Russian romance: synthesis of classical and folk music at the beginning of the 19th century

Abstract

The rise of interest in traditional folk culture sparked by romanticism at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries determined the formation of a unique style in classical music – Russian romance – which incorporated western classical music traditions and Russian folk music. The aim of this research was to study the history and distinguishing features of Russian romance of the early 19th century. The selected romances composed by Alexander Alyabiev, Alexander Varlamov, and Mikhail Glinka were analyzed by the methods of music discretization and compositional analysis. The discretization method, which consists in breaking up a piece of music into relatively simpler and smaller parts, has been used to analyze harmony, modulation, counterpoint, and the development of small melodic motifs. Compositional analysis was used in order to evaluate the piece in terms of authors’ intention and authentic style. As a result, the elements of classical music such as Alberti bass, tonal scales, modulation, and square period, and the elements of Russian traditional music – large ascending and descending intervals, syncopation, variational development, musical ornaments and embellishments – were identified in the selected pieces. The combination of classical form and a sentimental nature of declamation defines the stylistic feature of the selected romances.

Keywords

• Classical music
• Russian folk music
• Russian romance
• Traditional Music.

References

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