Spiritual-semantic approach as a methodological basis for the analysing religious music (on the example of V. Stepurko’s cycle “Monologues of the Ages”)
Authors: Aleksandrova Oksana , Chertoryzhska Mariia 
Published: March 2024

Statement of the problem. A characteristic feature of the work of contemporary composers is their sustained interest in sacred themes. Today, there is a need to develop methods and approaches that would contribute to an in-depth understanding of the specifics of religious musical language and works with sacred themes in general. One of them is the spiritual-semantic approach aimed at analysing music as a sign system. This method allows us to more fully characterise the worldview of composers in the context of their style and to reveal the sacred semantics of musical language, as well as the functions of the poetic word (if any) as the basis for religious symbols and meanings in vocal and choral works. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the spiritual-semantic approach as a cognitive model for analysing musical works with religious themes on the basis of the vocal and choral work by Victor Stepurko, a bright figure in the modern musical art of Ukraine. The spiritual-semantic approach, which is key to understanding a musical work as a sign system, was first applied to the analysis of the religious semantics of the composer’s cycle “Monologues of the Ages”. Within the limits of the mentioned approach, such research methods were used: systematic typological to identify and classify the semantic features of the cycle; genre and stylistic for characterizing its musical language, which realizes the genre potential laid down by the definition of “Psalmody” in the title of the work; value and semantic to understand the spiritual and substantive foundations of V. Stepurko’s compositional style, worldview, philosophical and religious aspects of his music in general and the cycle “Monologues of the Ages” in particular. Research results and conclusion. It was established that the spiritual-semantic approach to the analysis of the work helps to reveal the specifics of the embodiment of the religious theme and symbolism at different levels of the musical-poetic text: the title, genre poetics, interpretation of the canonical verbal basis (texts of the “Psalter”), timbre and numerical parameters, dramaturgy of the composition. Thus, the genre definition of “psalmody” finds a holistic embodiment as the composer’s orientation to an established literary and musical archetype with a certain text and sound organization (religious moralistic content of the verbal text, its rhythmically free melodic recitation (psalmody), symbolism of the arrangement and intonation of the psalms, instrumental accompaniment, prayer state). V. Stepurko demonstrates a thoughtful approach to the interpretation of the texts of the “Psalter” and a thorough knowledge of the theological tradition, selects the most vivid stanzas of the psalms, strives to reveal and emphasize the meaning of words, images, and symbols in the most accurate way thanks to rhetorical and sound-painting techniques. The choice of timbres carries a semantic load (duduk, flute, trumpet as “Old Testament” instruments, etc.); the number and arrangement of movements of the cycle are also subject to the Biblical symbolism of the numbers 14, 7, 3, 4; spiritual semantics can also be traced in the dramaturgy of the work at the macro and micro levels: the cycle is built as one comprehensive sermon that appeals to the events of the entire Biblical history, at the same time, each of its parts reveals a specific Christian theme; the idea of communion and personal prayer are organically combined. The spiritual-semantic approach to the analysis of musical works with a religious theme is aimed at a deeper understanding of them and expands the range of established musicological analytical methods, which allows it to be considered a promising cognitive tool. This approach helps to comprehend not only V. Stepurko’s sacred music, but also of many other artists of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, whose work is connected with the Christian worldview, as well as the mission of the contemporary artist – to influence the spiritual consciousness of society through art.