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Belarus is an Eastern European country which has a rich tradition of unique folk and religious music. The country's folk music traditions can be traced back to the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the 20th century, the Soviet control of the country somewhat limited musical development because nationally oriented music was considered subversive and dangerous to the Soviet authority. The country's musical traditions spread with its people to countries like Russia, Canada, United States, Kazakhstan, Latvia and Ukraine [1] (http://zbsb.org/eng/hist_1.shtml). The people of Belarus were exposed mostly to Russian pop music during this period and also after independence in 1991. In 2002, however, Alexander Lukashenko has signed a degree requiring 50% of all FM broadcast music to be Belarusan in origin, and since January 1, 2005 the rule was made even stricter (75% of daily broadcast music must be Belarusan).
Folk music Documentation of its music stretches back to at least the 15th century. Prior to that, skomorokhs were the major profession for musicians. A neumatic chant, called znamenny, from the word 'znamia', meaning sign or neume, used until 16th century in Orthodox church music, followed by two hundreds of stylistic innovation that drew on the Renaissance and Protestant Reformation. In the 17th century, Partesnoe penie, part singing, became common for choruses, followed by private theaters established in cities like Minsk and Vitebsk.
Worth noting is Stary Olsa a modern folk band that revives the old melodies of the medieaval Belarus (Grand Duchy of Lithuania). The band uses authentic instruments that they made themselves based on the old designs from the time of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
20th century In the 20th century, the first secondary education institute in Belarus was founded (1924) and the first operas (Mikhas Podgorny by E. Tikotsky, In Virgin Forests of Polesie by A. Bogatryev and The Flower of Happiness by A. Turenkov) and ballets (The Nightingale by M Kroshner).
Soviet rule Later in the century, American rock and roll became popular while the country was controlled by the Soviet Union. Popular rock bands included Verasy, Siabry and Pesniary. Pesniary was probably the best known Belarusian band in the Soviet times and was very popular in USSR for several decades, specially in early 80's.
After independence Belarus gained independence after the fall of the Soviet Union and new bands appeared, including NRM, Ulis, Little Blues Band, The Stoks, Tornado, Krama and Neurodubel. Modern pop stars are also well-known, including Boris Moiseev and Lyapis Trubetskoy (though they tend to orient themselves toward Russia and Russian speakers). There are also electronic music performers like Autism, Energun 22, h.h.t.p.. Worth noting is Drum XTC performs live drum'n'bass. Around 2002 a new generation of electronic bands appeared, organized by Electrokids promo-group, including the groups like Stone People, Dreamlin, T-Trider and Koordinate of Wonders.
NRM is probably the best-known rock band of the late 90's and 00's.
In 2004 Belarus made it to the semifinals of Eurovision for the first time. The country was represented by a duo Alaksandra i Kanstantsin.
Overall, Belarusian rock musicians and fans find life in Belarus today no less difficult than in the USSR era, many of the bands can never get to FM or any state-sponsored event, they can't rent music halls for their concerts. The Belarusian authorities continue to dislike rock music, preferring to promote folk or "Slavic" music at the country's top musical event -- the state-sponsored Slavic Bazaar (Славянскі Базар), an annual pop and folk music festival in Vitebsk. It is no wonder then, that the biggest and most famous festival of Belarusian rock music takes place outside of Belarus, in Grodek (Belarusian: Haradok), northeastern Poland, a small town some 40 kilometers east of Bialystok -- the center of Podlasie Province, which is inhabited by a 200,000-strong Belarusian minority. The festival, held in July every year since 1990, is organized by the Belarusian Union of Students (BAS) in Poland. The official name of the event is the Music Festival of Young Belarus or Basovishcha ("BAS" + suffix "-ovishcha", alt.spelling Basoviszcza). Some rock music fans dubbed it "Belarusian Woodstock."
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