Urban Folk, Traditional Folk, and Classical Music: Key Differences
Differences Between Urban Folk, Folk, and Classical Music
Folk music is considered people’s music, distinguishing it from classical music, which is often seen as cultured or artistic. Modern popular music appeals to all social classes. Traditional music differs from modern popular music because it has existed for centuries without the need for professional musicians.
The term urban popular music refers to music that emerged in the twentieth century within industrialized societies, linked to recordings. It is defined by the following criteria:
- It is largely urban in its production and audience.
- It has a relationship with media, recording, and broadcast.
- It is produced as a commodity for public consumption.
- It is performed by professional musicians.
- It has a stylistic relationship to art music.
The distinctions between urban folk music, folk music, and classical music can be arbitrary. These genres differ from urban popular music because they often yield lower benefits for performers and composers. For example, Portuguese Fado existed before the advent of media and popular urban music.
The Origin of Urban Popular Music: Lounge, Drama, and Variety
Urban popular music developed in two main ways: music hall and theater.
Lounge Music
Lounge music, which emerged in the nineteenth century, was performed in:
- Private rooms of the aristocracy or cultural institutions like lyceums, colleges, and casinos.
- Cafés-concerts of the era.
- Urban households of wealthy bourgeois families.
In these settings, people sang and played the piano. In nineteenth-century Spain, many lounge songs and romances were produced, featuring piano and voice arrangements of folk music, opera, operetta pieces, and original compositions.
Theater
The second area of development for popular music in Europe was the theater, leading to genres such as opera, music hall, and variety. In France, the operetta was a huge hit, with authors like Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880). The operetta spread to Vienna, dominated by the waltz, with authors like Johann Strauss Jr., and Britain, with the works of Gilbert and Sullivan.
In Spain, during the second half of the nineteenth century, the zarzuela prevailed. It featured a theatrical argument in two or three acts, with spoken passages alternating with musical numbers of popular taste, based on jota, seguidilla, or Andalusian song, among others, and dances like the waltz, the mazurka, or the paso doble.
The operetta was a musical phenomenon that spread throughout the Spanish-speaking world. Numerous companies maintained the presence of the zarzuela in all Spanish provincial capitals. Zarzuela reached its greatest popularity at the end of the century with the so-called género chico.
Spanish stages also featured magazines and variety shows. These shows mixed circus acts, dance, magic, jokes, and lighthearted, catchy songs.
From the género chico and variety shows, the Spanish folk song became independent from the theater in the early twentieth century. It was generically referred to as pop song, a genre that mixed folk music with Spanish and international influences like the Charleston, fox-trot, tango, and rumba.