Popevka

(short motif), a distinctive melodic phrase. The term popevka was first used in old Russian church singing to designate original motifs belonging to particular glasy (echoi, compendiums of a certain number of melodic fragments). Some popevki are common to several glasy. Others are specific to a particular glas. The number of the popevki varies, depending on the glas. In the 19th and 20th centuries the term popevka has been extensively used in the study of musical folklore to analyze folk melodies. Sometimes, the term is used as a synonym for “intonation.”