Prikosnovénie

Byzantine chant is the monophonic, a cappella liturgical music of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Church, sung primarily in Greek and organized around the octoechos (eight-mode) system. Its melodies are modal rather than harmonic, unfolding in one line supported in later practice by a sustained drone (ison). The repertory sets biblical psalms and hymnic poetry (e.g., troparia, kontakia, stichera, and canons) to melodies that follow textual accent and rhetorical pacing rather than strict meter. Notation employs neumes that encode melodic direction and ornate formulae, preserving a highly codified oral tradition. The sound is characterized by free rhythm, microtonal inflections in certain modes, and an austere, prayerful timbre designed for resonant ecclesiastical spaces. Byzantine chant remains central to the worship of the Eastern Orthodox Church and has shaped a wide family of chant traditions across the Mediterranean and Slavic worlds.

Classical music is the notated art-music tradition of Europe and its global descendants, characterized by durable forms, carefully codified harmony and counterpoint, and a literate score-based practice. The term “classical” can refer broadly to the entire Western art-music lineage from the Medieval era to today, not just the Classical period (c. 1750s–1820s). It privileges long-form structures (such as symphonies, sonatas, concertos, masses, and operas), functional or modal harmony, thematic development, and timbral nuance across ensembles ranging from solo instruments to full orchestras and choirs. Across centuries, the style evolved from chant and modal polyphony to tonal harmony, and later to post-tonal idioms, while maintaining a shared emphasis on written notation, performance practice, and craft.

Country is a roots-based popular music from the rural American South that blends Anglo-Celtic ballad traditions with African American blues, gospel, and string-band dance music. It is characterized by narrative songwriting, plainspoken vocals with regional twang, and a palette of acoustic and electric instruments such as acoustic guitar, fiddle, banjo, pedal steel, and telecaster guitar. Rhythmically it favors two-step feels, train beats, shuffles, and waltzes, while harmony is largely diatonic (I–IV–V) with occasional country chromaticism and secondary dominants. Across a century, country has evolved through substyles like honky-tonk, the Nashville and Bakersfield sounds, outlaw country, neotraditionalist revivals, pop-country, and country-rap hybrids, but it consistently prioritizes storytelling about everyday life, love, work, faith, place, and identity.

Dark wave is a moody, melancholic offshoot of post-punk and new wave that emphasizes minor-key harmonies, somber timbres, and introspective or romantic lyrical themes. It blends the icy textures of early synthesizers and drum machines with reverb-laden guitars and melodic, driving basslines. The style typically features baritone or ethereal vocals, atmospheric production with heavy use of chorus, delay, and reverb, and tempos that range from slow and brooding to mid-tempo and danceable. Dark wave spans both guitar-oriented and synth-forward approaches, and often overlaps with related movements such as coldwave, minimal wave, and ethereal wave.

Downtempo is a mellow, groove-oriented branch of electronic music characterized by slower tempos, plush textures, and a focus on atmosphere over dancefloor intensity. Typical tempos range from about 60–110 BPM, with swung or laid-back rhythms, dub-informed basslines, and warm, jazz-tinged harmonies. Stylistically, it blends the spaciousness of ambient, the head-nodding rhythms of hip hop and breakbeat, and the cosmopolitan smoothness of lounge and acid jazz. Producers often use sampled drums, Rhodes or Wurlitzer electric pianos, guitar licks with delay, and field recordings to create intimate, cinematic soundscapes. The mood spans from soulful and romantic to introspective and dusk-lit, making it a staple of after-hours listening, cafes, and relaxed club back rooms.

Electronic is a broad umbrella genre defined by the primary use of electronically generated or electronically processed sound. It encompasses music made with synthesizers, drum machines, samplers, computers, and studio/tape techniques, as well as electroacoustic manipulation of recorded or synthetic sources. The genre ranges from academic and experimental traditions to popular and dance-oriented forms. While its sonic palette is rooted in electricity and circuitry, its aesthetics span minimal and textural explorations, structured song forms, and beat-driven club permutations. Electronic emphasizes sound design, timbre, and studio-as-instrument practices as much as melody and harmony.

Folk is a song-centered acoustic tradition rooted in community storytelling, everyday life, and social history. It emphasizes clear melodies, simple harmonies, and lyrics that foreground narrative, protest, and personal testimony. As a modern recorded genre, folk coalesced in the early-to-mid 20th century in the United States out of older ballad, work song, and rural dance traditions. It typically features acoustic instruments (guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, harmonica), strophic song forms, and participatory singing (choruses, call-and-response).

Gothic (often shortened to goth in a musical context) is a dark, atmospheric strain of post‑punk that emphasizes minor-key harmonies, bass-led grooves, and a brooding, romantic sensibility. It blends the stark urgency of punk with art-rock textural experimentation, icy new-wave synths, and lyrical themes drawn from gothic literature, existentialism, and melancholic introspection. Signature traits include chorus- and reverb-drenched guitars, prominent melodic basslines, steady drum-machine patterns, baritone or ethereal vocals, and a production aesthetic that favors space, echo, and nocturnal ambience. While closely associated with the UK goth subculture, the style quickly spread internationally, influencing parallel scenes such as dark wave, deathrock, and later gothic metal.

Instrumental is music created and performed without sung lyrics, placing the expressive weight on melody, rhythm, harmony, and timbre produced by instruments. As an umbrella practice it appears in many cultures, but its modern identity cohered in Baroque-era Europe when purely instrumental forms such as the sonata, concerto, and dance suites began to flourish. Since then, instrumental thinking—developing motives, structuring form without text, and showcasing timbral contrast—has informed everything from orchestral music and solo piano repertoire to post-rock, film scores, and beat-driven electronic styles. Instrumental works can be intimate (solo or chamber) or expansive (full orchestra), narrative (programmatic) or abstract (absolute music). The absence of lyrics invites listeners to project imagery and emotion, making the style a natural fit for cinema, games, and contemplative listening.

Neo-medieval folk is a modern revivalist style that reimagines the sounds of medieval and early Renaissance Europe through contemporary folk aesthetics. It favors acoustic, historically inspired instruments (hurdy-gurdy, bagpipes, lute, harp, nyckelharpa, recorders, shawms, frame drums) and modal melodies, often sung in historical or reconstructed languages. While rooted in academic early-music practice, the genre is more atmospheric and narrative-driven than strictly scholarly. Artists blend courtly songs, dance forms (such as estampie and saltarello), drone-based textures, and ballad traditions with modern songwriting and subtle production. Depending on the act, it may lean toward dark wave and gothic timbres or toward pastoral, festival-ready folk.

Neoclassical dark wave is a subgenre of dark wave that fuses the somber atmospheres of gothic-leaning post-punk with orchestral and early-music aesthetics. It favors minor-key harmonies, liturgical or poetic vocals, and dramatic, cinematic arrangements. Typical sound palettes include strings, choirs, piano, organ, and timpani alongside ambient textures and spacious reverbs. Tempos are often slow to moderate, with processional rhythms and modal writing (Aeolian, Dorian, Phrygian) that evoke medieval, Renaissance, or Baroque sensibilities. Vocals often sit in the “heavenly voices” tradition—ethereal sopranos or solemn baritones—singing in English, Latin, or other European languages. The result is music that feels sacred, melancholic, and epic, balancing intimate chamber music colors with vast, cathedral-like ambience.

Neofolk is a post-industrial offshoot that blends traditional acoustic folk instrumentation with the austere atmospheres, ritual rhythms, and poetic sensibilities of the industrial and post-punk underground. It often features intimate acoustic guitars, baritone or chant-like vocals, martial or processional percussion, drones, and sparse strings or harmonium. Thematically, neofolk is preoccupied with memory, myth, and modernity—drawing on pagan or pre-Christian motifs, Romantic poetry, war-time remembrance, esoteric philosophy, and nature mysticism. The sound tends to be minimal and deliberate, favoring modal harmony and restrained dynamics that sharpen lyrical focus and mood. While sometimes called “apocalyptic folk,” the label describes the tone rather than a single ideology, as artists span a wide range of personal and political stances.

Rock is a broad family of popular music centered on amplified instruments, a strong backbeat, and song forms that foreground riffs, choruses, and anthemic hooks. Emerging from mid‑20th‑century American styles like rhythm & blues, country, and gospel-inflected rock and roll, rock quickly expanded in scope—absorbing folk, blues, and psychedelic ideas—while shaping global youth culture. Core sonic markers include electric guitar (often overdriven), electric bass, drum kit emphasizing beats 2 and 4, and emotive lead vocals. Rock songs commonly use verse–chorus structures, blues-derived harmony, and memorable melodic motifs, ranging from intimate ballads to high‑energy, stadium‑sized performances.

A sonata is a multi-movement work for one or a few instruments that developed as a principal vehicle of instrumental expression in European art music. In the Baroque era it referred broadly to “music to be sounded” (as opposed to “cantata,” music to be sung) and commonly appeared as the trio sonata (two treble instruments plus basso continuo) in church (sonata da chiesa) or chamber (sonata da camera) contexts. In the Classical era the term narrowed to denote a cyclical, architecturally unified piece for solo keyboard or for a solo melody instrument with keyboard, typically in three or four movements with the first movement in sonata form (exposition–development–recapitulation). Across the 18th–20th centuries, composers used the sonata as a laboratory for harmonic drama, motivic development, and contrasting characters—ranging from the poised clarity of Haydn and Mozart to the structural expansiveness and psychological depth of Beethoven and Romantic successors.

Toypop is a cute, whimsical strain of pop that foregrounds toy-like timbres, childlike melodies, and playful sound design. It typically blends the sugary sensibilities of J-pop and Shibuya-kei with the small, bright colors of toy instruments, chip sounds, bells, music boxes, and hand claps. While it overlaps with picopop, denpa, and toytronica, toypop leans toward light, bouncy songcraft—short, hooky tunes, gentle vocals, and a sense of wonder—often evoking picture-book worlds and cozy, domestic scenes. Production ranges from lo-fi bedroom charm to polished micro-collage, but the focus stays on innocence, wide-eyed fun, and tactile, small-sounding textures.

Zeuhl is a bass‑driven, choir‑inflected strain of progressive rock coined by Christian Vander of Magma; the word is Kobaïan for “celestial.” It marries jazz‑rock and modernist classical impulses with ritualistic choral writing, repetitive ostinati, and militaristic drum patterns, yielding music that feels simultaneously cosmic, ominous, and liturgical. Typical traits include pounding, modal bass riffs; tightly locked, polyrhythmic drums; massed vocals in block chords or antiphony (often in invented languages); and long, through‑composed suites with recurring leitmotifs. The harmony favors minor, modal, and quartal sonorities and dramatic choral/Orff‑like climaxes, while the textures range from spare ostinatos to densely orchestrated, quasi‑operatic sections.

Balkan folk music is a pan‑regional set of traditional styles from the Balkan Peninsula, spanning Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Romania (southern regions), Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Croatia (inland), and the European part of Türkiye. It is characterized by asymmetric “aksak” meters (such as 7/8, 9/8, 11/8), richly ornamented melodic lines derived from modal systems, close two‑part vocal harmonies (often with pungent seconds), heterophonic textures, and powerful dance grooves. Common instruments include gaida (bagpipe), kaval (end‑blown flute), gadulka (bowed lute), tambura/tamburica and saz (long‑neck lutes), tapan/daouli (large double‑headed drum), darbuka, zurna, clarinet, accordion, fiddle, and brass band instruments. Songs and dances (horo/oro/kolo/čoček) accompany weddings, seasonal rites, and village festivities, while urban styles like sevdalinka embody a more lyrical, melancholic strand. The music’s sound world blends Byzantine and Ottoman legacies with Slavic, Greek, Albanian, and Romani (Gypsy) traditions.

Bulgarian folk music is the traditional music of Bulgaria, characterized by distinctive regional styles, asymmetric additive meters, and a unique vocal aesthetic. It features close-interval diaphonic singing (often seconds), powerful open-throated timbre, and drone-based textures. Typical instruments include the gaida (bagpipe), kaval (end-blown flute), gadulka (bowed lute), tambura (long-neck lute), tapan (double-headed drum), and accordion. Dances (horo) use complex rhythms such as 7/8, 9/8, and 11/16, with region-specific accents. The repertoire spans work songs, ritual calendar songs, heroic and hajduk ballads, wedding tunes, and chain-dance instrumentals. In the 20th century, state ensembles and arrangers elevated village traditions to the stage, while the famed female choirs brought global attention to Bulgaria’s striking polyphony.

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.

Rock in Opposition (RIO) is a politically minded, experimental branch of progressive rock that emerged in late-1970s Europe as both a musical approach and a collective stance against the mainstream record industry. Musically, RIO draws on modern classical composition, free jazz, chamber music, and avant-garde practices, favoring complex song forms, odd meters, dissonant harmonies, abrupt contrasts, and timbral exploration. It often replaces rock’s verse–chorus logic with through-composed structures and ensemble interplay reminiscent of contemporary classical or chamber music. As a movement, RIO began when Henry Cow convened like‑minded groups for a 1978 festival, uniting bands from several countries who were too experimental for commercial labels. The name has since become shorthand for a broad aesthetic—sometimes called “RIO/avant-prog”—that values independence, compositional rigor, and sonic adventurousness.

Modern classical is a contemporary strand of instrumental music that applies classical composition techniques to intimate, cinematic settings. It typically foregrounds piano and strings, is sparsely orchestrated, and embraces ambience, repetition, and timbral detail. Rather than the academic modernism of the early 20th century, modern classical as used today refers to accessible, mood-driven works that sit between classical, ambient, and film music. Felt pianos, close‑miked string quartets, tape hiss, drones, soft electronics, and minimal harmonic movement are common, producing a contemplative, emotionally direct sound that translates well to headphones, streaming playlists, and screen media.

Harp is a style centered on the timbre and techniques of the plucked concert harp and lever (Celtic) harp, often foregrounding arpeggios, rolling chords, glissandi, harmonics, and shimmering ostinatos. It draws on classical pedal‑harp idioms, Celtic and Irish folk traditions, new age ambience, and jazz harmony. In recordings labeled as “harp,” the instrument typically carries the melody and texture, ranging from intimate solo pieces to chamber and ensemble settings. The music tends to emphasize modal color (e.g., Dorian and Mixolydian), gentle dynamics, and reverberant space, yielding a contemplative, lyrical sound that can move from folk dance lilts to impressionistic tone‑poems and spiritual jazz.

World music is a broad, industry-coined umbrella for traditional, folk, and contemporary popular styles from around the globe that fall outside the Anglo-American pop mainstream. The label emerged in the 1980s as a retail and marketing category to group diverse regional musics for international distribution. Musically, it spans acoustic and electric instrumentation; modal, pentatonic, and microtonal pitch systems; and rhythms ranging from cyclical grooves and polyrhythms to asymmetrical meters. While the term can obscure local specificity, it also facilitated cross-cultural collaboration, festivals, and recordings that brought regional genres to wider audiences.