Holistic study of musical mentality as a sociocultural phenomenon

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of musical mentality as a general scientific concept and as a sociocultural phenomenon.The structure and components of musical mentality are analyzed, and the content and place of the concept of “musical mentality” within contemporary mentology are defined. Furthermore, the article explores the functions of musical mentality as a sociocultural phenomenon within modern sociocultural theory and practice.The research employed general scientific methods, as well as interdisciplinary and holistic approaches. While the interdisciplinary approach allows for a horizontal investigation of phenomena – that is, through the integration of findings from related disciplines – the holistic approach made it possible to explore the vertical dimension of the phenomenon of musical mentality, reaching into the deeper layers of individual and collective consciousness, where any type of mentality is formed.An analysis of the current research on musical mentality reveals an underdeveloped understanding and interpretation of the concept, which served as one of the main reasons for its in-depth examination.It is noted that a holistic study of musical mentality is both timely and justified, and is based on several foundational principles, according to which the world is essentially whole, or One, though diverse in the manifestations of this unity. Music, as the sonic form of the Universe, is one of the expressions of this One – in sound is embodied the ideal structure of the cosmos, its harmonic essence. The One does not allow for divisions between inner and outer, lower and higher, material and ideal, because it is integrative and therefore harmonious.It has been established that the foundations of musical mentality are musical thinking and musicality.Musical thinking is intonational thinking, and to think intonationally means to hear the sound of life itself. This capacity to perceive the sound of life is inherent in composers, performers, and listeners alike – although it manifests to varying degrees, just like the phenomenon of musicality, which is based on musical hearing, sense of rhythm, and musical memory.As a sociocultural phenomenon, musical mentality reflects the archetypes, genre traditions, intonational models, values, and symbolic forms of a particular culture encoded in music.Moreover, it constitutes a set of culturally conditioned ways of perceiving, understanding, creating, and reproducing music that are characteristic of a particular community (ethnic group, region, or culture) at a specific historical moment.It is formed on the basis of the collective unconscious and is embodied in melodic structures, timbres, intonations, etc., as its key functions include: – the transmission of cultural codes; – aesthetic and moral orientation (spiritual foundations); – synthesis of individual and collective experience in music perception, integrated into national tradition.