The Artist's Emotional Memory as a Semantic System of Interpretative Thinking in Musical Performance

Abstract

The article examines the phenomenon of the artist’s emotional memory as a semantic system that plays a fundamental role in the formation of interpretative thinking in musical performance. The study focuses on the transition from the objective reading of a musical text to its subjectively meaningful and artistically convincing realization in sound. Emotional memory is interpreted not as a secondary psychological function but as an integrative mechanism that combines cognitive, affective, and imaginative processes within the professional consciousness of the performer. The research substantiates the idea that emotional memory functions as a multi-level structure consisting of several interconnected components: semantic memory, which ensures comprehension of stylistic and intonational patterns of musical language; the accumulative layer conceptualized as the “affective pocket,” understood as a reservoir of assimilated emotional experience; precedent meanings formed through reflection; and creative imagination, which enables transformation of accumulated experience into new artistic meanings. Particular attention is paid to the role of verbalization as a mechanism for structuring emotional experience and transforming it into an interpretative concept. The article also clarifies the relationship between the notions of performer and interpreter, emphasizing that interpretation represents a higher level of performance activity based on deep semantic understanding of the musical text. Emotional memory is shown to function as a mediator between the composer’s intention and the performer’s individual artistic experience, becoming a key factor in shaping expressive parameters such as tempo, dynamics, phrasing, articulation, and timbral modeling.

The results of the study demonstrate that emotional memory should be considered an essential component of performance semiosis and a central factor in the formation of individual interpretative style, opening prospects for further interdisciplinary research within musicology, performance theory, and psychology of creativity.