"Magnificent Russian song" V. Bokov.

Without exaggeration, historical songs are a continuation of the epic creativity of the people at a new stage in the state development of Russia. All of them are devoted to various historical events and persons and express people's interests and ideals.

In terms of volume, they are smaller than epics. Usually the plot of historical songs is reduced to one single episode. The characters of historical songs are well-known historical figures (Ivan the Terrible, Ermak, Razin, Peter I, Pugachev, Suvorov, Alexander I, Kutuzov), as well as representatives, so to speak, from the people: gunner, gunner, soldiers, Cossacks. Senior historical songs of the 13th–16th centuries. already a little closer to the epics by the presence of a clearly traced detailed plot, and most importantly by the style, and the younger ones - from the 18th-19th centuries. begin to experience more and more influence of lyrical songs and gradually turn into soldiers' songs of lyrical sound. This section of the site publishes about a quarter of historical songs known to science.

As for the time of origin of historical songs, there are serious disagreements among authoritative folklorists. Petersburg scientist S. N. Azbelev claims that such songs existed long before the formation of the Old Russian state. In his reasoning, S. N. Azbelev relies mainly on the opinion of such authoritative scientists as F. I. Buslaev, A. N. Veselovsky, V. F. Miller, as well as on the evidence of Byzantine historians. From another point of view (Yu. M. Sokolova, B. N. Putilova, F. M. Selivanova, V. P. Anikina), historical songs arose during the Mongol or Horde invasion - in the middle of the 13th century.

Handout for group work.

historical songs

Epic and some lyrical-epic works are called historical songs, which tell about historical events and episodes from the life of historical persons. Historical songs are a continuation and development of the epic folk epic. Bylina sings the feats of heroes. Their exaggerated images embody folk ideas about Russian strength, power, and readiness to defend the Motherland. The enemy force appears in the epic as a fantastic, fabulous creature that does not have an unambiguous historical prototype. The historical events of hoary antiquity in epics lose their features of reality. In historical songs, on the contrary, quite definite historical events are mentioned, specific historical persons are named. Only outstanding events and outstanding historical figures are honored with the people's memory: these are the tsars Peter I, Ivan IV (the Terrible), these are the people's intercessors - the leaders of the peasant uprisings Stepan Razin, Emelyan Pugachev, this is the free Cossack, the brave conqueror of Siberia Ermak Timofeevich. Historical songs expressed the feelings of nameless authors in connection with wars, campaigns, popular uprisings. This is a people's assessment of history, its creators, an expression of the soul of the people.

In the 16th century, cycles of songs were formed around Ivan the Terrible and the hero put forward by the people - Yermak. Folk songs show why the king got his nickname. The king is great, his merits are indisputable. At the same time, Ivan the Terrible, on the slightest suspicion, is ready to “execute-hang” his gunners, destroys entire cities during punitive campaigns, and in anger sends his son to be executed:

“Oh, you, my faithful servants,

Executioners mot merciless!1

Take my royal son,

Whether that Fyodor Ivanov,

For him, for white pens,

For him for the rings for the green ones,

Take it to the field on Kulikovo,

To this place, to the trading place,

Chop off his wild little head

For him, a great betrayal!

The second half of the 17th century was marked by the largest event - a peasant uprising led by Stepan Razin. At this time, the peasants realized themselves as an independent force. The main topic was social protest:

“My sirs, brothers, tavern net,

Let's go, brothers, to walk on the blue sea,

Destroy, brothers, besurman ships,

We, brothers, will take the treasury as much as necessary,

Let's go, brothers, to the stone Moscow ... "

The Pugachev cycle of historical songs is a continuation of the Razin cycle. These song cycles combine common motifs and moods.

Historical songs have been one of the main sources of knowledge about their past for the people for several centuries.

Calendar and ritual songs

Rites are actions and chants established by custom, reflecting the beliefs of peoples. With the adoption of Christianity, a new meaning began to be invested in traditional folk rites, preserved from pagan antiquity. The fusion of Christianity with pagan beliefs is noticeable in ritual songs, which are considered the oldest works of folklore.

New Year's rites, divination and songs, calling for the harvest, the offspring of livestock, the well-being of the family, a happy marriage and wealth, were originally associated with the celebration of the birth of the young sun, when the day began to increase. Young men and girls dressed up walked around the yards, glorified Kolyada - the young sun, which gives blessings to everyone, demanded a gift. With the establishment of Christianity, this celebration began to be increasingly postponed to Christmas Eve and to Epiphany evening. Christmastide - the popular name for the period from Christmas to Epiphany1 became the most beloved winter holiday. In every house for the feast of the Nativity of Christ, pies were baked, loaves symbolizing fertility, ritual cookies were prepared: bagels, figures depicting small cows, bulls, sheep and other animals and shepherds. Such figures were placed on windows and tables, sent as a gift to relatives. The floor in the hut was covered with straw, grains of wheat were scattered around the house. The whole family sat down to eat at the table, commemorated their dead parents and asked them for help. Christmas time was celebrated by everyone, but most of all by young people. Games, songs, gatherings, divination filled the two-week Christmas festival. As in the most ancient times, boys and girls went from hut to hut, but now with the image of a star that announced the birth of Christ, and sang laudatory, that is, congratulatory songs, which were called carols.

- Carol came

Christmas Eve!

Give me a cow

Butterhead!

And God forbid that

Who is in this house:

The rye is thick for him,

Dinner rye!

* * * * * * * * * *

Here we go, shepherds,

All our sins are forgiven.

We rule our way to the house,

We praise Christ God.

Hello, food

You accept congratulations!

The Lord would give you

And living, and being,

And wealth in everything!

The owners of the house presented carolers with cookies depicting various animals, sweets, and gingerbread.

Maslenitsa was the last winter and first spring holiday. On Maslenitsa, they performed the rite of seeing off winter, which seemed to be a living being. An effigy was made of straw, which, like the holiday, was called Maslenitsa. The effigy was dressed up, decorated and carried around the village to ritual songs, and then burned. Shrovetide was called wide, because it was a fun holiday: they rode sleighs from the mountains, rode horses around the village, played the game of taking a snowy town, organized fairs, booths, fistfights. On Maslenitsa, it was customary to bake pancakes, reminiscent of the spring sun, which were then eaten. It was believed that the more pancakes you eat, the richer and more satisfying you will live in the coming year. No wonder they sang: “As on Shrove Week, pancakes flew from the oven ...”

And we met Shrovetide,

Met, soul, met.

We visited the mountain

Visited, soul, visited.

Pancake lined the mountain,

Lined, soul, lined.

They filled the mountain with cheese,

Stuffed, soul, stuffed.

They poured oil on the mountain.

The expulsion of winter, the burning of Maslenitsa did not yet mean the appearance of spring. Spring had to be called, to notify that it was eagerly awaited. The rite of invocation of spring falls in the middle of Lent.

- Spring, Red Spring!

Come to us with joy!

With great mercy!

With tall flax,

With a deep root

With abundant bread!

Lark on the talin

Sings, sings,

He calls himself, he calls himself

Red spring, red spring.

So the children sang, bypassing the neighboring yards that day. The children were given a gift - a cross baked from lean dough. Cookies-crosses were perceived as messengers of spring - larks. They were asked to fly in, to bring spring - and so they arrived. "Larks" were hung on trees, on wattle fences, on special poles in the field, or simply thrown up, and then eaten. On this day, it was customary to release the birds from the cages into the wild, and to be especially friendly to the children. Childhood is the beginning of life, spring is the awakening of nature, the beginning of its flowering, they are related to each other.

Crosses, larks,

Fly to us from the gate!

On Trinity (50th day after Easter), the girls took treats and went to the forest, collected herbs, flowers and wove wreaths, which they then threw into the water, wondering how they would swim about their future life and groom. They also chose a young birch tree and “curled” it, that is, they decorated it, hung ribbons, wreaths, scarves on it and made a wish. If after three days the wreaths did not wilt on the birch, it means that the wish should have come true. In the song “There was a birch in the field” it is sung: I will go, I will go for a walk

Break the white birch ...

Family ritual songs

Family ritual songs accompanied rituals associated with the most important events in a person's life. Wedding songs were sung: bachelorette party songs; glorious songs of the wedding feast; wedding lamentations of the bride. Recruiting songs accompanied the rite of passage to the soldiers. There were also funeral songs, lamentation songs.

The wedding ceremony was one of the most difficult. A folk wedding was divided into several stages: the pre-wedding cycle (matchmaking, conspiracy, engagement, bachelorette party), the actual wedding ceremonies (bride's preparations, arrival for the bride, wedding, wedding feast) and post-wedding (offtakes). The bride before the wedding was supposed to lament: to regret the free, girlish life. These are ritual lamentations:

Everything has gone and gone

Everything has passed

Devye and a carefree life ...

About the groom sang:

Here he comes, my destroyer,

Here he is going to undo the braid,

Here he goes - lose your beauty ...

At the wedding, the bride and groom were called. Bride "Without whitewash ... white, Without rouge, scarlet cheeks, Without antimony, black eyebrows." Groom

sits on a horse,

And the horse is having fun

Jumping down the street -

The whole street is shining.

Drives up to the grove -

The grove rustled…

At the end of the wedding feast, reproachful songs were sung addressed to its participants. They were full of comic, parodic glorifications:

pretty friend,

Nice friend.

Like a caftan on a friend

Everything is assembled by a thread ...

The shoes are good

Only without soles.

Funeral lamentations and recruiting lamentations are in many ways similar to each other. Seeing off for 25 years was tantamount to death, which is why there is so much pain and longing for relatives in recruiting lamentations:

God forbid, on this and in this world

Already to live yes in the formidable service of the sovereign:

Like a unit for soldiers - crackers,

As a pet for them - a vodoushka with a rusty ...

Traditional lyric songs

Songs were sung not only in connection with rituals, but also just for fun: at gatherings, during everyday work. These songs have served the people for centuries to express experiences and feelings, therefore they are called lyrical. In song folklore, lyrical songs occupy a large part. These songs appeared later than the ritual ones. All shades of the spiritual life of the people were embodied in them.

Love songs spoke about the first meetings of lovers, their love joy and longing, fidelity and betrayal. Family songs told of an unhappy wife and a strict or old husband; about a husband who did not marry for love and is now unhappy, all that remains for him is to remember his former love. The young sang about harsh parents, the daughter-in-law - about the unkind mother-in-law.

There were songs of robbers, prison, soldier, coachman, barge, songs about serf captivity - they helped endure the hardships of life, alleviate mental anguish. Such songs healed the human soul. The singer felt that he was not alone in his grief, that such grief was experienced by many, many people. People's sympathy for the suffering, which was heard in these songs, brought consolation. Here, for example, is the robber's song "Don't make noise, mother green oak tree, Don't bother me thinking...". It is sung in the robber detachment of Vladimir Dubrovsky, it is sung by Pugachev in A. S. Pushkin's story "The Captain's Daughter". Although the robbers broke many laws, sympathy for their unfortunate lot is heard in the song. It also sings of bravery, and one hears a sad reflection on imminent death, the expectation of a harsh retribution.

The named types of lyrical songs are called in a different way drawling, "voice", "long". All these definitions point to the unhurried, sing-song nature of the song. The main thing in the song is music. It is difficult to convey the content without music, since there is practically no rhyme and the text of the song is not perceived as poetry. The rhythmic pattern appears here only when singing, the singer inserts numerous repetitions, exclamations, interjections into the text, which on the one hand enhances emotionality, on the other hand, emphasizes the rhythm.

folk - helps to build and live ...

SongOur song \ In weekdays rejoiced, - \ Well, lead her into battle with you. \ Sing along, \ the first to sing, And the shelves will tighten behind you ... Mikhail Svetlov

Song Do not trust the words of a sad song, I will burn you with scorching complaints by speech. \But my fire in my chest will go out if\I don't meet you. Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Translation by V. Kadenko

Song I do not know where they sang, \ Birds - sang and sang - \ Birds that sang ... Juan Ramon Jimenez. Translation by I. Polyakova-Sevostyanova SONG OF WINTER

Song I don’t know, from where their bliss sounds, \ But Russian prowess \ Beats and boils in them; Alexey K. Tolstoy
song I can't figure it out, \ Though howling, even cracking, \ What to do with the song \ In the end? \ Or maybe, brothers, \ The song ends \ And falls into the ground \ With a white face? Mikhail Ancharov ANTI-BORN SONG (From the book "This Blue April")

Song Do not separate songs from the age, ... Shallowness overtakes them, Like the depth of a river arm. Ages and opinions are changing, New words are coming. George Leonidze. Translation by B. Pasternak OLD DRAMA

I hear the song Not of Baydar's nightingales, \ Not the maidens of Salgir - the noise of the Lithuanian forests is a dream, \ It is more pleasant for me to trample wet moss than to marvel, \ Like gold, pineapple and red berry. Adam Mickiewicz. Translation B. Romanov Wanderer

Song Isn't that how you sing for cold beauty? \Remember, O poet, what are you striving for? \ She does not listen, does not feel the poet; \ You look - it blooms; you call - there is no answer. Alexander Pushkin

Song He did not have time to finish this song - \ Shouts of "Vivat!" announced the hall; \ Only the krul waved his hand, frowning: \ Say, I heard these songs! KAZIMIR THE GREAT 1874 in memory of A. F. Hilferding

The song is not written in ink - \ With red blood in hard times, \ And it is not the birds in the clouds who sing it, \ But the people in battle with revolvers in their hands. Hirsch Glick. Translation by J. Kandrora PARTISAN ANTHEM

Song A quiet song by the fire, \ A late tear... \ But it was the same way before me. \ And will be after. Andrey Dementiev After us A. Voznesensky

SongA ridiculous song\Abandoned years. He loves her, but she doesn't love him. \ Naum Korzhavin 1962 From the collection "Times", Selected 1976 SAD SELF-PARODY

Song A few of them. Not glorious and not loud, \They will not pass into centuries, my friend... \Neither contemporaries, nor proud descendants\Won't bewitched ears will bow to them. Anatoly Alexandrov My songs 6 Aug. 1907, Nick. wish. dor.

Song Carried, burning, eyebrows yoke / from the eyes of wells cold buckets. \ In the silks of the lake you hung, \ hips sang with an amber violin? \ In the region where the malice of the roofs, \ you will not throw a brilliant forest. \ In the boulevards I'm drowning, longing for the sands fanned: \ after all, this is your daughter - \ my song \ in an openwork stocking \ at coffee houses! Vladimir Mayakovsky

Song There is no drowning of art in my songs, There is neither music nor beauty in them; In them I poured out my youthful feelings, In them I poured out dear dreams. Alexey Gmyrev

Song No, don't wait for a passionate song, These sounds are obscure nonsense. \ Languid ringing of the string; But, full of dreary torment, These sounds evoke / Tender dreams. Athanasius Fet

Song No, these days will not return to the world, / Weep, soldier, our great shame! \Poet, break the silent lyre, \You will not create a song from this sorrow! \Now, when the Teutonic detachments\All outposts are on the alert - \Only one song will break through the barriers. \My friends! Let's sing from Beranger! Gustave Nadeau. Translation by A. Argo

From ancient times, the song accompanied the Russian people. In work and during rest, in harsh everyday life and on holidays, in sorrow and in joy - the song went hand in hand with the people, breathed their worries, thoughts, life. The song was heard by a Russian person in the noise of the wind, in the rustle of the leaves of dense forests, in the splashing of wide rivers, in the call of birds and in the clatter of hooves.

So what is this mysterious Russian song? Where did she come from?

The writer Nikolai Gogol, who sang of the breadth of the Russian soul in his works, wrote about the song: “This is a folk story, lively, bright, full of colors, truth, exposing the whole life of the people ... All its strong, youthful being pours out in folk songs.”

The first folk songs were born together with the ritual tunes of the Slavs. They were dedicated to pagan gods or holidays, which were always celebrated widely and cheerfully. This is Maslenitsa full of mischief and joy; and spring songs, the tunes of which called the arrival of spring; and subservient songs that young girls sang during the Christmas divination. Neither the birth of a child, nor wild weddings, nor funerals, songs for which were called laments, could do without a song.

The song epic is also rooted in antiquity: historical fairy tales and epics, which tell about mighty heroes, about glorious battles, about good fellows and red maidens. They performed them to the harp, in a wide circle of listeners, and through musical narration they told children about ancient legends and bygone eras - the Tatar-Mongol yoke, the Time of Troubles, the baptism of Russia.

However, the songs were performed not only during the holidays - they helped to more easily endure the burden of daily work. The peasants sang during plowing, sowing and reaping, addressing the breadwinner-land, helping the coordinated pace of hard work with song rhythm. Known for viscous, rollicking barge haul songs pulling huge barges and ships knee-deep in water.

Back in Peter's times were born soldier's songs extolling valor, honor, courage and courage. And in the Caucasian wars of the 19th century gained popularity Cossack songs in which one can hear the whistle of checkers and the gallop of a frisky horse. By the way, it was in the 19th century that interest in folk songs grew so much that many composers, historians and philologists went on a trip to Russian villages, collecting priceless, unique melodies and texts that merge into a Russian song infinitely deep in meaning and emotional shades. It was then that the repertoire of folk singers was replenished with new motives. Famous writers and poets spoke with admiration about Russian songs: A. Pushkin, F. Tyutchev, N. Gogol, L. Tolstoy, I. Turgenev and other figures of the golden and silver ages of literature.

And in 1911, the peasant choir named after Pyatnitsky performed for the first time, the fame of which swept throughout Russia. The Pyatnitsky Choir approved folk music as high art brought her to the big stage. "The main singer of the country" Fyodor Chaliapin loved to perform folk songs no less than opera arias, for which he received worldwide recognition.

During the Great Patriotic War, the genre was updated soldier and military-patriotic songs, new melodies, touching and inspiring poems were born.

The variety of genres of Russian folk songs reflects the multifaceted world of the soul of a Russian person. In it - prowess and lyrics, humor and heroism. The Russian song contains the history of our people.

Genres of Russian folk songs

The song and the word were born, probably, simultaneously. Gradually, with the development of his emotional and spiritual world, a person realized the beauty of the objects and phenomena surrounding him and wanted to express it with colors, sounds, and words. The melody was born from the soul. She fascinated, merged with the singing of birds, the murmur of water. The mother's magic voice calmed the child with a monotonous gentle song, a cheerful melody lit a fire inside, awakened the joy of unbridled fun, a lyrical song healed a disturbed soul, gave peace.

The genres of Russian folk songs reflect the versatility of the soul of our people. People have always sung songs, glorified heroes in them, described historical events, told about the beauty of their native land, about feelings, troubles and joys. Not every person could compose a song, sing it. But there were always enough talented people in Russia. Therefore, so many folk songs have come to us from the depths of centuries. Sometimes the melody was born before the verse, but more often the meaning of the song, its text dictated the character, mode, tempo, and timbre of the music.

The song is the basis of folklore

A folk song is a song composed by a folk unknown author, which, being transmitted orally, has changed, improved, acquired new melodic and textual turns. In each province, the same song was sung in its own way, in a special dialect. Its character depended on what it said. So, the songs were comic, funny, sad, lyrical, serious. They touched the soul more than a long detailed account of the event. The songs were both comfort and joy.

So, the poet Ivan Surikov wrote: “As anyone in the world breathes, lives, such is the song he sings.”

The genres of Russian folk songs are diverse. They sing about everything that excites a person. The song depicts the life and way of life of a Russian person, customs and traditions. The heroes of the folk song are ordinary people, glorious defenders of the Motherland. Human life was closely connected with the natural cycle of the grain grower, with family church rituals.

Ritual - calendar songs

Even in pre-Christian times, pagan calendar holidays were accompanied by songs in which farmers turned to the forces of nature, asking them to grant them good weather and a bountiful harvest. These were invocations, glorifications of the gods of the sun, wind, rain. Rituals of worship to them were accompanied by ritual songs, dances, and offerings of gifts. The days of the winter and summer equinoxes, the beginning of spring and the harvest are the main significant events in the life of a farmer. They were accompanied by folk songs.

Pagan rites gradually lost their magical significance and became a thing of the past, while the traditions associated with them adapted to Christian holidays and continued to live. The calendar cycle began with the feast of the Nativity of Christ, Christmas time, the meeting of the New Year. They coincided with the pagan calendar and were accompanied by songs according to the day and rite. For example, the rite of caroling was to glorify the generous owners, wishing them health, an increase in the family, a harvest and all the benefits that are important for a villager. During this ceremony, carols, noble, drag songs were sung. Russian composers used folk songs in operas and instrumental works. Thus, Kaleda - Maleda, recorded in the Saratov province, was used in the opera The Snow Maiden by Rimsky-Korsakov in the scene of seeing off Maslenitsa. During the Holy Week, girls and women used to tell fortunes about the events of the next year, accompanying fortune-telling with sing-along songs. They saw off the winter noisily, cheerfully, rejoicing at the imminent warmth. Maslenitsa week preceded Great Lent. Seeing Shrovetide turned into festivities with games. Meeting of spring - Larks, celebrated the arrival of the first birds. Housewives baked gingerbread in the form of larks and distributed them to children and guests. In the song “Oh, Oypipers-Larks”, calls for spring are recitatively heard.

Summer mermaid week carry echoes of pagan rituals associated with witchcraft and divination. On the Kupala night, they performed a rite of purification from diseases and filth, jumping over the fire. Unrestrained in daring and fun, similar to ritual pagan dances, they were accompanied by Kupala songs. It was important in the village. In folk songs, the peasants thanked the forces of nature for abundant gifts, rejoiced at the end of hard work. Songs of this period are called obzhinochnye. Merry fairs after the harvest were noisy with ditties and dances.

Calendar ritual songs are the closest to pagan, the most ancient. Their language is full of epithets and comparisons, symbols and metaphors. The melodies of these songs are simple and even primitive. They are like invocations, glorifications and prayers. Uneven rhythm is close to speaking, not to music.

Family ritual songs

Native, baptismal songs were sung to the child and parents by heart. They wished health and happiness to the baby. Family holidays were significant and joyful milestones in the life of a Russian person. They celebrated births, weddings, and even feasts. Each event was accompanied by a certain melodic accompaniment. Ritual songs have a special status in the genres of Russian folk songs. They were believed to have a magical meaning.

Wedding songs were very diverse. The wedding was a complex step-by-step ritual of matchmaking, bridesmaids, a bachelorette party and the wedding celebration itself.

Dressing the newlywed to the crown (untwisting the braid) traditionally took place to the cry of the bride and the singing of sad songs that spoke of the lost girlish freedom and relocation to a strange family.

The wedding feast was preceded by the ransom of the bride from the parental home. The bridesmaids sang funny comic songs and ditties, teased the groom's friends. By the wedding, the young people were escorted to congratulatory laudatory songs (“In the upper room, in the room”). In them, the heroes of the occasion were compared with a white swan and a swan, with a prince and a princess. The wedding feast was cheerful, noisy, with dances and ditties. The second day was celebrated in the house of mother-in-law and father-in-law. The mother-in-law welcomed her son-in-law, treated her to pancakes. On the third day, the wedding was "extinguished". The holiday was over.

Not only joyful events happened in Russian families. After all, rituals were observed not only on holidays. After all, they are, in fact, certain magical rituals designed to protect, protect from trouble, damage, etc. For example, when a young man went to work, he was taken out of the house with his back forward so that his face looked into the house. Then, it was believed that he would return from the war or from the army alive and well. At the same time, prayers and special lamentations were read.

Crying and lamentations also accompanied the funeral of loved ones. In them, the deceased was mentioned as a worthy person, for whom the living mourn and grieve. His best qualities were listed, even if there were none. There were even special singers - mourners who were invited to accompany the funeral.

Family ritual songs are touching, sincere, deep meaning. They contain the whole life, the experiences of a person.

Lullabies

There are numerous genres of Russian folk songs. Lullabies occupy a special place in them. They belong to the family, but are not ritual. These songs are the most tender, affectionate and simple. Mother's voice is the first thread connecting the baby with the world. In the lullaby, the mother determines his place, tells about the world into which he came. The monotonous soothing motifs of lullabies were passed down from generation to generation, being a family treasure. The first songs of the mother introduced the little one to the surrounding objects and images. They opened a big world for him, served as a kind of protection, a talisman for him. It was believed that lullabies drove away evil spirits from the baby.

Lyric songs

The lyrical genres of Russian folk songs are included in a large group. They are associated with emotional experiences of a person and have a bright emotional coloring. They sound themes of a difficult female fate, soldier's life, bondage. Lyrical songs can be divided into national and social. The first are songs about separation from the Motherland, about unhappy love, hard peasant life. Nature in the songs was animated. Her images were compared with human types. or white birch personified gentle female maiden images. A mighty lone oak is a hero, a support, a strong man. Often in songs there is a red sun as a symbol of warmth, hope, joy. Dark night, on the contrary, carries doubts, fears, emotional experiences. A burning torch is compared to a woman dying from overwork. Wind, oak forest, blue-sea - each image of nature carries its own hidden meaning, allegorically narrates about experiences.

The second group - coachman, recruit, robber songs. They mention other themes and images. Coachmen's songs depict dull fields, endless dusty roads and a lonely bell. These endless drawn-out songs are sung about the tragic fates of lonely cabbies, about dangerous roads. Robber songs are sung dashingly, widely, spaciously. The people did not always hate robbers, dashing people. After all, both Stenka Razin and Emelyan Pugachev were supported by bands of robbers. Yes, and they robbed, mainly, merchants and landlords, without touching the poor people. Therefore, the songs composed about them tell not so much about robberies as about heroic deeds. They tell about the history of the people, about strong brave people. Everything that the soul yearned for poured out in a lyrical song in a wide sing-song melody. The slow drawn-out motifs of lyrical songs were overgrown with polyphonic chants. They were sung during feasts, in chorus and solo.

Round dances are on the verge of lyrical and dance songs. The smooth flow makes them related to lyrical songs. But they sing with movement. Perhaps this is the most significant layer of folk songs in terms of the breadth of themes and images.

labor songs

Exploring the genres of Russian folk songs, labor songs cannot be ignored. Difficult business was easier to argue with her, she set the rhythm of work. The famous "Dubinushka" is an example of a labor song. The chorus told about the hard life of the working people, and the chorus helped the coordinated actions of the entire artel. Burlatsky strapping songs had a measured rhythm (“Hey, let's go!”). Labor songs, along with ritual ones, are the oldest among all genres of Russian folk songs; they served to facilitate the labor process. To cheer up the workers, many of the songs had humorous content.

Chastushka, refrain

The most democratic, popular and tenacious genre of Russian folk songs are Russian ditties. They combined all the wit, the talent of the people, the accuracy of the Russian word, the conciseness of the melodic accompaniment. A short well-aimed quatrain, like an arrow, shot into the very essence of the meaning, a fervent rhythmic melody, repeated many times, forced to pay attention to the verse, the content of the ditty. It was sung with dancing. More often it was performed solo, and the right to perform was transferred in a circle among the singers. Sometimes competitions were arranged to see who would last longer in the circle, performing ditties, who knew them more.

The Russian ditty was called differently: chorus, suffering, sbirushka, enticing, chattering, etc. According to the type of addition, the following types are distinguished: suffering - slow refrains on love themes, dance - cheerful endless comic chants ("Semyonovna").

Russian ditties ridiculed social and human vices, expressed the true mood and opinion of the people on political and public issues.

They were not politicized, but, on the contrary, expressed a skeptical attitude towards many "excesses" in public life.

The genres of Russian folk songs, like a mirror, reflect the life of the people, their mentality and spiritual essence. The whole life of a simple person from birth to death was reflected in the folk song. The heavy peasant lot, the disenfranchised existence of a woman, a soldier's lifelong burden, hard labor, hopeless labor - everything has a place in songs. But the strength of the spirit of the Russian people is manifested in rollicking dance, robbery remote songs, sharp ditties. The tenderness of an unhardened soul is reflected in lyrical and lullaby songs. To this day, lovers and connoisseurs of folk music carefully and lovingly collect these pearls of folk talent, because even now in the outback of Russian provinces unrecorded folk songs heard from grandparents are sung.

Why the story of a folk song is perceived. History of folk music. Not the evening is evening

Formation of folk music

Religious origins of folk music

Stages in the evolution of folk music

So what is this mysterious Russian song? Where did she come from?

The writer Nikolai Gogol, who sang of the breadth of the Russian soul in his works, wrote about the song: “This is a folk story, lively, bright, full of colors, truth, exposing the whole life of the people ... All its strong, youthful being pours out in folk songs.”

Genres of Russian folk songs

The song is the basis of folklore

Ritual - calendar songs

Family ritual songs

Lullabies

Lyric songs

labor songs

Chastushka, refrain

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