Music and Time Annotation << Back The performance of lamentation: personal touches and interpretations I.V. Korolkova The manifestation of creative individuality in folklore is one of the most interesting aspects of the folk music culture. The article raises a number of topical issues. What is individual in a folk text? What is the difference between the traditional type of variation and improvisation? How do the personal characteristics of the performer influence the process of playing music? These questions are revealed by the example of the genre of lamentations. Folklore and ethnographic materials recorded in the expeditions of the St. Petersburg state Conservatory to the Novgorod region are used. The author offers a comparison of the main version of the chant, typical of the local tradition, and the individual versions of various artists. The focus is on tunes that go beyond the standard model. Differences in tunes can be caused by creative aspirations of the performer, psychological reasons, emotional state of the performer and situational context. Keywords: lamentations, the culture of crying, musical folklore, Novgorod region. Contacts: - Pp. 47-56.