The Origins of Folk music
Folk Music, also known as folklore, was a term that was coined in 1846 by British antiquarian, William Thomas, to describe the traditions, customs and superstitions of the “uncultured classes.” The definition by Thomas was meant to be used with the term folklore, but that same definition can be used, in part, to describe folk music, too.
"The term Folk music came from England, where they took the German word “volk”, meaning people, and applied it to mean the common people of England, the illiterate peasants who passed on stories and legends through song as they were unable to publish books. It is generally considered to be an expression of life in the communities in which the music was developed and is a great help to historians in discovering the way of life of a people. The term has been used since the 19th century, but Folk music has existed for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
Not very much is known of traditional Folk music in England before the 19th century, due to the lack of written manuscripts of their songs. What is known is that in the 16th and 17th centuries, Renaissance influenced musical styles were those most appreciated by the nobility and royalty in England. In the 19th century, with the Industrial Revolution, the brass band became popular, and as people moved in mass from the countryside growing herbs to the cities to work in factories, the Folk music industry in England changed just as rapidly. The music hall was developed, and became the prominent place where the new style of Folk music was played for over a century. In the country, traditional Folk music remained for a while longer, but eventually it too was taken over by the new forms which had become popular in the cities: comic operas, hymns and songs among the most popular.
In the beginning of the 20th century, the Folk music became that of light classical composers, whose popularity was increased with the invention of the radio, so their music could be spread. Operetta and musical comedies were also extremely popular in this area."
English Folk music has had a long history over thousands of years. Many individual regions of England have their own traditional Folk music styles and traditions which have survived through the years, though are not very well known, nor very popular other than the region in which they originated. Yorkshire, for example, has its own Folk music style, as does Sussex. However, the popular English Folk music, which began during the industrial revolution and evolved today to become what it is, a rock-style politically charged style which can be enjoyed by people of all ages, is popular around the world, much like the Folk music of the United States.
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