Music is a common feature of every culture, and is one of the most popular human interests in the world. People listen to music to suit their mood, or to evoke emotions that they enjoy experiencing at the moment. Music has been composed to accommodate any kind of mood, from the depths of despair to complete happiness.
Music suggests much about the society in which it is created. Whether it is a traditional song, a Strauss waltz, a gospel song or a rock video, music reflects the culture it comes from. It expresses experience as well as affecting it, creating feelings and responses in the listener.
Like many art forms, music mirrors society, sometimes raising questions about norms and values, and sometimes even causing change. When this happens, music can end up serving a purpose it was not necessarily intended for.
Popular music has been known to create an identity for groups of people. Songs that were popular during World War II helped unify soldiers with those at home, for example, songs by E. Petersburgsky “Dark-blue Shawl” and V. Soloviev-Sedoy “We Haven`t Been Home for Long”, “The Evening Before the Raid” and “My Moscow”.
Songs and music sometimes become symbols for a particular group of people, a place or a historical event. Some music is even considered a symbol for a whole generation. Probably for your parents, singers such as Victor Tsoy, Boris Grebenshikov, and Yuri Shevtchuk created much of the music that embodied what it was like to be a teen in the 1980`s.
Music exists in many forms and means different things to different people. But is music one of mankind`s most exquisite forms of art?
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