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DOI 10.52172/2587-6945_2022_22_4_42

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to study the history of the appearance of rock ballads and briefly systematize information about the genres of ballads and rock ballads. The genre of ballads originated in the distant Middle Ages. Initially, the ballad emerged as a musical genre, a few centuries later it became a lyrical genre, and in the era of romanticism, it returned to music. Over time, the ballad genre developed, absorbed more and more new features, while not losing its relevance, and remains popular to this day, in demand both in literary and musical culture. This can be explained by the considerable «flexibility» of the ballad genre: it was born at the junction of theatrical action, lyrical emotional utterance and a story about a terrible, fantastic, dramatic event. This allows poets and musicians to «play» with its various artistic possibilities. Nowadays, this genre can be both lyrical-epic (literary) and musical. In general, the characteristic features of the ballad are: plot, drama, suggestiveness, lyricism, historical, mythological and love themes. In the 70s of the XX century, the genre of rock ballads was born in the West within the protest subculture (rock culture). It quickly became popular in Russia as well; its popularity peaked in the 1990s. Not only mystical content and mythopoetic images have been preserved in this genre, but also socio-political and satirical themes have been added, and the lyrical and tragic beginning has also intensified.

Keywords

Genres of ballads and rock ballads, historical poetics, literature and music, suggestiveness, lyricism, drama.