INTERACTION BETWEEN EASTERN AND WESTERN MUSICAL CULTURES THROUGH THE PRISM OF MUSICAL SOUND (ON THE EXAMPLE OF SYMPHONY NO. 6 BY K. PENDERECKI)

Abstract

The article addresses the problem of interaction between Eastern (Chinese) and Western musical cultures through the prism of the category of musical sound. The novelty of the study lies in the problematization of musical sound as a mediator between musical cultures, examined on the basis of a work by a European composer that has not previously been the subject of focused research within Ukrainian musicology. The research employs historical-cultural and genre-stylistic methods. It is demonstrated that a broad interdisciplinary field of sound studies, including musical sound, has emerged in contemporary scholarship. In both musicological and related humanities research, sound is understood as a complex phenomenon possessing semantic memory and acting as a carrier of both musical and extramusical information. Such an interpretation makes it possible to reconsider the status of sound in studies devoted to the interaction of Eastern and Western musical cultures, viewing sound as a transmitter of culturally significant information and a mediator between two musical systems – Eastern, particularly Chinese, and Western. The article proposes three levels at which this interaction unfolds: conceptual, genre-stylistic, and linguistic-stylistic. Musical sound (sonority), in our view, permeates all three levels, concentrating within itself both purely musical and culturally meaningful information. As a result of the analysis, it is shown that Krzysztof Penderecki’s Symphony No. 6 forms an integrated artistic whole in which Eastern (Chinese) and Western elements interact organically to produce a higher unity. The work embodies archetypal motifs of Chinese poetry, rendered in the German language, thereby creating an integrated semantic and artistic space. The composer employs a chamber orchestral ensemble with an expanded percussion section, as well as the traditional Chinese instrument erhu, integrating it into the overall sound texture. The symphony’s texture is characterized by transparency, attention to individual lines, and a reduction of complexity, which together create an effect of contemplative presence.