OBSERVATIONS ON THE NATURE OF NATIONAL MUSICAL INTONATION FROM THE ASPECT OF SYSTEMIC UNDERSTANDING

Abstract

Musical intonation is considered as a nationally conceptualized form of expression and an integral component of Ukrainian musical identity. It is traced that the Ukrainian intonational element has been present in Western European compositional creativity since the Renaissance period. It is noted that national musical intonation is more easily discerned in dance music, as evidenced by numerous instrumental tablatures of the 16th century. Some observations on the specific features of national intonation and the connection between natural speech and musical intonation are analyzed. The question is raised regarding what true Ukrainian musical intonation should not be. It is noted that this issue intrigued R. Glière, who often drew upon Ukrainian themes in his work. It is highlighted that Ukrainian folk musical creativity has always been influenced by foreign cultural forces. This applies to Ukrainian sacred songs of the 17th-18th centuries, as well as to irmological chant, in which Western European influences were quite evident. It is emphasized that the problem of Ukrainian intonation and national character became key in the works of Ukrainian composers of the first half of the 19th century, particularly M. Verbytsky. It is stressed that in the 20th century, musical intonation was often used as a symbol of national identity within the composer’s individual system. One specific musical intonation is examined as a distinctive marker of «national» in the works of B. Lyatoshynsky. It is noted that in search of an intonation most harmonious with his compositional essence, which would serve as a marker of «national,» B. Lyatoshynsky turned to the works of M. Lysenko, whose musical language functions as the «ideal type of national musical language.»