Lecturer DESSIATNITCHENKO, Polina
Title The Enigma of Musical Creativity: Affect, Poetry, and Imagination in post-Soviet Azerbaijan
Day and Time: December 15 2022 7:00pm ―
Abstract:
It has been argued that the ability to create is the cornerstone of what it means to be human, separating us from other living beings. The creative impulse, which remains a mystery of humankind, pervades all artistic spheres, one of which is music. Indeed, many musical traditions across cultures demand heightened creativity in the moment of performance. One example is mugham, a branch of Azerbaijani traditional music that brings audiences to tears and performers to the limits of language. In my research, I use Azerbaijani mugham as a case study to venture into broader questions about how humans create and innovate beyond traditional models in art. To explain the enigma of musical creativity, I rely on ideas from affect studies and phenomenology. I look into the juncture between affect and text—what I call “affective hermeneutics”—asking how musical imagination and interpretation of meanings leads beyond them. I argue that heightened creativity requires a particular type of affective and interpretational activity which is very often induced by sung poetry. As part of my presentation, I will play music to demonstrate how even in instrumental performance the musicians’ knowledge of poetic meanings provides an impetus for generating music that is unique.
