Abstract: The evolution of the «old» hermeneutics’ method in contemporary musicological discourse is the focus of the paper. One finds the basic points of the XXth century hermeneutical concepts revisited, such as H. Kretzschmar, P. Bekker and A. Schering. The paper’s author argues that it’s possible to construct a special scholarly niche in our time for the «old» hermeneutics when its «biographical» methods seem to be out of date. There is an alternative to «old» hermeneutics in the paper presented by esthetical views and methodology of C. Floros. Those may be found in his concept of new semantical analysis and ideas of «music as a message» and «music as an autobiography» as practiced in his research on G. Mahler and A. Berg. The author of the paper also takes into account hermeneutical discourse in Russian musicology that is so popular in various works of 1990–2000 on D. Shostakovich’s music, where Shostakovich-otherwise thinker, Shostakovich-dissident and Shostakovich-the author of enciphered messages is considered. The paper’s method is based on hermeneutical approach to music research where music is being interpreted with the help of words and biographical documents in their interference with musical semiotics, intertextuality, textual criticism and source studies. The novelty of the paper is referred to: the renovation of «old» hermeneutics through various other methods and approaches to music research; C. Floros works’ uniqueness as opposed to structural analysis due to «secret programming» found in so many musical opuses of the XIXth and XXth centuries and ideological discussions on D. Shostakovich’s music in post-soviet era; problems and intellectual knots of hermeneutical analysis; special importance of biographical documents for the interpretation of music; the role of creative process in musical analysis, connections between motives and tunes, verbalization of hidden meaning.

Keywords: hermeneutics, semiotics, intertextuality, hidden programme, musical analysis, H. Kretzschmar, P. Bekker, A. Schering, C. Floros, D. Shostakovich

Abstract: The paper compares logical possibilities of the three actual trends in musical meaning’s research: musical hermeneutics, musical semantics and the contents of music. The purpose of the paper is to show the scope and borders for all of them as well as their scholarly potential. Additionally the paper is telling the story of their origin characterizing the key works of the leading scientists. The author argues that «musical hermeneutics» had been invented by H. Kretschmar in 1902; «musical semantics» dates back to B. Asafiev’s book «Musical form as a process» written in 1929; «musical contents» is suggested by V. Kholopova in 1980 when the corresponding manuscript had been created. The paper gives the definition for each of the mentioned fields of science explaining its essence: hermeneutics — comment and interpretation; semantics — sense and meaning; contents — expression and significance. The method of research in the paper is based on comparative value of each of the mentioned operational systems and scientific schools referring to their ability for the revelation and explanation of music’s essence as a whole as well as of compositional styles and separate works. Scientific novelty is scholarly discourse as such dealing with comparison of musical hermeneutics, musical semantics and musical contents. As far as the new scientific conclusions are concerned it’s possible to mention the non-scientific character of H. Kretschmar’s and A. Schering’s hermeneutics as well as real scientific character of musical semantics’ and musical contents’ concepts. Nonetheless hermeneutics being an empirical took may be useful for musical practice: fantasies of musical performers and music teachers willing to stimulate their students’ imagination are running in this direction rather often confirming the fact.

Keywords: musical hermeneutics, musical semantics, musical contents, scientific character, H. Kretschmar, B. Asafiev, V. Kholopova, L. Schaimukhametova, L. Kazantseva, L. Ratner

Abstract: The subject of this study is the musical conceptual sphere as a kind of semantic «field» of culture, considered on the cognitive basis of the interaction of musical universals, basic cultural concepts and fundamental stereotypes of consciousness. These universals, concepts and stereotypes contain semantic «clusters» which the subject of cognition operates in the process of musical thinking. In these clusters the contents of experience and knowledge are displayed – the results of the artistic assimilation of the world in the form of quanta of knowledge that allow the reconstruction of a certain model of the world in a piece of music. The cognitive approach becomes the methodological basis that allows us to consider the interpretation in the musical art as a phenomenon associated with the processes of musical thinking, consciousness, memory and cognitive activity in general.The scholarly innovation of this work is defined by the contribution of the author to the deployment of new technologies of artistic analytics.The cognitive approach opens broad research perspectives related to the ascent of music theory to a new scientific level, one involving the entire surrounding world. In this context, the interpretation of the musical whole should be thought of as the possibility of art being in the ensemble of the interaction of musical thinking, musical language and musical consciousness.

Keywords: form, genre, style, concept sphere, musical art, cognitive approach, modern cognitive paradigm, composition, interpretation, consciousness