Choral Singing as an "emblem" of national culture : global or local? (a performative response to the question)

Abstract

The article aims to explore the emblematic function of choral singing, positioning it as a "key" to understanding the relationship between two cultural development trends – global and local traditions, which remains highly relevant to contemporary performance practice. The article examines the choral art of Ukraine, which has historically functioned as a performative phenomenon within a sacred chronotope. At the level of compositional creativity, the dimensions of "sacred – secular" and "global–local" coexist on equal footing, facilitated by the high standard of choral performance culture. The study addresses the consequences of postmodern aesthetics, particularly the dominant role of globalization in the creative practices of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The key argument is that, within the musical component of this cultural cycle, a "counter" movement emerged, which, when viewed from a historical distance, effectively highlights the "onedimensionality" and narrow perspective of seeing globalization as the defining characteristic of the 21st century. This is vividly illus trated through choral art, particularly the history of Ukrainian sacred singing, from the Renaissance to the present. The material selected for analysis encompasses the history of Ukrainian sacred singing, including key stages of its evolution (church monody, linear and partsinging, sacred concerto), genre specifics (songs, prayers), and the compositional embodiment of the emblematic features of the musical national language. An optimistic forecast can be made based on the example of Ukrainian sacred choral singing's role in the choral culture of the late 20th and 21st centuries. The cultural experience of human interaction occurs within the zone of a “counter movement” between two tendencies: globalization, which is built upon the experiences of many local traditions, and regional cultures, which expand into a broader space, gaining insight into the global world.