Concerning the Question of the Terminological Dictionary of the “Intellectual” Directions of Rock Music

Abstract

The article is devoted to the interaction
and correlation of such concepts as art rock
and progressive rock in the terminological
vocabulary of rock music. They both describe
a rather unordinary stylistic direction of
rock music which both turns to academic
“classical” music and at the same time expands
the compositional expressive means of rock
music aimed at synthesis and experiment. The
terms “art rock” and “progressive rock” (just
as the musical trend itself) appeared in the
British and American press in the late 1960s,
however the boundaries between them have
remained rather vague. The author of the
article examines the history of the emergence,
existence and signification of the terms “art
rock” and “progressive rock” in the musical
literature of Russia and other countries,
specifies their meanings, and also turns to the
appropriate terminology, styles and genres.
The conclusion is arrived at about a more
universal and generalizing meaning of the
concept of “progressive rock,” which may be
comprehended as a “stylistic conglomerate,”
the “sum” of numerous stylistic varieties, the
general characteristic features of which is
the directedness towards stylistic synthesis,
a complexification of expressive means and
musical form, as well as the overcoming of the
customary boundaries of rock music.