Dushepoleznye pesni na kazhdy den' Душеполезные песни на каждый день

Russian folk music is the traditional music of the East Slavic peoples within historic Russia, shaped by pre-Christian ritual song, seasonal and work repertoires, and later by Orthodox-influenced spiritual folk song. It is characterized by open-throated group singing, rich heterophony (multiple voices ornamenting the same melody), drones, and modal melodies that gravitate toward natural minor (Aeolian), Dorian, and Mixolydian flavors. Typical instruments include the balalaika and domra (plucked lutes), gusli (psaltery/zither), garmon and bayan (button accordions), svirel (fipple flute), zhaleika (folk clarinet), and rhythmic idiophones like spoons and treshchotki. Dance and song forms such as khorovod (circle dance), barinya, kazachok, trepak, and the fast, witty chastushka couplet-song are central. The repertoire spans epic byliny (heroic ballads), lyrical laments, wedding songs, harvest and calendar songs, and narrative ballads, often performed in strophic form with call-and-response. Across centuries, regional and multiethnic interactions in the Volga–Ural and border regions diversified the style’s scales, rhythms, and timbres. In the 20th century, staged folk choirs and orchestras codified a concert style that coexists with village-based traditions and contemporary folk-fusion scenes.

Russian music refers to the broad body of folk, sacred, art, and popular music that developed in the lands of historical Rus' and the Russian state. It combines deep-rooted Slavic folk traditions, Orthodox liturgical chant, and European art-music practices absorbed and reimagined from the 18th century onward. Hallmarks include modal folk melodies, powerful choral sonorities (often with resonant basso profundo lines), bell-like tone colors, and an affinity for expansive, emotionally charged lyricism. Folk dances and songs—carried by instruments like balalaika, domra, gusli, and the bayan—coexist with a towering classical canon (from Glinka and Tchaikovsky to Shostakovich) and a rich 20th-century popular sphere (bard song, estrada, rock, and hip hop).

Slavic folk music refers to the traditional vocal and instrumental practices of the Slavic peoples of Eastern, Central, and Southeastern Europe. It is a broad, interrelated family of styles that share modal melodies, rich vocal traditions, and a deep connection to seasonal rites, village life, and oral epic poetry. Across regions, one encounters distinctive features: close-interval polyphony and “open-throated” timbres in the Balkans; epic songs (dumy, byliny) in the East; and dance-driven repertoires such as polkas, mazurkas, kolomyikas, and circle dances throughout the Slavic world. Characteristic instruments include the bandura and kobza (Ukraine), gusli and balalaika (Russia), gadulka (Bulgaria), tambura (South Slavs), various bagpipes (gajdy/dudy), sopilka/flutes, violins, and later the accordion. Rhythmically, the music ranges from simple duple and triple meters to the asymmetrical “odd” meters common in the Balkans (7/8, 9/8, 11/16). Melodically and harmonically, it favors modal systems (Dorian, Aeolian, Mixolydian), drones, parallel motion, and ornamented lines. Lyrical themes encompass harvest and wedding rites, love and laments, historical narratives, and nature symbolism.