Abstract: As it is well-known, in 1913 an Italian composer, artist and poet Luigi Russolo, being influenced by the futurists of those times, wrote his manifesto "The Art of Noises". Among the performers and all "advanced" cultural figures of those times the manifesto introduced the view that the musical sound could be created by anything, first of all, all kinds of machines and devices, and the sound could also be a growling, scream,  whisper, roar, rumble, etc. Noise and aesthetics of noise had a special influence on the creative heritage of one of the most radical innovators in music of the XXth century, American composer John Cage who denied tonation in general and used only the noise in his musical compositions. On his way to the integration of noise into music, Cage followed the following four principles: 1) creation of a so-called prepared piano, 2) invention of new instruments or involvement of instruments that had never been used in music before, as well as a non-traditional use of human voice; 3) implementation of electronic means of sound transmission (computers or concrete music), 4) complete replacement of music with noises. The methodology of the research is based on the integrated approach to such macro-terms as "noise in music" and "musical silence" introduced and first used by John Cage. The author has also used the analytical method for the analysis of specific works created by the composer. In conclusion, the author notes that being the brightest innovator in music, John Cage created a completely new world inside himself and his own philosophy. Later Cage introduced that world to the audience. Someone accepted his innovations, ideas and concepts and someone rejected them, but in any case, John Cage made an important breakthrough in understanding the phenomenon of music and answering the universal question 'What is music?'. What if music is just the Noise indeed? 

Keywords: new musical instruments, Luigi Russolo, noise, John Cage, synthesis of arts, silence, music, prepared piano, phonetics, aesthetics

Abstract: The subject of the research is the question to what extent culture may reflect the life of Soul. Lately the soul has ceased to be the subject of philosophical reflection. This is due to the orientation of culture at the positivist version of science. It is assumed that in addition to religion, the life of Soul can be also manifested in arts but modern art, being released from traditional forms of culture (such as mystery and ritual), has lost touch with the metaphysical beginning. Philosophical understanding of the life of Soul has also changed. This has led to the confusion of the aesthetical beginning and art. Creation of the discipline called 'aesthetics' and untraditional division of institutions were a response to such confusion. The research method used by the author involves philosophical reflection of global processes ongoing in the modern civilization. Special attention is paid to the point of view of traditionalism. The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the author offers to view the process of confusion of various principles and types of mentalities as a sign of degradation of human nature. The author stresses out that it is impossible to find the only cause of such degradation, however, according to the author, inversion of normal relations between the principles of Universal existence and destruction of the spiritual hierarchy have played an important role in this process. 

Keywords: tradition, spiritual hierarchy, aesthetics, art, life of the soul, universe, culture, scheme, information, energy

Abstract: The article of the research is the personal traits (in particular, individual method of behavior in a profession) and creative work of female film directors. The research hypothesis is based on the point of view that 'film direction is not a woman's profession' and on the expression that 'all female film directors have a masculine personality'. The features of their creative work are analysed in terms of the following three indicators: 1) the levels of an artwork, elite and popular; 2) creative interest towards the Soviet theme; 3) genre features. The object of the research is a group of 19 female film directors who were best-known in the Soviet cultural environment of the 1960-1980s as well as the most known female film directors of today's Russia, Ukraine and Georgia. The research is based on the method of content analysis that has allowed to define the problem. The researchers have used this method to analyze sayings and expressions of female directors and their creative teams and colleagues regarding their personality and personal traits (based on the Internet sources). The statistical method has been also applied to the present research. In particular, the authors have chosen women for their research based on the lists of popular film directors on the Kino-Teatr.ru website. The main conclusions of the research are the following. Firstly, in terms of contemporary culture, even professional communities and associations retain traditional cultural stereotypes, such as: professional behavior and personal traits of female film directors related to universal human terminal and instrumental values are still viewed as 'masculine'. Secondly, discovered cultural, thematic and genre features of creative work of the most famous Soviet (1960 - 1980) and contemorary Russian female film directors demonstrate that even women with 'masculine personalities' make 'female' films, moreover, these are films of high artistic merit recognized by both the audience and authoritative professional community. 

Keywords: film director, men and women, character, creative work, art house, mainstream, Soviet theme, action film, biography genre, screen version

Abstract: The subject of the present research is the nature and functions of publicity as a cultural phenomenon. Among numerous forms of historical research, the most famous ones are history of society, history of state, history of culture, history of communication and history of art. However, the development of history of art goes in parallel with history of public, i.e. the environment where art functions. The environment either contributes to the development of an intensive art life or, on the contrary, puts brakes on the development of art. Moreover, history of public is also the history of a more general phemonenon - publicity that is manifested not only in art but also in rituals, fairies, festive, sport, entertaining and theatrical forms. What is publicity considering that it is an intermediate element between history of art and history of society? What forms of publicity have been known throughout history? What functions has publicity performed in history? These are the questions the author covers in his article and chooses as the subject of his research. Taking into account that history of publicity is a form of history of society, the author has used the sociological approach to studying features of publicity because the sociological approach completes the historical approach. Sociology dictates a differentiated approach to society and, therefore, to publicity. In his article Khrenov describes the features of publicity attributed to pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial societies. The author also focuses on the transfer of publicity forms that are typical for the industrial society to the publicity forms that are representative for post-industrial societies that create virtual forms of publicity based on developed technologies. Khrenov also pays attention to the contribution of so-called 'the third class' to the development of new forms of publicity. The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the processes ongoing in the cities of the Modern and Contemporary Periods, in particular, those that are typical for new forms of publicity, have consequences for not only the society but also culture in general. Publicity is also a sphere of creative culture, thus the author has also applied the cultural approach to studying publicity as the subject of the present research. Publicity is the phenomenon that is related to both culture and society. To prove it, the author appeals to the theatrical life of the XVIIIth century when future virtual forms of publicity associated with television and Internet started to appear. 

Keywords: virtual publicity, festivity, emotional contact, emotional deficiency, theatricism, duality, communication, publicity, industrial society, public

Abstract: The subject of the present research is the perception of the musical-poetic discourse of Romanticism by the representatives of contemporary culture. The dominating theme in works created by romantic poets and composers is Love/Suffering aestheticized in the process of art representation. Another theme associated with Love/Suffering is Nature that was subjectively described by romantics depending on emotions felt by an author or a main character. Special attention is paid to peculiarities of the musical-poetic discourse as part of the social discourse of that age in general. In her research the author of the article has used the discursive analysis of lyrics of Schubert's romances (Lieder) which, on the one hand, are being viewed as part of the socio-cultural environment of those times and, on the other hand, analyzed from the point of view of universal values and concepts that make them relevant for a modern man. The emphasis is also made on peculiarities of this genre because it combines both music and poetry, moreover, their combination allows to achieve the integrity both poetry and music strive for. The scientific novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the musical-poetic works of romantics are being discussed as part of the discursive practices of those times and, at the same time, as having particular semantic dominants that have a universal meaning. The theme of Love/Suffering is such a dominant typical for the most popular artworks of that genre.  In her article Shapinskaya also provides a number of examples of interpretations of musical-poetic forms by famous performers as well as their opinions and thoughts on the matter. The author also analyzes the reaction of the modern audience, both prepared ones and beginners, regarding the musical-poetic discursive practices of romantics. It is concluded that musical-poetic works of those times are very important for our contemporaries who long for aesthetic values and emotions of Romanticism in the age of the cult of consumption and domination of popular culture. 

Keywords: poetry, aesthetics, culture, romanticism, discourse, value, genre, interpretation, music, emotion

Abstract: In his article Tokmachev discusses the painting manner of a Netherlandish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder. According to the author of the article, his style represents the shift in the consciousness of some Europeans from religious world view to the humanistic perception of the world. The present article was written as a preface of the author to the article on Bruegel's creative work published by an Italian art critic A. Bovey and translated by the author of the present article into the Russian language. The translation of A. Bovey's article is also included. The emphasis is made on the relationship between philosophy of neoplatonism which, according to the author, is similar to the Medieval and Renaissance worldview and painting styles and rationalism that replaced those in the Modern Period. The shift from neoplatonism to rationalism is viewed as the projection of the worldview from the multi-layer 'iconic space' of Chora (expression by A. Lidova and Jacques Derrida) to the empiric sensual diversity. Humanism is viewed as a post  apocalyptic stage of religious consciousness. According to the author, Bruegel's painting symbolizes the break from the traditional Catholic aesthetics and discovery of new Protestant aesthetics. Humanism and experimental natural sciences replaced mythology and metaphysics. However, such technological approach to art without metaphysics turns painting into photography and human into homunculus. 

Keywords: Renaissance, neoplatonism, iconic space, painting, Modern Period, epistrophe, apokatastasis, Last Judgment, Middle Ages, photography

Abstract: The paper is devoted to the typical features of music modality from the point of view of their harmonic imlementation. The purpose of the article is to demonstrate the features of modal harmony as a special type of musical thinking. The subject of the research is the peculiarities of the composition of folk and medieval modal moods. Based on the examples of the Catholic Church moduses, Russian folk songs and Indian traditional moods "tkhat" the author considers the logic of sound sequences and functional relationships within the modal moods. The author also analyzes the principles of the composition of the sequences of moods in the sound continuum, harmonic roles of their tones and ontological aspects of the modal mood. The research is based on the method of harmonic analysis and comparative analysis of the principles of modality and tonality of moods. For the purpose of interpreting modal moods as a type of thinking and aesthetic world view, the author has also appealed to the philosophical idea of the unity of substance and form postulated in modal ontologies. The novelty of the author's research is caused by the fact that the author applies the logical-ontological approach to the interpretation of harmonic phenomena and summarizes peculiarities of European, Russian and Indian moods as historical forms of modal thinking in music. In the course of the research the author has defined such features of harmonic modality as the impossibility of the unification of moods, reproduction of moods in a form of any number of sequences that potentially have different pitches of sound, folding of each sequence of modal functions and, on the contrary, performance of one and the same function at different levels. These qualities speak of particular plasticity of modal musical thinking within which such phenonena as the mood, melody (tune) and musical form tend to be indistinguishable.   

Keywords: modality, modal harmony, modal mood, tonality, modal thinking, raga, tkhat, modal variability, modus, modal integrity

Abstract: The article discusses the new book by Ekaterina Shapinskaya. The book consists of the two logically composed parts: the first part introduces a new understanding of art as the part of contemporary mass media communication and practice which the author calls "cultural production (industry)." In this context, great importance is gained by presentation including construction of interpretations of artwork and implementation of these interpretations into life (staging and performance). The author analyzes such central concept as "presentation" and "artistic production". The author also touches upon the problems that require further research: features of successful and questionable modernizations and differences between various types of cultures (Romanticism, Modernism, Postmodernism, Post-culture, etc.) and the nature of generalizations. The second part of the book is devoted to the analysis and intepretation of classical operas based on the proposed terms and differences. Shapinskaya analyzes both foreign and Russian sources and shares her own impressions regarding the matter. The methodological basis for Shapinskaya's research includes problematisation, comparative analysis of cultures, critics, creation of new terms and interpretations and implementation of the interdisciplinary approach based on philosophy of art. Rozin has used very similar methodology but applied these research methods to Shapinskaya's research. The research has allowed to define new concepts and problems described by Ekaterina Shapinskaya in her book. The author of the present article has emphasized the following two groups of such concepts and problems. The first group refers to a new understanding (picture) of art and the second group deals with particular reconstructions and commentaries of classical operas. The other result of the research is the statement of problems that require further research. 

Keywords: methodology, representation, interpretation, presentation policy, culture, post-culture, cultural production, modernization, generalization, lyrics