Origin: This is a Russian folk tune performed on the balalaika, a traditional instrument
Orchestration: balalaika
I chose to look for a piece from a country that I have not heard much about in this course thus far: Russia. I pulled up a world map (since I'm pretty bad at geography) and realized I had no idea how close the border of Russia is to some of the Middle Eastern countries. Actually, Russia borders a lot of VERY diverse countries, and it is interesting to hear the sound of its folk music when I keep that fact in mind. I can almost hear a similarity between this piece and some Midlde Eastern music, but then again it is also very different--it sounds like it uses a different scale but at the same time it uses flourishes and quick passages like I have heard in my study of Turkish music.I am always looking for ways to link what I hear with what I already know, but this is a unique sound.
I definitely agree with the middle eastern sound! It sounds like Turkish dance music to me with the meter and light hearted quality. The difference between Turkish dance and this sound is I think the scale used. The Russian scale used sounds a little more tonal than a Turkish one. I don't know much about either of these musical cultures, but that's just what I think I hear. I really enjoyed this piece and thought it was cool to be able to compare and contrast it to Turkish music.
I kept hearing Klezmer music as I listened to this. The beginning keeps giving me the image of the infamous wedding chair dance. It's amazing to hear the commonalities between all music out of that continent. Some are so dramatically different, but most have many similar aspects whether they be in tonality, rhythm, or melodic material.
I definitely agree with the middle eastern sound! It sounds like Turkish dance music to me with the meter and light hearted quality. The difference between Turkish dance and this sound is I think the scale used. The Russian scale used sounds a little more tonal than a Turkish one. I don't know much about either of these musical cultures, but that's just what I think I hear. I really enjoyed this piece and thought it was cool to be able to compare and contrast it to Turkish music.
ReplyDeleteI kept hearing Klezmer music as I listened to this. The beginning keeps giving me the image of the infamous wedding chair dance. It's amazing to hear the commonalities between all music out of that continent. Some are so dramatically different, but most have many similar aspects whether they be in tonality, rhythm, or melodic material.
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