Russian

Russian music specifically deals with the folk music traditions of the ethnic Russian people. It does not include art music which in Russia often contains folk melodies and folk elements.

The performance and promulgation of ethnic music in Russia has a long tradition. Initially it was intertwined with art music, however, in the late 19th century it took on a life of its own with the rise in popularity of folkloric ensembles such as the folk choir movement led by Piatnytsky and the Russian folk instrument movement led by Vasily Andreyev.

In Soviet Russia, folk music was categorised as being proletarian as opposed to art music, which was regarded as being bourgeois. After the revolution along with Proletarian mass music it was strongly supported by the state. In Post WWII Russia, Proletarian mass music lost its appeal and funding, whereas folk music continued to have a widespread support.

In the 1960s folk music in Russia continued to receive heavy state support and was seem as the antithesis of Western pop music. The fact that numerous folkloric ensembles were invited for foreign tours raised the prestige of the folk performer to that of the academic musician, or even higher. Ethnic music in Russia can often be divided into groups according to the amount of authenticity in the performance: truly authentic folk music (reproductive), folkloric and fakeloric traditions.

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