The History and Development of the Musical Romans as a Genre: A Short Overview

The purpose of this essay is to trace the lines evolution Russian romance, which found fertile ground for its development from mid-18th century. genre was firmly embedded in a tradition that had originated century and half earlier, but roots lay oral production ancient Rus’. Despite strong historical-anthropological imprint, diachronic as hybrid dual nature—poetic musical—addressed both elite mass audiences, marked by series revivals contaminations (mainly 19th-century Europe, especially Italy). article, based on culturological, literary historical studies, presents brief overview various sub-genres, such bytovoĭ romans, romans-ballad, romans-elegii͡a, up contemporary songs melodies.