Simple and complex musical genres. Music genres

Music genres(genres of music) - a list and a brief description of musical genres and trends.

Music genres

1. Folk music - music of various peoples of the world.

2. Latin American music- a generalized name for the musical genres and styles of Latin American countries.

3. Indian classical music- the music of the Indian people, one of the most ancient genres of music. It takes its origins from the religious practices of Hinduism.

4. European music- a generalized concept that characterizes the music of European countries.

5. Pop music Disco (from the word "disco") is a genre of dance music that originated in the early 1970s. Pop (from the word "popular") is a type of mass musical culture. Light music (from “easy listening” - “easy to listen to”) - music that covers different styles, the common thing in such music is simple, catchy melodies. The singer who performs music in the genre of Pop - Madonna.

6. Rock music - the generalized name of the direction of music, the word "rock" means - "swing, rocking" and indicates the rhythm of the music.

country rock - a genre that combines country and rock, and became part of rock and roll after Elvis Presley performed at the 1955 Grand Ole Opry.

southern rock - "southern" rock, was popular in the USA in 1970.

heartland rock - "rock from the outback", founded in 1980 on "country" and "blues".

garage rock - founded in the United States of America and Canada in 1960, the forerunner of "punk rock".

surf rock - (from the English "surf") - American beach music, was popular in the early 60s.

instrumental rock - this is a genre of rock music, the music of this genre is dominated by music, not vocals, was popular in the 1950s and 1960s.

folk rock - a genre that combines elements of folk and rock, was formed in the UK and the USA in the mid-1960s.

blues rock - a hybrid genre that combines elements of blues and rock and roll, began its development in England and the USA in 1960.

Rock'n'roll - (from the word "roll") the genre, born in the 1950s, in the United States, is an early stage in the development of rock music.

Merseybit - (the meaning of the genre comes from the name of the bands from Liverpool, which is located near the River Mersey)—the genre originated in the UK in the 1960s.

Psychedelic Rock - musical genre, it originated in Western Europe and California in the mid-60s, is associated with the concepts of "psychedelia" (hallucinogens).

progressive rock - a genre that is characterized by the complication of musical forms and the introduction of dialogue.

experimental rock - a style that is based on experiments with the sound of rock music, another name is avant-garde rock.

Glam rock - (from the word "spectacular" - "glamorous") - the genre originated in the UK in the 1970s.

pub rock The forerunner of punk rock, a genre of music that arose in the 1970s as a protest by British rock representatives against the excessive purity of sound in American AOR and prog rock.

hardcore - the genre appeared in the UK and the USA in the late 1970s. The sound is faster and heavier than the traditional punk rock sound.

skiffle - singing with accompaniment. The instrumentation included a washboard, a harmonica, and a guitar as a rhythm instrument.

Hard rock - ("hard rock") - a genre that is characterized by the release of the sound of percussion instruments and bass guitar. The genre originated in the 1960s and took shape in the early 1970s.

Punk rock - a musical genre that was formed in the USA in the 1970s, a little later - in the UK. The meaning that early bands put into this genre is "the desire to play dominates the ability to play."

bard rock - a genre that appeared in the "Soviet Union" in the 1970s. Developed under the influence of poetry: Viktor Tsoi, Okudzhava.

J-rock ("Japanese rock") is the name for the various styles of rock music that originated in Japan.

Metal - a genre that was formed and hard rock in England and the United States, in the 1970s.

post-punk - a musical genre that was formed in the late 1970s in the UK. It was a continuation of punk rock and was distinguished by a variety of self-expression in music.

new wave - a direction that includes different genres of rock music, ideologically and stylistically broke with all previous rock genres. It emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

no wave - direction in cinema, music and performance art. Developed in New York in the late 1970s. This is a kind of response of free musicians and artists to the commercial "New Wave".

stoner rock is medium tempo or slow music with low frequency musical instruments such as bass and guitar.

The genre originated in the 1990s, based on the work of the Kyuss group.

Alternative rock - this term refers to various styles of rock music. Appeared in the 1980s and covers many styles and trends that originate in post-punk, punk rock and other styles and musical genres.

post-rock is an experimental musical genre of rock music. The genre is characterizedthe use of instruments that are usually used in rock music and chords that are not characteristic of rock (traditional).

7. Blues - a musical genre that originated at the end of the 19th century, in the Southeastern United States in the African American community, among the rebels of the Cotton Belt.

8. Jazz - a genre of music that arose in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States as a result of the synthesis of European and African cultures.

9. Country - (“country music”) is one of the most widespread varieties of North American music.

10. Chanson - (translated from French - chanson, which means song).

Has 2 meanings:

1. French cabaret song.

2. Soviet song in French, Renaissance and late Middle Ages.

The first composer and poet who performed songs in the chanson style was Guillaume de Machaux.

The peculiarity of the genre is that the performer, author of the song, music and words is one and the same person.

12. Romance - ("romance" means - "in Spanish") - a short poem that has a lyrical content, sung to the music. The term itself originated in medieval Spain and meant a Soviet song sung in Spanish.

13. Blatnaya song - a genre of a song in which it is sung about heavy morals and life in a criminal environment. Since the 1990s, the Russian music industry has called the thieves' song "Russian chanson", although it has nothing to do with chanson.

13. Electonic musicis a musical genre denoting music that has been created using electronic musical instruments. Often, various computer programs are used to create it.

14. Ska - a style that appeared in the late 1950s, in Jamaica.

The style is characterized by a 2 by 4 rhythm: when the bass guitar or double bass emphasizes odd drum beats, and the guitar emphasizes even ones.

15. Hip-hop - a genre of music that originated in New York, among the working class - on November 12, 1974. Hip-hop was founded by DJ Kevin Donovan.

The above list includes only the most popular musical genres.

Currently, new musical genres (genres of music) and directions are constantly emerging.

Lady Gaga - Judas (combines electronic music and dance rhythms).

The most general characteristic of genres, directly referring to their content, is already given in the names: lyrical, dramatic, epic music. This also includes program music.

For more specific genre characteristics, a lot of special names have historically been developed. Sonata, symphony, overture, suite, concerto, poem, fantasy, ballad - all these are genre names for more or less large works.

Opera, cantata, oratorio, symphony - here we mean not only performing means, but also the essence of these genres.

A more definite genre characteristic is given by the double titles. For example, lyrical-psychological, epic, opera or symphony; pastoral sonata or dramatic poem.

There are countless genre titles for works of a smaller scale. For example, songs without words by Mendelssohn; preludes, etudes, nocturnes, ballads by Chopin; rhapsodies in Liszt; etudes-paintings by Rachmaninoff, fairy tales by Medtner and Prokofiev.

Some of these titles are generic, while others are more specific to the genre. For example, French and English suites by Bach, Norwegian Dances by Grieg, Italian Capriccio by Tchaikovsky, Jota of Aragon by Glinka.

In the work of romantics there are a variety of software titles with a more individualized genre characteristic. Programming is a characteristic feature of the Romantic era. Appeal to programming is caused by the desire of romantic composers to directly express a specific idea, image, character in the language of music, to bring music closer to other arts, literature, painting. The complexity of the reflected phenomena, the novelty of means and forms - all this required the author's instructions that would direct attention and help to correctly understand the meaning of the work. Composers embodied this common desire in different ways. Berlioz himself wrote a detailed program for his symphonies, like an opera libretto. Liszt's works are inspired by the images of world literature and took their own names. For example, the symphonies "Faust" (each part has a name: "Faust", "Gretchen", "Mephistopheles"), "Dante" after Dante's "Divine Comedy"; symphonic poems "Orpheus" - ancient mythology, "Hamlet" by Shakespeare, "Battle of the Huns" by the fresco of the German artist Katzlbach. Schumann came up with a title characteristic of a given play, indicating a specific content, or expressed in the title a general poetic idea, an idea. For example, the piano cycles "Butterflies", "Flowers". And sometimes, detailing the content, he gives each play of the cycle an individual title. This applies to the miniatures "Pierrot", "Pleasant Meetings", "Tender Confessions", "Coquette", etc., included in the piano cycle "Carnival".

In non-programmed music, the names of dance genres are most definite. Chopin in his piano work was limited only to the definition of the genre of the work: nocturne, ballad, polonaise, mazurka, waltz.

Genre, as a generalization of musical and social practice, is an essential means of expressing an artistic image in musical literature. For example:

In the work of Beethoven and Schubert, the march acquired great importance. – a genre associated with the era of the French Revolution, the revolutionary movement of the masses, with the era of the Napoleonic wars;

Folk song and dance genres in the work of Russian composers of the 19th-20th centuries. For example: the dance "mazurka" - as a means of creating a national color - Glinka. Opera "Ivan Susanin", II act; ditties - as a means of musical characterization of the image in connection with the text in the song - Sviridov. Poem "In memory of S. Yesenin", VII part "Peasant guys".

With the change in the content of social thought, the musical genres typical of a particular time also change - some die off (for example, Gregorian chant, ricerkar) and others appear (author's song, rock opera).

A piece of music, like a piece of any other art form, is unity of content and form.

I option

Music content- display of reality in specific musical images. Artistic and incl. musical images arise in the creative imagination not by themselves, but as a result of perception reality. This perception does not automatically transfer the phenomena of reality into art (naturalism), but transforms them into artistic images through the creative processing of life impressions. Therefore, the artistic reflection of reality (even in the visual arts) is a reflection of the generalized attitude of the artist to reality, his worldview.

Musical images- the result of this kind of sensual generalization that takes place in the spiritual world of a person and creates the ground for both the creative imagination of the composer and the ethical perception of the listener. Muses. the image is already born in a musical guise and is perceived as a phenomenon of a musical order. Therefore, musical images are not only a product of reality, but also a product of musical culture with all its historically developing musical expressive means that form the "musical language".

II option

Reality is reflected in art in the form artistic images. The main features of the artistic image are usually given at the beginning of the work, but the full artistic image is revealed in the process of developing the content. The initial presentation of the artistic image in music is called musical theme(construction, which serves as a pretext for the further process of development).

concept musical form has two meanings: broad, general aesthetic and narrow, technological.

In a broad sense- the form is an integral organized system of musical expressive means, with the help of which the content of the work is embodied (a set of musical expressive means that reveal the ideological and figurative content of the work). The components of the musical form in this sense are not only the structure (type of composition) of the work as a whole and its parts, but also texture - a way of presenting musical material - (melody, harmony, rhythm - in their unity), timbre and register means, dynamic shades, tempo, methods of sound extraction, etc.

In a narrow sense- the structure of the work (type of composition - the structure of a musical or other work of art, arising on the basis of the relationship of its most important elements. The composition of the work is purposeful and helps to express the composer's intention); construction of a musical work, the ratio of its parts.

I option

Musical development in the work continuously. Continuity is supported by internal dynamics, causing a constant expectation of further development, until its final completion.

At the same time, music is articulation, dismemberment through cadences, stops at large durations, pauses. These musical punctuation marks, forming a roundness, completeness of individual constructions, are called caesuras (the moment of division between any parts of the form).

Due to the similarity in this respect with verbal speech (chapters, paragraphs, phrases and even words), musical development is called musical speech(phrases, sentences, period).

The main signs of caesura:

Stop on a continuous sound;

The repetition of melodic-rhythmic figures;

Changing dynamic shades, registers, etc.

The caesura is usually most clearly expressed in the main voice.

The part of the form delimited by caesuras is called building(regardless of duration - from bar to hundreds of bars). Parts of the form, i.e. constructions, separated from each other by caesuras, are at the same time in unity, thanks to which together they form musical whole.

The subdivision of a relatively complete musical thought into parts and their subordination to each other (unity) - musical syntax.

II option

Syntax(Greek - compilation) - this is an area in grammar devoted to the study of semantic relationships in verbal speech, the doctrine of phrases, sentences.

In music, there are also connections between the individual sounds that form musical phrases, between the phrases themselves. These connections arise on the basis of mode, metrorhythm, form of melodic movement, etc. - all this speaks of syntax of musical speech.

A piece of music can be compared to a piece of literature. A story, a novel - has a plan, idea and content, which becomes apparent with a gradual presentation. Moreover, each thought is expressed in complete sentences, which are separated from each other by dots. In the sentence, its parts are separated by commas.

In a piece of music, the content is also not presented in a continuous stream of sounds. Listening to music, we perceive moments of articulation in it - caesuras. A caesura is the moment at which one structure separates from another. Caesuras have characteristic features:

Change of registers, texture, melodic movement, tempo, timbre;

The emergence of new melodic material or its repetition;

Caesura between a construction and its literal or varied construction.

Just as in colloquial speech a thought is expressed by sentences that consist of individual words, so in melody sentences are divided into smaller structures - phrases and motives(component elements of musical forms, cells that form the basis of a melody).

motive- the smallest part of a melody, an indivisible cell of musical speech, which has a certain expressive meaning and which can be recognized when it appears.

Mozart. Symphony No. 40, ch.p.;

Tchaikovsky "German song" (d.a.);

Chaikovsky. May. "White Nights" (d.a.);

Haydn. Minuet;

Mozart. Minuet;

Purcell. Aria;

Mordasov. Old motive.

The sequences of 2-3 motifs form a relatively closed construction - musical phrase. The phrases, in turn, are combined, and the succession of 2 phrases makes up an even larger construction, called sentence. The succession of 2 sentences constitutes a complete section, which is called period is a simple one-part form.

Many small pieces represent a period. But for the most part, musical works consist of a chain of periods.

So the succession of two periods forms a simple two-part form (A + A 1, A + B). In vocal music, this form is called couplet.

- Chaikovsky. May. "White Nights" (d.a.) - A+B;

Maykapar. At kindergarten - A+B;

Schumann. March - A+B;

- Shulgin. October March - A+B;

- Handel. Minuet - A+A 1 ;

- Purcell. Aria - A+A 1 ;

- Bach. Aria - A+A 1

three-part form consists of three sections (most often - three periods): the 1st and 3rd sections are the same; middle - either continues the development of the thematic material of the 1st part, or builds on new, often contrasting material (A + A 1 + A, A + B + A).

Chaikovsky. "March of wooden soldiers" (d.a.) - A+A 1 +A;

Chaikovsky. "New Doll" (d.a.) - A+A 1 +A;

Chaikovsky. "Lark" (d.a.) - A+A 1 +A;

- Mozart. Minuet - A+A 1 +A;

Chaikovsky. "Sweet Dream" (d.a.) - A+B+A;

- Rubinstein. "Melody" - A+B+A;

- Mussorgsky. "Baba Yaga", "Ballet of Unhatched Chicks" ("Pictures at an Exhibition") - sl. 3-part with a contrasting middle;

Grieg. "Procession of the Dwarves" - sl. 3-part with a contrasting middle;

- Prokofiev. Dance of the Knights - sl. 3-part with a contrasting middle;

- Mozart. Symphony No. 40, 3rd part - sl. 3-part with trio

Variations- a musical form consisting of a theme and several repetitions of it in a modified form ( A + A 1 + A 2 + A 3 ...).

- Handel. Passacaglia g moll - 2957 (basso ostinato);

Mozart. Variations on a French Theme Songs. - 572;

Grieg. In the cave of the mountain king - 3641 (soprano ostinato);

Ravel. Bolero - 3139 (double variations);

Glinka. Kamarinskaya - 3578 (double variations)

Shostakovich. Symphony No. 7, part I, episode of the invasion - free variations on an unchanging theme

Rondo(fr. - round dance, walking in a circle) - a musical form consisting of repeated repetition of one theme - refrain(the topic is carried out at least 3 times), with which sections of a different content alternate - episodes. The rondo form begins and ends with a refrain, forming, as it were, a vicious circle. (A+B+A+C+D+A).

Couperin. Chaconne "Beloved" - 2874;

Mozart. Arioso Figaro "The frisky boy ...", I d. "The Wedding of Figaro" -

Glinka. Romance "Night Zephyr" -

Glinka. Rondo Farlaf, II d. "Ruslan and Lyudmila" -

Borodin. Lament of Yaroslavna, IV d. "Prince Igor" -

Prokofiev. "Juliet is a girl" -

Mussorgsky. "Pictures at an Exhibition" - a rondo with features of a suite.

Large works, consisting of separate parts, united by a common idea, belong to cyclic forms.

Today's post is dedicated to the topic - the main musical genres. To begin with, let's define what we will consider a musical genre. After that, the actual genres will be named, and at the end you will learn not to confuse "genre" with other phenomena in music.

So the word "genre" is of French origin and is usually translated from that language as a "species" or genus. Consequently, musical genre- this is a type or, if you like, a type of musical works. No more and no less.

How do musical genres differ from each other?

How is one genre different from another? Of course, not only the name. Remember the four main parameters that help to identify a particular genre and not confuse it with some other, similar type of composition. It:

1. type of artistic and musical content;
2. style features of this genre;
3. the vital purpose of works of this genre and the role they play in society;
4. conditions under which it is possible to perform and listen (view) a musical work of a particular genre.

What does all of this mean? Well, for example, let's take as an example such a genre as "waltz". Waltz is a dance, and that already says a lot. Since this is a dance, it means that waltz music is not played every time, but precisely when it is necessary to dance (this is a matter of performance conditions). Why do they dance the waltz? Sometimes for fun, sometimes just to enjoy the beauty of plasticity, sometimes because waltz dancing is a holiday tradition (this is the thesis about life's purpose). Waltz as a dance is characterized by whirling, lightness, and therefore in its music there is the same melodic whirling and graceful rhythmic three-part, in which the first beat is strong as a push, and the two are weak, flying (this is related to stylistic and substantive moments ).

Main musical genres

Everything with a high degree of conditionality can be divided into four categories: theatrical, concert, mass-domestic and cult-ritual genres. Consider each of these categories separately and list the main musical genres that are included there.

1. Theatrical genres (the main ones here are opera and ballet, in addition, operettas, musicals, musical dramas, vaudeville and musical comedies, melodramas, etc.)
2. Concert genres (these are symphonies, sonatas, oratorios, cantatas, trios, quartets and quintets, suites, concertos, etc.)
3. Mass genres (here we are mainly talking about songs, dances and marches in all their diversity)
4. Cult and ritual genres (those genres that are associated with religious or festive rites - for example: carnival songs, wedding and funeral laments, spells, bells, etc.)

We have named almost all the main musical genres (opera, ballet, oratorio, cantata, symphony, concerto, sonata - these are the largest). They are indeed the main ones and therefore there is nothing surprising in the fact that each of these genres has several varieties.

And one more thing... We should not forget that the division of genres between these four classes is very conditional. It happens that genres wander from one category to another. For example, this happens when the real one is recreated by the composer on the opera stage (as in Rimsky-Korsakov's opera The Snow Maiden), or in some concert genre - for example, in the finale of Tchaikovsky's 4th symphony, a very famous folk song is quoted . See for yourself! If you know what this song is, write its name in the comments!

P.I. Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4 - final

This article is intended primarily for those who are interested in what kind of musical means their idols use when creating works within a particular genre. In addition, every self-respecting composer (and I'm sure you are one of them) must know what style the music he creates has. A good orientation in musical genres and subgenres is the first sign of high professionalism.

Most modern critics identify three main musical branches: pop, rock, rap, which in turn are descended from earlier styles and have given rise to many of their own offshoots.

Pop. Contemporary popular music. A very broad term that covers many genres: disco, trance, house, techno, funk, new wave, etc. Let's consider their features in more detail.

Disco. In the recent past, the most popular genre of dance-pop music. Disco is characterized by: an abundance of effects, the leading role of the rhythm section of drums and bass and the secondary, background sound of strings and wind instruments.

Trance. This genre of electronic music is remarkable in that it has a high emotional impact on the listener. A similar effect is achieved in trance through the use of sad, "cosmic" melodies.

House. Dance, all electronic music. The main and only house instrumentation is the synthesizer. This genre is characterized by the presence of looped musical phrases and solo melodies. Effects are widely used.

Techno. Futuristic music of the big city. Signs of techno: fantastic melodies, gloomy, metallic sound, "cold", unemotional vocals.

Funk. A dance genre that is characterized by clearly defined percussionists dominating other instruments, low melody, and "sloppy" rhythm.

New wave. A genre of popular music that has evolved from punk rock. Uses almost the same musical means as the parent.

Rock. Rock, as an independent genre, originated from the "black" American blues that appeared in the 20-30s. Traditional blues has 12 bars. A bar is a section of a composition consisting of several notes, the first of which has an accent or accent. The main instrumental set of the blues: a double bass or bass that sets the rhythm, a solo guitar, drums, often keyboards and brass. Actually, rock emerged from a branch of this genre - the guitar blues, which sought to free itself from wind and keyboard instruments. To better understand the musical subtleties of the blues, let's launch Cakewalk and open the Blues in C Major file in the Sample Content folder:

This is an example of a blues in the key of B major. Instruments that were used to create this composition: Chorused Piano (Choral piano), Acoustic Bass (Acoustic bass) and Cymbal (Cymbals). Regular blues set. Pay attention to the numbered scale located above the tracks. These are beats. As you can see, there are exactly 12 of them. Listen to this example. Emphasis is placed on the first note of each measure. Look how the volume is distributed between the tracks: the solo piano sounds the loudest, while in rock it is the prerogative of the drums. By the way, it's time to talk about rock itself.

The appearance of rock and rock and roll (often these concepts are identified) is associated with the name of Elvis Presley and the Beatles. The merit of the first in the popularization of this genre, turning it into a fun dance style. The role of the Beatles is somewhat different - this legendary group managed to turn rock into art.

In purely musical terms, rock is practically the same blues, but in a broader sense, it is the music of protest against society, power, or something else.

Rock has a huge number of subgenres. We will cover the main ones: soft rock, hard rock, pop rock, folk rock, punk rock, psychedelic rock, heavy metal and thrash.

Hard rock - literally "heavy, hard". Indeed, the sound of music performed in this style corresponds to the name. Heaviness in hard rock is achieved by dominating the loud and powerful rhythm section over the rest of the instruments. Usually drummers, bass or rhythm guitar are subjected to "weighting". In hard rock, Overdrive and Distortion effects are often used.

Pop rock is popular rock. Well balanced, ennobled with all sorts of effects and popular arrangements. Pop rock can also be called any rock music designed for a wide audience of listeners.

Folk rock - rock with elements of folk music.

Punk rock is rough, often unprofessional, but expressive music. Punk is characterized by simple, unpretentious, but shocking melodies.

Psychedelic rock is complex, non-standard music, stuffed with effects, which is characterized by a high level of emotional impact on the listener.

Heavy metal - harsh metal music, often not harmonious and far from the usual musical standards.

Thrash - this incomparably hard genre is characterized by the complexity and unusualness of melodies, improvisation.

Rap. Rap, as a genre, originated from dance music. It is characterized by an uneven rhythm, complex experiments with drummers, looped musical fragments. An important feature of rap is the absence of vocals, replaced by recitative. Rap is read like poetry, not sung. The main instruments of this genre are drums and a complex, in many cases solo bass. Often in their work, rap musicians use the scratch effect - the squeak of vinyl records.

One of the most likely ancestors of rap musically is reggae, a dance style that originated in Jamaica. It has a lot in common with rap - the same uneven, ragged rhythm, looped musical fragments, a complex drummer. Let's open a file with an example of reggae - Reggae in Cakewalk:

Instruments used in this composition: Synth Bass 2 (Synthetic bass), Rock Organ (Rock organ), Clavinet (Clavinet), Jazz Drumset (Jazz drummer). The classic rap instrumentation is somewhat poorer, sometimes it is only a drummer and bass.

In literature, music and other arts, various types of works have developed during their existence. In literature, this is, for example, a novel, a story, a story; in poetry - a poem, a ballad; in the visual arts - landscape, portrait, still life; in music, opera, symphony, and so on.

The type of works within some kind of art is called the French word genre (genre) - genus, kind.
Not all musical genres emerged at the same time. Opera, for example, was born in Italy at the end of the 19th century, and the symphonic poem was created in the middle of the 19th century by Franz Liszt.
During its existence, various genres have changed a lot, but all have retained their main features. Thus, an opera is a work for musical theater that has a plot, is set in scenery and is performed by artists, singers and an orchestra. You can't confuse it with ballet and symphony. But after all, operas are also different: historical, heroic, comic, lyrical. All of them have their own characteristic features, although they belong to the same operatic genre. And then, when we need to clarify what kind of opera we are talking about, we again, but in a narrower sense of the word, use the term "genre".
We say: the genre of lyrical opera, the genre of musical drama, the genre of epic opera... Within the general concept (genre) of vocal music, we distinguish the genres of romance, songs, etc.
This term has another meaning. Perhaps you have heard how they say about an artist: he is a genre painter. This means that the artist creates paintings on everyday subjects. Such pictures were painted, for example, by V. Petrov. From painting, the word genre in this sense passed into other arts, including music. If we are talking about some work: it has genre episodes, this means that the composer introduced a song, dance or march into it. Symphony

Symphony in Greek means consonance. It is used not only in relation to the orchestra, to music. For example, the Russian poet Balmont saw "a symphony of colors and rustles" in the autumn beauty of nature. A symphony in music is a great work written for a symphony orchestra. Listening to a symphony, we do not know what the composer is sad about, we are sad about our own. We do not know exactly what pictures of nature arose before his eyes. With the sounds of music, what we ourselves see comes to life.
The symphony has several parts (Listening to Symphony N6 by P.I. Tchaikovsky). Composers wrote concertos for a symphony orchestra and some instrument. Opera

Opera is a performance in which the characters do not speak, but sing. Opera, like a play, is one of the types of theatrical art.
Music is central to opera.
So that the fairy tale can go on stage, it is remade into an “opera play” - the libretto is written.
The actors convey all their thoughts by singing. When one of the characters sings on stage, we call it an aria or arioso. If two people sing, this is a duet, three - a trio, four - a quartet.
Sometimes dance episodes help to reveal the content of the work more fully. Then ballet scenes appear in the opera.
With the help of music, the composer creates in the opera not only portraits of characters, but whole pictures.
Most operas begin with an overture. The word "overture" is French and means opening. It is performed by the orchestra before the curtain opens. The overture contains the leading melodies of the opera. Before acts 1 and 2, “intermissions” (musical introductions) sound.
So, the main thing in the opera is music, the sound of the orchestra and voices. But opera is both drama, and dance, and painting, merged into one. That is why the opera makes a particularly strong impression on the listeners, is the most understandable form of serious music. Ballet

Ballet is a kind of performing art; performance, the content of which is embodied in musical and choreographic images. On the basis of a general dramatic plan (scenario), ballet combines music, choreography (dance and pantomime) and fine arts (decoration, costume, lighting, etc.) Different eras gave rise to various creative collaborations of the composer and choreographer, their own types of interaction between music and choreography. Sometimes the music in the ballet is only an accompaniment, in other cases the choreography seeks to reveal the deep content of the music.
Modern European ballet originated during the Renaissance. The word "Ballet" appeared, which then meant a composition that conveyed in the dance not a plot, but a property or state of character. Art matured within other forms: processions, masquerades, equestrian tournaments, solemn meals. By the end of the 15th century, ballet was part of the spectacle created by famous poets and artists.
By the 16th century, the mask genre had developed in England.
In the 18th century, ballet as a performance began to establish itself in the theaters of Vienna, where a purely choreographic action developed on the basis of the script and music.
Ballet existed in Germany, Sweden, Holland. The forms of ballet borrowed from the Italians and the French were enriched with national colors.
By the middle of the 19th century, the form of a multi-act performance and the form of ballet music (general dances that complete an act or performance, fair processions, waltzes, polkas, gallops), as well as the structure of dances of soloists, stabilized.
By the beginning of the 20th century, the aesthetics of ballet academism reached its peak in the works of the great Russian masters (A.A. Gorsky, M.M. Fokin), whose work was influenced by the art of A. Duncan, an American dancer, a supporter of free dance.
By the end of 1950, ballet was becoming widespread in all countries of the world.