The aim of this paper is the presentation of the relationship between alternative rock scenes and other rock styles in the 1980s in Central and East Europe: Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovak Socialist Republic and Polish People’s Republic. The political-social conditions in these countries had strong influence on the cultural and musical life, which became the main topic of the rock bands lyrics. The main purpose of this text is to present the social-political contexts of the works of alternative rock or new wave bands by the method of comparative analysis, to find similarities and differences and to make comparative music analysis of three selected songs.

The origination of the hip-hop subculture can be situated to the 1970s and Bronx, borough of New York, whose multicultural environment offered a kind of a “seedbed” for formation of new subcultures, hip-hop including. The hip-hop subculture became the expressive means of a certain social youth group and the only ways of its spreading were street meetings and organization of events in the ghetto clubs called blockparties, where DJs created hip-hop music, dancers danced to it and rappers rapped. Hip-hop is an internally structured complex comprising many elements. Four elements (or 4 Elements) can be considered original: Djing, MCing (according to some opinions joined also by the fifth element “beatbox”), Graffiti and B-boying (breakdancing). Street dance was an inseparable part of the hip-hop subculture. Originally from blockparties it soon crossed the borders of the American continent and expanded to Europe and Japan. In her contribution the author offers a detailed description of basic street dance steps and division into five basic dance styles: breaking, locking, popping, hip-hop and house. The closing chapter brings a concise development of the street dance in Slovakia.

The thesis aims at covering the diverse and heterogeneous experimental music environment in Slovakia, which has developed in the latest decades. It focuses on more up-to-date experimental tendencies with the help of scholarly literature and reflecting personal experience of individual authors. The thesis analyses cultural influence, experimental music genres, style heterogeneity, intergenerational influence, educational activities and also experimental tendencies being used in the field of technology and work with musical instruments.

During Romanticism, sacred music still preserved its place in the society, despite its deviation towards secular music. It did not occupy such an important position as in the previous era, many composers composed it only as a matter of routine. However, we can find several works composed as a declaration of faith and deep veneration. Their authors incorporated in them elements typical for their operas and grand instrumental works – demandig choral parts, exacting arias, virtuoso character not only in vocal parts. Due to their power and pompousness these works have found their place not only in concert halls, but also in churches.

A representative of Romantic composers, Gioacchino Rossini, is today popular mostly as an author of operas Cinderella and Il Barbiere di Siviglia, but also other of his works deserve our closer attention. In his sacred work, forms typical for Romantic authors can be found – cantata, mass, choirs. In the study we have focused our attention on two works in which two aspects of the composer’s character can be displayed. In the cantata Stabat Mater he presented himself fully as an opera composer. The work is extremely demanding for singers, choir and players. In it he formed a symbiosis between the grandness, solemn character on one hand, and humbleness and sensitiveness on the other hand. In his Petite Messe Solennelle he abandoned monumental sound and virtuoso arias; the whole work is written in a more chamber and intimate set-up and mood. These two compositions are the best and most popular from his sacred work and they regularly appear in many concert programmes. The study presents Gioacchino Rossini, his sacred work and the two compositions which belong to the acme of sacred music not only of Romanticism, but also of the whole history of music.

[The contribution is available only in Slovak language in the printed version of the revue.]