Music of Delkora

The music of Delkora includes both traditional and modern styles and has influenced and been influenced by a number of other Tyrannian nations. Delkora has been notable for its alternative rock scene, which rose to prominence in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and continues to be influential to the present day.

Folk music

The earliest Delkoran folk music consisted of rudimentary horns, flutes, and harps that were played during Vallyar rituals and festivals in the varden communes. The early Delkoranic tribes produced epic ballads that told the stories of ancient battles and legendary Delkoran heroes, with fantastical elements such as sorcery and mythological creatures playing a prominent role. These were transmitted orally by town elders who recited them every year at religious festivals. In 1247, several of these ballads were compiled into written form in the Skovetsangen.

Delkoran folk music saw a resurgence in the mid 19th Century and began incorporating newer instruments such as the accordion, harmonica, and the violin. Although folk music was of a mostly rural character both in its themes and artists, there were a number of urban folk movements, the most important of these being the Fabriks Sang movement (lit. "Factory Song") that developed during the economic depression of the 1950's, which combined the style of traditional Delkoran folk music with themes of radical trade unionism and class warfare, becoming popular among striking industrial workers. In the late 1950's, Maja Adelskold emerged as a hugely influential folk singer whose songs are often characterized as giving voice to the generation that came of age in the latter part of the depression years and early New Kingdom era.

A second folk revival occurred in the early 2000's, driven in part by a perception in many rural communities that the country was abandoning its cultural origins. Joen Lyndgaard is a popular vocalist who got her start in this movement.

Classical music

Baroque era

The Baroque era of Delkoran music began around 1600 CE and extended into the early 18th Century. The preeminent Delkoran composer of the Baroque era was Hjalmar Aalborg, who was best known for operas such as Asmund (1634) and Tragedie af Feerne (1641). Unlike music of the preceding Renaissance era, which typically had religious themes, Delkoran Baroque music was notably secular.

Classical era

The Delkoran classical era lasted from roughly 1725 to 1815. Johannes Mörner, one of the most influential classical composers in Eracuran history, was prolific during the early part of this period, producing such classics as Midsummer Concerto (1756) and Thaarenborg Symphony No. 7 (1762). Other notable composers of this period included Gunhild Berglund and Magnus Kjærsgaard. Delkoran classical music was notable for its bold contrasts between sections, prominent role of percussion, and a greater acceptance of improvisation than classical music in other Eracuran countries.

Romantic era

The period from the early 1820's to 1910 was the height of the Delkoran Romantic period. Originating partly in the revolutionary fervor of the decade leading up to the Delkoran Civil War, music of this era was known for being emotional, expressive, and employing themes such as nationalism, rebellion, and individualism. Composers such as Mathilde Dahl and Sebastian Vikstrom also made frequent reference to nature and the supernatural as in Dahl's Phantoms of the Stars (1845) and Vikstrom's Blod Drøm (1873). During the process of rebuilding in the aftermath of the war, many towns and cities constructed public concert halls as a way of bringing people together after the trauma of the bloody conflict. An important consequence of this was that music increasingly became an object of mass consumption rather than the exclusive province of aristocratic courts as it had been in preceding eras.

Popular music

Pop music

Delkoran pop music emerged in its earliest form in the early 1920's around the time of the advent of radio broadcasting. Early Delkoran pop music was dominated by dance music, in particular ballroom and swing music. These genres were particularly popular among the thriving middle and upper classes in the period between 1920 and 1950, a time of great economic prosperity and optimism about the future. During the depression of the mid 1950's, commercial music production virtually ground to a halt.

Pop music reentered the scene as a major commercial force during the economic boom of the mid to late 1960's and the Gylian Invasion of that period. Gylian bands such as The Beaties and The Watts became hugely popular in the Kingdom, and paved the way for subsequent Delkoran power pop bands such as The Velvet Overtones. A clear distinction between Delkoran pop and rock music began to become evident around the late 1960's as pop music became increasingly formulaic, while the rock genre began experimenting in new directions.

Pop music during much of the 1970's came to be dominated by disco acts such as Echowave and Teknotika. The Dalby Sisters rose to stardom in the 1970s, earning fame for their quirky image, soulful harmonies, and versatile sound, incorporating funk, jazz, blues, country, and rock; they later experienced a second wind in the 1980s with a stylistic change to dance-oriented synth-pop.

The 1980's proved to be an important decade for Delkoran pop in that a number of English language acts entered the scene and were able to gain international fame. These included vocalists such as Stefan Stefansen and Lena Westermark, synth-pop groups like ABM, and the wildly popular electropop artist Blixt.

The second Gylian Invasion of the 1990's helped inspire renewed interest in electronic music. Throughout the 1990's and early 2000's, there was a proliferation of electronic dance music acts including the likes of Sonik Solstice, Välljud, and Katatonic State, which continue to be popular in the Delkoran nightclub scene. The early 2010's witnessed an explosion in the popularity of indie pop and art pop, with acts such as Tommy Gyllenhaal and Eva 6 and the Sublimes gaining popularity.

Rock, metal, and punk

Rock and roll entered the Delkoran music scene in the late 1940's. It was a primarily rural phenomenon heavily influenced by blues and earlier folk traditions, with songs often dealing with themes of rural hardship. Music historian Inga Forstenborg described Delkoran rock as "inseparable in its origins from the social, historical, and economic context of the Kingdom's rural northern states." Singers such as Bella Holmquist and Karin Moller hailed from the varden communes of Vassengård and Norvia and were known for their songs glorifying agrarian traditions.

With the Delkoran counterculture reaching its zenith during the height of the depression in the late 1950's, rock increasingly became an outlet for political dissent. Kjeld Rasmussen, Astrid Borup, and Solvej Malmgren were popular singer-songwriters during this time whose songs glorifying youthful rebellion and critical of authoritarianism had a major influence not just on the rock genre, but also on the social and political life of the country, with their music coming to be seen as the soundtrack of the protests then taking place on college campuses.

Beginning in 1965, the Delkoran economy experienced a major boom that led to an explosion in the number of record labels. Around this time, Delkoran rock went from being of a rural to an urban character and became increasingly monopolized by the metropolitan cities of the northern coast, where most major record labels were headquartered and where the economic boom was more pronounced. The Gylian Invasion bands helped instigate a thriving garage rock scene that was aided by the increasing affordability of musical instruments. It was also during this period that rock became less political and pessimistic, with songs tending to emulate the upbeat style of the Gylian Invasion. The emergent drug culture of progressive cities like Abenvard, Tybenhoth, and Darzenbrom gave birth to psychedelic rock bands like Desert Sands, Blå Måne, and The Blissful Nights. The induction of the modern Delkoran welfare state in the late 1960's is often cited as a key factor that helped the Delkoran music industry take off by enabling aspiring musicians to devote more time to their work and making it easier for more people to pursue creative endeavors.

A pivotal development came in the late 1960's with the emergence of hard rock bands like Path of Exile, Atlas Chained, and Deep Horizon, who were able to achieve international success and had an important influence on the rock genre. The success of these bands secured Delkora's reputation as an important rock scene in Tyran and also helped pave the way for early punk rock bands like Riot Fighters and The Flaming Apostles, which became popular in the mid 1970's.

The 1980's proved to be an important decade for Delkoran heavy metal and alternative rock. Glam metal bands like The Queen's Company and Stjernekraft got their start in the early 1980's and achieved the greatest mainstream success. The middle part of the decade meanwhile, was a formative period for many grunge and progressive metal bands that would take off in the 1990's. Many of these originated in the underground music scene of Gothendral and had in common a rejection of the upbeat, optimistic rock that had dominated the popular music industry since the mid 1960's. Like earlier rock acts, they tended to be critical of social institutions and had lyrics that were more overtly political.

Outlast vaulted alternative rock into the mainstream with a breakthrough album in 1991, and were followed in their success by Stones Throw and The Faded Zeros. Around the same time, progressive metal bands like Iron Opera House, Ghost in the Machine, and Kovenant began to take off. Taken together, the explosion of these two movements surpassed the commercial success of the hard rock bands of the 1970's and had an important impact on their respective genres worldwide, leading some in the music industry to speak of a "Delkoran Invasion" in the 1990's.

The alt-rock scene has continued to thrive to the present day. Beginning in the 2010's, a number of indie rock bands started to emerge that have been heavily inspired by the alternative bands of the 1990's, with Midnight Reflection being one of the most successful.

Hip hop

Hip hop became popular in Delkora in the early 1980's, initially as an underground scene in the major cities. It was not until the early 1990's, with the success of Tör, that the genre went mainstream. Since then, many Delkoran hip hop artists have been Syaran-Delkorans like Miros and Elysium that are known for their lyrics about rough urban upbringings, cultural assimilation, and racism.

Charts

Lyd Liste 100 is the Delkoran national record chart, produced by Lyd Liste Magazine. Since 1968, Lyd Liste has maintained separate record charts in each of Delkora's seven states to better assess regional music scenes. Weekly national rankings are determined by adding up record sales data from the state charts. Since 2005, the ranking has taken into account downloads.