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Maria Wiik, Ballad (1898) A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Europe, and later in Australia, North Africa, North America and South America.
Folk songs have been recorded since ancient times in China. The term Yuefu was used for a broad range of songs such as ballads, laments, folk songs, love songs, and songs performed at court. [138] China is a vast country, with a multiplicity of linguistic and geographic regions.
One of the most popular railroad folk songs in American history was The Ballad of Casey Jones, a song about a train conductor who sacrificed himself to prevent a collision. [44] The "Ballad of John Henry" is about an African-American folk hero said to have worked as a "steel-driving man". [6]
Ballads are generally melodic enough to get the listener's attention. [2] Sentimental ballads are found in most music genres, such as pop, R&B, soul, country, folk, rock and electronic music. [3] Usually slow in tempo, ballads tend to have a lush musical arrangement which emphasizes the song's melody and harmonies.
You sang the song slowly, you worked slowly, you guarded your life, or you died. [8]: 32 There is some controversy among scholars over which came first, the ballad or the hammer songs. Some scholars have suggested that the "John Henry" ballad grew out of the hammer songs, while others believe that the two were always entirely separate.
Lyrical similarities signify that the song shares "The Unfortunate Rake" with "St. James Infirmary Blues" as a common ancestor. A later song that draws on elements from the ballad is the Eric Bogle song "No Man's Land". A version of the song, renamed to "A Young Trooper Cut Down", was recorded on the 2016 Harp and a Monkey album War Stories.
In 19th century romantic music, a piano ballad (or 'ballade') is a genre of solo piano pieces [1] [2] written in a balletic narrative style, often with lyrical elements interspersed. Emerging in the Romantic era , it became a medium for composers to explore dramatic and expressive storytelling through complex, lyrical themes and virtuosic ...
Folk songs are more or less in the public domain by definition, though there are many folk song entertainers who publish and record copyrighted original material. This tradition led also to the singer-songwriter style of performing, where an artist has written confessional poetry or personal statements and sings them set to music, most often ...