Music history as an academic discipline in the context of an anthropological approach

Abstract

The relevance of the topic is determined by the fact that in the professional activity of musicians it is not enough to simply understand the content of music and interpret it. It is important to understand how each individual work embodies a world model and a human model. The author of the article starts from the thesis that musical works primarily reflect the spirit of the era, national culture, and creative school, and only then - the composer's own life and artistic experience. It encourages the usage of the principles of an anthropological approach in the training of musicians.  The anthropological approach to understanding music becomes the basis for artistic, cultural, philosophical, and pedagogical research. This approach should be used in teaching a number of music-theoretical disciplines, including music history.

The anthropological approach to musical culture has already been formed within the framework of general anthropological research, and there is still a lack of scientific works on its usage in the study of the history of music. Based on the analysis of the latest scientific research by L. Kyianovska, Y. Chekan, I. Kohanyk, O. Kotliarevska, O. Kapichyna and other scholars, the author of the article draws conclusions about the level of study of the stated problem. Based on the application of a number of general scientific methods of cognition (analytical, historical, cultural, comparative) and the author's own pedagogical experience, the author aims to theoretically generalise the manifestations of anthropological thinking in the art of music and formulate practical recommendations for the usage of the anthropological approach in teaching music history.

The anthropological approach to the study of music history involves the identification of fundamental cultural concepts necessary for understanding the content of musical art.  The article presents anthropological concepts for each section of the history of music from the ancient times to the nineteenth century, which allows us to understand the essence of its main processes.  

It is concluded that understanding the basic principles of musical anthropology and their embodiment in specific artifacts that reproduce the paradigm of the human spiritual world is important for comfortable adaptation in the modern globalised sound space.  The formation of knowledge about the main stages of the evolution of musical art in the context of the anthropological approach should be a priority for the training of a professional musician.