Spiritual component of the students-vocalists’ work (based on the Ukrainian composers’ repertory)
Authors: Volodymyr Boldyrev 
Published: January 2023

Statement of the problem. The history of Ukrainian culture is a continuous ascending path of trials, on which the mental level of Ukrainian music – its song melos, from crying and lyrics to heroics and jokes – appears as the quintessence of spirituality. A large layer of the Ukrainian folk song tradition and academic genres of music, in particular chamber and opera, from the past to the present, embodies spirituality as a guiding principle. Through the worldview position of its author, artistic images convey the “spirit of the time”. The creativity of a singerperformer is connected with the knowledge of the inner world of a person, its artistic “reflection”, with reliance on a strong spiritual foundation for realizing higher spiritual priorities in the hierarchy of values of national musical culture. So, the topicality of the topic is due to: a) the need to preserve national Ukrainian art at the current stage of development of higher art education in Ukraine; b) the needs of spiritual and personal education of young singers; c) understanding of the spiritual content of vocal works of various genres and styles, which are included in educational programs for solo singing. The significance of the formation of spiritual values of a creative personality is actualized in the scientific works of I. Bekh (2018), O. Oleksiuk (2017), V. Antoniuk (2007), O. Rudnytska (2001); the question of the spirituality of music is considered by L. Shapovalova (2014), S. Ship (2016). The innovativeness of the study is conditioned by consideration of the spiritual component of the vocal students’ creation based on the national musical background. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the role of external and internal levels of manifestations of spirituality as components of the student’s creative experience in the class of solo singing. The study of the problem of the singer’s spiritual education presupposes the application of general and special scientific approaches and methods, including: comparative typological analysis of the interpretation of vocal works; interpretative and instructive understanding of the performance through the reflection of the mentality of the imaginary hero (Shapovalova, 2014: 30); a personal and creative approach in creating a “spiritual circle” in the “teacherconcertmaster-student” system. The results of the study support the necessity of realizing the spiritual content of vocal works of different genres and styles included in the solo singing curricula. The special significance of Ukrainian song examened in the spiritual and personal dimension in the performing work of vocal students is emphasizes. Vocal pieces based on T. Shevchenko’s poems as the embodiment of a deep national idea are presented. L. Kolodub’s opera “The Poet” is given as an example of the genre of tragic-lyrical phantasmagoria, where the figure of Taras Shevchenko himself is presented. Another dimension of folk spirituality continuing of the traditionally funny images of Ukrainian opera, is considered in the example of the V. Hubarenko’s opera “The Reluctant Matchmaker”. Colorful images created on the stage of M. Lysenko KhNATOB by outstanding singers (E. Chervoniuk, V. Grashchenko) are considered in aspects embodying spiritual components of vocal image. The problem of the spiritual experience of creative communication between a teacher and a student in the solo singing class is considered in the individual context (according H. Rickert). The ways of forming a spiritual model of creative relations in the system “teacher-accompanist-student” are analyzed. Conclusion. It is proved that the professional self-affirmation of a vocal student is impossible without spiritual self-improvement and social orientation of his work, without realization the essence of the “inner feat”: during the performance he is both a spiritual reflection of the author and the personification of an imaginary hero. It was revealed that the precondition to form the spiritual foundations of the creative process is the general uplifting mood of the student and teacher, a feeling of festivity and “holiness” of the creative process. Individual manifestations of interpretive independence in combination with models implementing spiritual components within the creative circle “teacher-accompanist-student” become the basis for the formation of spiritual experience of a future singer.