Russia


 * Russia:[[image:http://www.awg2010.org/images/sce/contingent_profiles/russia%20flag.jpg width="306" height="196" align="right"]] **

Russia is a large and ethnically diverse country; therefore, its music is also very diverse as it reflects on the many ethnic groups in the country. In this case, we’re going to concentrate on the ethnic Russian music but also some points on Russian classical music. The most p opular kind of instruments in medieval Russia was thought to have been string instruments, such as the gusli or gudok. During medieval time, distinct differences were formed between the music of the Orthodox Church and that of music used for entertainment. The entertainment music draws its tradition from the Byzantine Empire, with elements being used in Russian Orthodox bell ringing as well as choral singing. Russia has a history of classical music developments. In the 18th century, Peter I introduced western music fashions to Russia. During the later reign of Empresses Elisabeth and Catherine, the Russian imperial court attracted many musicians, many from Italy. Many Russian received training in Italy or from these recent Italian composers and composed vocal and instrumental works in the Italian classical traditions. The performance of ethnic music in Russia has a long tradition. Initially it was fused with many forms of art music, however, in the late 19th century it Russian folk music gradually rise with the growing number of folk ensembles such as the folk choir movement lead by Mitrofan Pyatnitsky and the Russian folk instrument movement lead by Vasily Andreyev. In Soviet Russia, folk music was either being democratic (of the people) or proletarian (of the working class) as opposed to art music, which was often regarded as being bourgeois (entertainment and western). After the revolution, along with Proletarian "mass music" (music for the proletarian masses) it received significant support from the government. In post-World War II Russia, Proletarian music however lost its contemporary audience, whereas folkloric music continued to have a spreadingd support among the population, inside and outside of the Soviet Union. However the authentic nature of folk music was severely distorted by the Stalin government's drive to 'professionalize' performers, regardless of the genre they worked in: thus all folk singers had to both learn Western-style classical notation, and to learn to perform classical music - or else risk losing their right to perform as 'professionals'. In the 1960s folk music in Russia continued to receive significant government support and was often seen as the opposite of Western pop music. The fact that many Russian folk ensembles were contracted for foreign tours shows just how demanding and popular is the music of Russia

An acapella of Russian folk:[|Link] Kalinka: [|Link]

- by Viet