Russian Folk Music-Korobushka

Title of piece: Кorobushka (коробушка)

Performer(s): Folk Artists

Culture or Origin: Russia

Orchestration: String instruments similar to guitars/mandolins called balalaika, domra, an accordion instrument called bayan and garmon, and vocals

When listening to this recording of Korobushka which means "the peddler's pack" which is from the 19th century poem by Nekrasov are where the words came from.  This was a dance that was normally   used for social dancing.  In this, vocals are demonstrated to in a sense match the strumming and trills of the stringed instruments.  You also can here the sustained notes in what we would know as the accordion.  In this folk piece, you hear a familiar tune to a video game from today.  That would be one of everyone's favorites, "Tetris."  The tempos speed up and slow down throughout.  When connecting this to different cultures, there is a direct connection between where the song originated in Russia to a video game in the United States.  As sociologist Christopher Small called doing music, "musicking, which is to take part, in any capacity, in a musical performance, whether by performing, by listening, by rehearsing or practicing, by providing material for performance, or by dancing."