ISSUES OF DEFINITION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE CATEGORY OF STYLE IN MUSICOLOGY
Authors: Kapliyenko-Iliuk Yuliya 
Published: May 2023

At the present stage of the studies of musical art, more and more attention is paid to the issues of style as an important category of musicology. Style is a multi-level category that is interpreted by scientists from different positions and views. Ambiguity of style predetermines long development of this category, evolution of its perception, emergence of new, modern studies that have become relevant in the scientific space. The purpose of the paper is to reveal the problem of defining the style and the principles of using the term, taking into consideration the historical aspect of understanding this category in musicology. The use of the concept of “style” began with the oratorical art of ancient Greece and can be found in the writings of Aristotle (“Rhetoric”, “Poetics”), in musical art and architecture. Aesthetic treatises of the Renaissance view style as a collection of certain features that make it possible to distinguish artistic phenomena among themselves. However, the term itself is used only in relation to figurative art, painting. The concept of style is becoming more acute on the brink of the historical epochs of the late Renaissance and the Baroque, but is mixed with the category of genre. The need to use the concept of “style” in Art Studies was raised in the musical-historical works of the early eighteenth century. The basics of understanding the style, as a special manifestation of artistic and creative thinking, laid in the era of the Enlightenment, became the basis for most definitions of this concept. Since the 19th century, interest in the style issues has increased, due to the growth of the personal factor in art, the emergence of national schools, including composer schools, in the epoch of romanticism; crystallization of the concept took place, its main meanings were polished. In the first half of the twentieth century there appears a certain number of works, where, to varying degrees, the problem of style is displayed. In the development of style problems important became the achievements of B. Yavorsky and B. Asafiev, who identified the following ways in its study: the scientists are united by the common understanding of style, as the embodiment of musical thinking. The style of B. Yavorsky is connected with the historical and epoch-making value and manifests itself in the entire spiritual culture. B. Asafiev creates a rather original interpretation of the problem of style, the basis of which is the theory of intonation. Realizing the ambiguity of the concept of style, presenting different approaches in understanding the style, its historical aspects and the principles of style analysis, M. Mikhailov gives his own definitions of the concept, revealing its content from different points of view. Thus, the scientist often relates the definition of style with the linguistic aspect and thinking. The concept of style acquired significant development in musicology due to modern interpretations. The category of style class has a fairly long history of formation and has prospects for further research, which is reflected in the nature of perception of the style of different periods of the history of music, individual and national style. Multiple meanings and versatility of the application of the term in musicology indicates broad possibilities of this category, the study of which makes it possible to reveal the essence of many aspects of contemporary art.