The article tells about what a ditty is when a similar form of folk art appeared, and what types of ditties are.
Art
It has long been proven that without art, the development of a normal society is simply impossible, and people have always given it great importance. The craving for some of its manifestations is probably inherent in us at the genetic level, and in addition to people, it is inherent in all highly developed animals. Well, we all remember the cave paintings that our anthropoid ancestors painted even then.
Over time, such a kind of art arose as folk art, which is also called folklore. A distinctive feature of it is that songs, poems, tales, etc. are created by a team of writers, pass from generation to generation and eventually lose their mention of the original authors. And another feature of it is that such art is transmitted orally. The ditties also belong to him. But what is a ditty when it arose and what are its species? This we will understand.
Definition
According to the encyclopedia, the ditty is one of the genres of Russian folklore, which finally formed around the second half of the 19th century. And this term itself was first introduced into use by the writer Uspensky when he compiled the characteristics of folk verses. If we talk about the roots of the ditties, then most likely they are dance and game refrains, collective dance songs, jokes of buffoons, children's teasers and short playful songs. Now we know what a ditty is. Let us consider its main characteristic features.
As a rule, a ditty is typical of topical themes, some aphoristic features, unusual rhymes with metaphors and, most importantly, recitative singing, which is often accompanied by improvisation on various musical instruments. So now we know what a ditty is.
According to one version, the name comes from the verb "part". And if you listen to any of the ditties, then this option seems not without logic. Now, let us consider in more detail the characteristics of the ditties.
Characteristics
Most often, the ditties were created by rural youth, who sang them to the same repeatedly repeated melody on different instruments during festivities. The main emotional component of the ditties is majority. Also, mainly folk ditties were distinguished by lovingly-everyday, playful themes. Simply put, these were short funny songs on simple, close and familiar topics, which was why their popularity was due. But in the same years of the existence of the USSR, the subject of ditties increased sharply, and some of them had political meaning.
Being a kind of poetic response to some events, the ditty often appeared as spontaneous improvisation. She is also distinguished by directness, expression, appeal to a specific person or group of people, or to some kind of social class.
Most often, folk ditties were written by a chorea, in which the 2nd and 4th line of the work were rhymed. Also, the ditties are characterized by a rich language, colorful images, comparisons, which sometimes went beyond the literary language (simply put, they were obscene).
History
There are some facts and references to short topical or just funny songs back in the 18th century. True, all of them are rather unconvincing. Therefore, it is generally accepted that the ditty as a genre of folk art originated in the middle of the 19th century and developed especially intensively in the first decades of the formation of Soviet power.
Initially, many believed that ditties were something that should not be accepted as folk art, and such a genre could ruin folk songs, distort their meaning and generally give Russian folklore a frivolous, silly shade. By the way, Fedor Chaliapin himself and many other artists of the early 20th century spoke against the ditties, considering them too vulgar and stupid. True, over time, everything changed, and many composers began to use the sharpness and originality of this genre. And in our time, ditties occupy an important place among the genres of folk art. So we sorted out what the ditties are, the definition of this genre and its history.
And, by the way, an interesting fact: there have never been ditties on the Don, except for those imported from other regions. This was due to the fact that the Don Cossacks treated this genre of folk art very contemptuously, considering it stupid and shameful.
Now consider the most common types.
Types of ditties
The following types exist:
- Lyrical . They differ in that they have only 4 lines and are composed on very different topics, not necessarily funny and simple.
- Dance . They also contain 4 lines, but have a special rhythm, which, as the name implies, is convenient for dancing and dancing. For example, the famous ditty Yablochko belongs to this type.
- Suffering . Usually the main theme of such ditties was love, miserable or unrequited. They are sung slowly, viscously. They were distributed throughout Russia, except Siberia.
- Matanya . Using this word, those who sang similar ditties addressed their grooms or brides. The genre itself was named so because this word was found very often in the text. They were also composed using the four-foot chorea.
So we examined the meaning of the word "ditties", the definition of this folk art and its most common varieties.
Theme
As in any other genre, the theme of ditties is very diverse. But still, love themes and everyday ones were always one of the main ones. And in the early years of the USSR, the theme of the ditties often became active political propaganda of the new system. Thus, their compilers expressed indifference to political movements. True, over time, singing songs with such semantic content has become dangerous.
Well, during the collapse of the USSR and the so-called perestroika, ditties appeared in which foreign words were used. Their subject matter has also changed. In our time, this genre is no longer as popular as before.