Russian folk historical songs: appearance, heroes and definition

Historical songs appeared at the same time as the epics. It happened in the XIV century. From epic, they differed in that they sang about some specific events that took place in the domestic history. There were reliable facts in them. And the epics could be called generalized hyperbolic works that transmitted information about time immemorial. None of the historical songs showed any fantastic elements characteristic of myths. On the contrary, their content was realistic, even when it was not entirely believable to convey the facts that had been accomplished.

Themes of historical songs

The events, recorded in the historical songs that have survived to this day, extend to several periods - beginning with a deep antiquity, when the country was still free from the Tatar-Mongol yoke, and until the end of the last century. The main themes of the surviving works are the opposition of the Russian people to the Horde invasion, Ermak, Stenka Razin, Peter the Great, the Poltava triumph, the bravery of Suvorov's soldiers, the Russo-French war, the liberation of the southern Slavs from the oppression of Turkey, Ivan Vasilyevich, the Troubles, the Bulavin insurrection, defense The city of Sevastopol, etc. Heroes of historical songs were famous and glorified people. Their names were known to everyone. And now almost every person is more or less aware of these historical personalities. Children begin to get acquainted with their activities from the school's bench.

Cycles of songs, their features

Historical songs are characterized by an accessible language, laconicism, an abundance of facts and an accurate transmission of the event on which the plot is based. What are they remarkable about? They are full of patriotism, careful attitude to domestic history, praise of the exploits of Russian soldiers and those who fought for social equality. As for the popular interpretation of the actions of the great people of the past in such works, it not only embellishes, but often corrects the facts obtained from the official sources of those periods. Often there are song cycles, based on the basic events and incidents, entrenched in the memory of people. They can include several works. Russian folk historical song always makes a strong impression on listeners, allows you to get acquainted with some previously unknown facts. This is its uniqueness. Some impressionable people can not hold back tears while listening to a beautiful, soul-taking folk song. It takes to the past, many centuries ago, we can say that a person makes a kind of journey.

Where can you find out about historical songs?

However, unfortunately, the oldest historical songs have not reached us. The fact that such works were often performed long before the appearance of the Old Russian state were sometimes specified by Byzantine historians. And historical folk songs, common in Novgorod and Kievan Rus, are now known to us in a very abbreviated form. They can be found from the surviving written sources.

Variety of songs, folk art today

There are a few reworked texts of legends and songs, there are episodes that, in fact, are the records of fragments of oral poetry. All of them are of great interest to researchers. Among the songs recorded by them in the XVIII-XX centuries from the lips of people, there are several of them, which tells about famous historical events and personalities of the 11th-14th centuries. But there are also works that do not contain any specific information and facts, and only guided by the general content, we can assume that they refer to the period of defense of Russia from the periodic attacks of the Polovtsians, as well as the Pechenegs that occurred in the X-XIII centuries.

Be that as it may, historical songs are the wealth of the people that should be cherished. Unfortunately, some neglect it, not understanding its value. But there are other people who try to preserve and spread the ancient creative heritage, and for this they can be respected. Now quite a lot of folk bands performing historical songs and playing on ancient instruments. Thanks to their efforts, a wide range of listeners will learn a lot of interesting things about our homeland, about how it was in the past. Is not it wonderful?

Consequences of the Horde yoke

The Mongol-Tatar yoke had a very negative impact on all aspects of the country's life, in particular, its culture began to degrade. As a result, beautiful cities were destroyed, masterpieces of applied art, poetry and painting were destroyed. Many people became illiterate. Oral art creativity has also decayed, which has been unceasingly developed for centuries and was at that time on a high level. However, Batu's army did not destroy the Novgorod land, and it was there that the unique epic was preserved. And as for ancient historical songs of the North-Eastern, Central, and also Southern Russia, many of them have sunk into oblivion. The magnificent poetic culture of antiquity that produced beautiful works has ceased. These include, in particular, "The Word of the Destruction of the Russian Land", "The Lay of Igor's Host" and several others. These historical songs, by the way, are known to people till now. They are studied in schools and universities, because these are great monuments of Russian culture, which must remain in people's memory forever.

The influence of creativity of pilgrims-calico, the mention of religion in songs

And there is nothing strange in the fact that some songs about historical events that occurred before the sixteenth century, for example the famous work about Gleb and Boris, in the form in which they were recorded by the researchers, often have some features of the later school of Kalik pilgrims. These are people who did not have a specific place of residence and wandered around the world. They performed, as a rule, folk songs, which contained a certain morality. Often they mentioned religion. But historical songs, of course, are of more interest than creativity kalik.

It should be taken into account that in Russia in the Middle Ages faith in God was considered a fundamental symbol of people's cohesion. It, in fact, was the banner of a long struggle against the oppression of cruel nomadic-bassurment, living in the steppe. And a little later it became associated with the universal desire to liberate our native country from the Mongol-Tatar yoke. Therefore, some historical songs, among other things, have references to God. Do not be surprised by this.

Loss of valuable manuscripts

It is rather difficult to judge the very ancient types of Russian folk historical songs, given the dramatic events unfolding at that time. As a result of the invasion Batu burned many ancient and very valuable manuscripts, which researchers now bitterly regret. Now people will never know what the destroyed works were about. These historical songs are lost forever.