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

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.