Is the music industry capable of returning a national idea to Russia? This was the main issue addresses at a press conference at RIA Novosti dedicated to Folkday, an open air music festival in Moscow. This is no mistake – yes, an open air festival in Moscow (at the Green Theater in Gorky Park). By staging it here, the organizers are attempting to combine the previously incompatible – a traditional music festival in the country and the city atmosphere, a synthesis of the urban environment and folklore.
Participants of Folkday include well-known folk rock performers from Russia as well as Belarus and Georgia, including such groups as Kalinov Most, Posle 11, Ivan Kupala, Ottava Ё and Melnitsa as well as solo musicians Soulmama, Andrei Kutuzov and Alesya Alisievich.
While the upcoming festival was described in detail at the press conference, the main focus shifted to a discourse on the fate of folk music and the music industry in Russia in general. The main problem with the musical culture in our country, according to the speakers, is the decline of folk music and lack of support from the state, while the recording labels, federal television channels and radio stations are making the problem worse.
Natalia O’Shea, singer of the group Melnitsa, defined the problem as such: the domestic music industry in Russia is too strongly focused on mainstream. No one wants to discover new performers who have fallen out of the accepted flow and invest in their publicity. It is difficult and it is not profitable – that’s just how things are. Meanwhile, on the radio and television march lines of ‘singing undergarments’.
But why should folk rock performers be supported? There are plenty of other genres which are equally worthy?
It just so happens, according to Rovshan Vakhidov, that in folk music the role of the personality and individual qualities of the performer are important. O’Shea says that it is in this genre, as opposed to many others, that serious works of music are created and serious songs. Why not provide some help?
Of course, folk rock is not folk music in the traditional sense. But all folk musicians are at least well acquainted with folk music. Natalia Kotova, for example, is engaged in collecting and recording folk songs and she herself participates in ethnography expeditions.
In Switzerland and Ireland everyone is all caught up in their national music and song traditions, and in Georgia for example all guests at a gathering are capable of singing traditional wedding or holiday songs. In Kazan, Anna Pingina notes, Tatar music is played on the radio stations, and such examples can be expanded. In Russia folk music is practically forgotten, and professional performers appear to be masquerading more than anything else. As Alexei Ivanov of the group Ivan Kupala noted, this more resembles animated folklore. But this is only part of the problem.
Of all radio stations of nationwide import, only Nashe Radio pays any sort of attention to folk rock. And in this Russia differs from many other countries where national music and its derivatives take up a worthy place among other musical genres thanks to the support of the state and private producers. Even such ‘stars’ of folk rock like Melnitsa little known throughout Russia, particularly in the regions.
It would be laughable to suggest that if everyone starts listening to folk music, then Russia is certain to find a national idea and return to its roots. The experience of some isolated corners of Europe, such as Ireland or Switzerland, cannot be applied to Russia, as our musical tradition does not stem from Slavic folksongs. Just recall the grandiose phenomenon of Soviet music – the songs of the war years, the Soviet marches, Soviet serenades, our favorite film and even cartoon songs… This too is our tradition, albeit from more recent history. Perhaps Dmitry Revyakin and Anna Pingina were correct when they suggested that folk musicians need simply to do their own thing – write and perform music, and it is sufficient that this music has its own audience.
Or perhaps the truth is somewhere in the middle. Folk performers truly do make some good music, for this reason alone they are deserving of a better lot. This genre has plenty of room for experimentation – a synthesis of new rhythms and ancient melodies. Regardless, folk music unquestionably has its own cultural value, and thank God it has not yet been relegated to the museums. And this is largely thanks to the efforts of Russian folk musicians. So perhaps they could stand to be given a little assistance.
Alexander Ryazantsev
