Six monographs by A.I. Demchenko

The object of the study is the works of the famous Saratov musicologist, professor, Doctor of Art History A.I. Demchenko, published in 2022 and 2023. Monographs devoted to the legacy of Russian composers of the XIX–XX centuries demonstrate an integrative approach characteristic of many publications of this author. The creative figures of M.I. Glinka, S.V. Rachmaninoff, I.F. Stravinsky, S.S. Prokofiev, R.K. Shchedrin, A.G. Schnittke correlate with the historical and cultural context of the epoch, ideas realized in different types of art. This method helps to identify, first of all, ideological aspects in each of the author's systems under consideration. With varying degrees of detail, a wide range of musical works is considered, including textbook ones. The presentation of the material as a whole is subject to chronological order. The principle of semantic dominance, implemented in research, assumes the presence of a fundamental attitude in each composer's style, which ensures its uniqueness. A. Demchenko's works are of undoubted interest, first of all, from the standpoint of the author's approach, since the focus is not on narrow theoretical problems, but on the semantic essence, the conceptual and content base of the considered artistic heritage. Reliance on the method of "conceptual analysis" - as the scientist himself defines it in earlier works - provides for the subordination of all technological observations, historical information to the task of revealing cultural, universal meanings. Some decisions of the author of the monographs are questionable. The issue of foreign influences on Glinka's style seems insufficiently developed; the role of urban associations in Stravinsky's "Sacred Spring", on the contrary, seems somewhat exaggerated. The comments made do not prevent us from making a general conclusion about the productivity of the proposed approaches and the potential relevance of the submitted works in scientific and educational practice.

Glinka, Rachmaninov, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shchedrin, Schnittke, monographs by Demchenko, integrative method, semantic concept, classics of Russian music