Music in Urcea

Music in Urcea reflect the country's blended ethnic origin background and historical traditions. It is a mixture of several styles rooted in what is called traditional music, a kind of popular Celtic genre, as well as iterative blends of music from abroad imported into Urcea. Urcea is the origin point of many popular worldwide genres, including country music, forms of rock music, and Urcea has had significant impact on many varieties of modern pop music.

Many cities and regions have distinct styles of music, and many styles have historical associations with certain cities. Urceopolis was the early nexus of the recording industry in Urcea, with other nascent genres arising in other cities across the country which have become prominent global recording centers.

Genres

Traditional music

"Traditional music", called "river music" in other countries, is a genre of folk music that developed in Urcea. As opposed to other forms of Urcean music, it is thought that traditional music descends from Urcea's Gaelic roots as opposed to other, supposedly Latinic forms of music. Within earlier kinds of traditional music there were at least ten instruments in general use. These were a small and a large harp, the timpan (a small string instrument played with a bow or plectrum), the fife, the flute, a bassoon-type horn, hornpipes, bagpipes, a kind of trumpet, and bones. Several of these instruments fell out of favor for various reasons with the rise of the Industrial Revolution, when banjos and guitars entered common use for this genre. Modern traditional bands often employ accordions, fiddles, acoustic guitars, electric bass guitars, and other instruments, though modern traditional music is differentiated from many other forms of Urcean popular music by its lack of a full drum kit. Traditional music often employs more overtly nationalist or patriotic lyrics than other genres, but songs about a lost love are also common. Many popular "old time" songs were written for this genre during the Second and Third Caroline War. Though its songs are widely known as classics, it does not have a strong contemporary media presence.

Country music

Country music is a genre of music in Urcea that is thought to have developed from traditional music and developed primarily in rural communities and features lyrics focused on a sense of place or development of a story, incorporating themes from the Urcean frontier and perceived stories and virtues exemplified there. In 2019, it was the most listened to genre of music on the radio.

Rock music

Rock music is a genre which many music historians view as a development of Urcean country music based on imported musical traditions from Sarpedon during the Second Great War. It is distinguished from country and folk traditions by a lack of fiddle and focus on guitars and a heavy driving percussive beat.

History

Throughout its history, Urceans have been an extremely musical society, embracing not only the Ecclesiastical tradition of polyphonic chant but also folk songs and storytelling. Urcean traditional music was the organic development of these trends, creating a genre and style based on the use of fiddles, harps, accordions, and, later, guitars and snare drums. Urcean traditional music has remained vibrant and retains many of its cornerstone aspects, such as instrument choice and semi-nationalistic themes in its storytelling. It has heavily influenced various modern music genres, such as country and roots music. It has occasionally been blended with styles such as rock and roll and punk rock. Urcea has also produced many internationally known artists in other genres, such as rock, pop, jazz, and blues. The rhythmic and lyrical styles of traditional music have deeply influenced Urcean music at large, distinguishing it from Sarpedonian Latinic traditions. Many scholars have noted the relatively shared musical heritage Urcea has with Arcerion.

Medieval beginnings

The earliest record of music in Urcea comes from Gregorian chant and various other religious arrangements suitable for mass. Rising from the 9th century, polyphonic Church music was the primary and most regular way that the early Urcean people experienced music. Consequently, many people in the Medieval period received their musical training - however basic - to serve in scholas for mass. In most communities, the rural parish was the gateway to the experience of the divine and the experience of music, and many peasants had the opportunity to learn to sing, to carry a tune, and for the lucky few, the ability to learn how to read the earliest forms of musical notation. From the legions of rural peasant scholas came the very first minstrels, or musical entertainers. Minstrels typically traveled around the nearest county, providing entertainment in taverns and, more rarely, at court. These minstrels played instruments like the lyra, wooden flutes, and various other chordophones. Their songs were typically story-based, recounting real world events, such as military campaigns and the lives of various sovereigns, through the medium of musical entertainment. While secular music was typically looked down upon by civilized society, minstrels were tolerated so long as they didn't stray into salacious topics for their music, beginning a long history of "best practices" guidelines for Urcean cultural productions. Many of the songs played and invented by minstrels would become repeated and, in many cases, distorted, by groups of workers singing during the manual labor required of nearly every task in the Medieval period. It reduced the boredom of repetitive tasks, it kept the rhythm during synchronized pushes and pulls, and it set the pace of many activities such as planting, weeding, reaping, threshing, weaving, and milling. Working people and peasants also recounted minstrel songs or original songs at family gatherings and Christian feast days as a way to entertain guests. The songs invented by minstrels were also passed along by oral tradition in this period, retaining some cultural memory of historical events and passing along cultural memory and legends. These early folk songs were rarely recorded in notation, as the need to transcribe and copy songs by hand precluded their preservation; only liturgical and ecclesiastical songs survived in the written medium, given the lengthy time and effort that only monks could provide. Those early songs that did survive were typically transcribed due to the song being widespread, memorable, and about a momentous historical event, such as the Tale of Father Lucás at the Glen, a song about the victory of King Lucás II at the Battle of Glens Falls in 1401.

The invention of the printing press was a pivotal moment in the development of coherent styles of music in Urcea, as what were once local developments that lasted the lifetimes of single minstrels could become lasting accomplishments, catching the ear of the wealthy and peasant alike. The Renaissance period in Urcea also led to diversification of music types. Wealthy young privilegiata - and some optimates- began writing compositions for larger groups of musicians as well as for new instruments like the harpsichord. These composers wrote Church music as well as compositions for court and, in some cases, even composed music for minstrels to purchase. While there was no central music industry, individual minstrels and composers began to make a living selling compositions. Individual minstrels entered a decline by the beginning of the 1500s, as there were more avenues for the freemen and privilegiata to hear and write music outside of the context of Church, and additionally, finding a trained transcriber to record their music was difficult and expensive. Despite the relative availability of music compared to previous eras, sheet music remained rare and expensive due to the rarity of transcribers outside the Church. The music of the vanquished class of minstrels remained, however, in the imagination of the rural populations, who continued to pass down versions of their songs from generation to generation, though by the 1550s most songs that remained in the rural consciousness were so distorted and, in some cases, deliberately altered that they sounded and read nothing like the songs initially received. The decline of the minstrel led to the growth in popularity of the composer among the privilegiata and optimates, while the freemen took an interest in the new phenomenon of the so-called bardic-band, part-time locals who would gather to play music in one-off arrangements using songs that they had received from popular memory or songs that they had purchased from the city or courts. New instruments were making their way into the hands of rural bands as well, influenced by the music of the courts. The violin entered popular usage in Urcea in the 1540s, and it became the primary lead instrument of court music for the next few centuries. Older court violins were acquired by rural musicians, who developed a style vaguely resembling the style of the modern fiddle and other non-conventional styles of playing the violin. For the first time, violins were joined by the common lute, the most popular instrument in the home and in the tavern. Rural tavern band music remained story-oriented, though new stories relating love stories appeared. The sense of loss, a later staple of country music, made some appearances in these rural songs according to historians, loss brought on by the fighting of the Great Confessional War and the chaos of The Anarchy. The sense of loss as a central theme remained a staple of rural music. During the era of the war, rural music diverged into two forms, which initially retained nearly-identical instrumentation for a time. The first style was what is known as traditional music, which included stories about the Kingdom, the King, the troubles the Kingdom was undergoing, and how the peasant and family related to current events. A common song type during this period was that of a farm being raided or a love story ending with the singer, a man, "going off to fight cavalry", a euphemism for going to war without chance of return. This traditional style was considered a continuation of the earlier minstrel style, but it retained the musical developments of the era. The second style, referred to broadly as "proto-folk music", related more to the individual than to greater themes; it involved love stories without reference to war or political happenings, as well as the aforementioned sense of loss due to the hardships endured as part of the human condition, which was the focus of the proto-folk style. Both styles retained their Catholic heritage, with the traditional form of music including an appeal to God to end the Kingdom's hardship while the proto-folk form included either appeals to end the personal hardship or an acknowledgement of fault for the hardships incurred. Many of the proto-folk songs of the period retained a moral, offering that the hardships incurred in life were due to a negative action taken rather than the regular hardships of life, though not all songs retained this element. Between the two styles, instrumental compositions were often shared during this early period of their existence. Later, by the early 1600s, the two genres would begin to diverge musically; maintaining the element of "labor song" and songs sung in the home, compositions of proto-folk dropped the use of flutes and fifes, while the traditional style retained them.

Early modern period

The reemergence of both popular and court theater in the 17th century gave rise to new genres of music. Unlike the two popular styles, the music of theater valued virtuosity and technical excellence, but unlike court styles of music, it also valued improvisation and individual flourish and used many of the same inexpensive and easily available instruments used in taverns and at home, such as the various predecessors of the guitar as well as flutes and other similar instruments. Many theater productions - which could last from two to four hours - required music of some kind to be played in the background for some or all of the play. Consequently, this not only continued to improve the stamina and skill of the musicians but gave them a proving ground of sorts to try new methods and develop new styles of playing. Though these "theater men" - a relatively small professional group of musicians - did not, themselves, revolutionize either popular rural genre, those who heard them were greatly inspired. Old theater songs and styles of play originating from urban theater swept through the countryside as both genres acquired some of the new elements. Since the music of plays did not feature any singing, improvised lyrics were often attached to them in rural areas, and many different songs arose during the early to mid-17th century using the same tune but vastly different lyrics.

The 18th century saw the emergence of a fused theatrical-court style, emphasizing the high technical excellence and virtuosity of the composer with some room for improvisation within the piece. The Court-Theater Style is widely considered to be the birthplace of the modern solo. Unlike the 17th century's court music, however, this new "higher-end" form of music was available for limited public consumption. Due to the saturation of musicians in and around Urceopolis, it no longer became possible to survive on patronage, and many newly organized groups of musicians began to play for the price of admission to relatively small concert grounds. The commercial success of such endeavors led to a significant boom period in the 1700s-1730s of public musical expression for profit. The audience were typically urban privilegiata and the concerts were often priced in such a way that they were unaffordable for the nascent working class and peasants, but through this point in Urcean history it was the most democratized music had ever been. A considerable deal of public theater and open space construction occurred in the first three decades of the 18th century, making so-called "audience music" even more viable, and the trend spread throughout other cities in Urcea. Having a much larger audience than courtiers, and having music for ears outside of the top refined optimates made an immediate impact on the kind of music being played, as Court-Theater music changed rapidly in the first half of the 18th century in order to appeal to the wider audiences. While the virtuosity and apprentice-master relationship of court music was retained, these first popular audiences much preferred more solos during pieces, leading to a kind of resurgence of the previous century's theater music. The "audience boom" came to an end with the beginning of the War of the Caroline Succession, however, as the time for audience music was replaced with church attendance duty for novenas for the benefit of the cause of Urcea and the Apostolic King. During the war, proto-folk songs sung by soldiers in camp took on new forms, incorporating the regional diversity of Urcean soldiers called to service of the King. These proto-folk songs, in turn, began to inform the traditional music style played outside of the battlefield by the army fife-and-drum core, as the two "original" Urcean musical genres continued to influence each other despite the historiographical divergence imposed on them during the 1600s.

Restoration

Beginning in the late 1900s and 1910s, there began a renewed interest in what became known as "old-time" music, which could best be described as a mix of popular songs from the mid-to-late 19th century as well as obscure folk songs from rural parts of the country, but not truly "traditional music", which remained a separate genre. Historians and scholars have theorized the rise of interest in this music came as a consequence of the restoration of King Patrick III and the memory of the bloodshed of the Red Interregnum. According to these historians, Urceans - especially middle-aged ones - pined for the nostalgic idyll of simpler times during the Aedanicad. The invention of the phonograph and rise of the Urcean recording industry made these songs viable, and in the 1910s the phenomenon of "songhunters" - individuals who would go to the rural parts of Urcea to discover old folk songs in order to obtain the rights to the music - sprang up. Old-time music became enormously popular and commercially viable. The advent of radio led to further widespread popularity of the genre in the 1920s through mid 1930s. Sometimes called "country music", emerged as a dominant cultural and commercial form of music during the early radio era, though during the same time traditional pop styles imported from the rest of Levantia became popular. Tarrin, a city in Goldvale slowly transformed from a sleepy river town to the capital of country music, as the relative ease of access for rural and Plateau singers to the city, availability of real estate, and access to recording equipment from Urceopolis via rail made it the ideal location to "harvest" traditional and old songs.

Second Great War

Rhythm and blues music developed from foreign blues music in the mid 1930s and early 1940s and the influence of the music of Arcerion and Sarpedon, which soldiers of the Royal and Imperial Army became exposed to during the Second Great War. The short period of time in which rhythm and blues was popular led to a decline and sharp regionalization of "old-time" or country music, which became primarily associated with rural regions of Urcea, especially those areas associated with frontier Ómestaderoi culture. Traditional pop went into severe decline in the 1940s as the ongoing war led to renewed interest in traditionally Urcean styles of music that accompanied a new wave of nationalism.

Developments in recording technology had a significant impact on the course of popular genres in Urcea. The widespread availability of jukeboxes and other commercially available record playing devices drove new tastes for songs that could be easily danced to. Upbeat traditional music with a driving beat was the top selling genre for jukeboxes from 1941 through 1950.

Postwar

The influence of country and traditional music blended with rhythm and blues to develop an entirely new form of music in the 1950s which some historians have referred to as Rockabilly or "the King's Rock" since it was a uniquely Urcean sound distinguishable from other countries. The new rock styles quickly supplanted what remained of traditional pop, and beginning in the 1960s "new pop" took its place, heavily influenced by the backbeat driven "King's Rock" sound. Since that point, a mix of rock and mainstream pop exists alongside country music as the most popular genres in the country, though some have noted rock music to be in decline since the end of the 20th century, particularly going in a more indie direction as country music has displaced it in many parts of society.

Modern music

The popularity of country has also inspired an indie movement in that genre as well, and "insurgent country", a style similar to bluegrass, has become popular since the mid-2020s. Insurgent country seeks to reclaim the sound and heritage of Urcean traditional music and the initial "old-time" music genre in an effort to undo the dominance of what is perceived to be the "corporate sound", which incorporates electronic and pop elements.

Instruments

Contemporary

Studio as an instrument

During the 1950s and 1960s, various efforts within country and nascent rock music were made to alter the sound of recordings and make unique sounds by manipulating tape and other physical accoutrements of recording. This method became known as using the recording studio as an instrument.

Law

Music in Urcea is subject to regulation under the Copyright and Communications Law and music publication in Urcea is reviewed by the Office of the Censor.

Holidays and festivals

Many of Urcea's public holidays and feast days have seasonal styles of music associated with them.