THE EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT OF INDIVIDUALITY IN SCHOLARSHIP AND ITS MUSICOLOGICAL OPERATIONALIZATION THROUGH PERFORMING STYLE, INTERPRETATION AND THE CREATIVE METHOD OF THE CONDUCTOR-CHOIRMASTER

Abstract

The article examines the evolution of the concept of individuality in the humanities and proposes its musicological operationalization with reference to the activity of the conductor-choirmaster The relevance of the topic stems from the fact that in contemporary musicology the notion of individuality is often used as a descriptive and evaluative label, whereas without terminological clarification and conversion into research parameters it remains methodologically diffuse and poorly suited to comparative, historical, and empirical inquiry. The study focuses on the correlation between individuality, performing style, interpretation, and the creative method of the conductorchoirmaster. The research combines the history of concepts, musicological analysis, comparative procedure, hermeneutic reading, and systems thinking, which makes it possible to trace the evolution of the term in the humanities, identify its semantic transformations in musicology, and construct a working model for its application in conductor studies. It is argued that the individuality of the conductor-choirmaster should be understood not as an abstract psychological or rhetorical characteristic but as an integral system of stable artistic-semantic and procedural-organizational features manifested through the creative method, interpretation, and performing style. A threelevel model is proposed in which the creative method represents the procedural and organizational level of manifestation, interpretation the level of meaning production, and performing style the perceptually fixed level of artistic realization. The article demonstrates that the triad “style – interpretation – creative method” shifts the category of individuality from the sphere of general characterization to that of observable and comparable parameters. A set of indicators suitable for the analytical study of conducting practice is formulated: the type of work with the score, rehearsal strategy, tempo-rhythmic decision-making, dynamic and phrasing dramaturgy, treatment of verbal text, timbral and textural sound ideal, the model of interaction with the choir, and the degree of stability of these features in different performance situations. It is substantiated that a conductor’s individuality cannot be inferred from a single performance, cannot be reduced to gestural manner alone, and requires analysis of a corpus of recurring artistic decisions. The proposed model defines the limits of the concept’s correct application in conductor studies and provides a basis for further empirical verification on the material of Ukrainian choral practice