"To understand the sound of the world is to live in harmony with it"
Graduated from of Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory the Piano Faculty.
Traineeship and teaching at musicological centers in the United States (Music School of Indiana University), Germany (Institute of Comparative Musicology and Documentation in Berlin), Switzerland (Centre of Studies of Music of Asia and Africa in Geneva), India (Academy Sangeet Natak in Delhi), Vietnam (Conservatory in Hanoi), Japan (University of Arts in Kyoto, Tokyo University of Arts, etc.).
Graduated from postgraduate course of the Department of Music History of the Theoretical and Compositional Faculty of Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory.
Associate Professor of the Theoretical and Compositional Faculty of Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory.
Candidate thesis on “Traditional Music of Vietnam and its Relations with Musical Cultures of the Far East and South-East Asia” was presented. Specialty “Musicology “.
Member of the Indian Music Congress.
Member of the International Society for Traditional Music.
Member of the Arab Academy of Music.
Member of the European Seminar of Ethnomusicologists.
Head of the Interuniversity Department “Musical Cultures of the World” (Institute of Asian and African Countries at Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU) – RUDN University.
Doctoral thesis on “Culture of Sound in Traditional Oriental Civilizations” was presented. Specialty “Theory of culture”.
Academic title of Professor was awarded.
Head of the Department of Theory and History of Culture of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of RUDN University.
Head of the new educational direction “Arts and Humanities”.
Member of the Coordinating Council and the Council of Educational and Methodological Association in the field of innovative interdisciplinary programs at St. Petersburg State University.
Member of the dissertation Council on Cultural Studies at Lomonosov Moscow State University.
Member of the dissertation Council on “Philosophy, Ethics and Religious Studies" at RUDN University.
The diploma of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation was awarded. Labour veteran.
Teaching
1. Forty years of teaching experience at leading higher educational institutions of Moscow (Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Gnessin State Musical Pedagogical Institute (GMPI), Institute of Asian and African Countries at Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU), Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH), Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University).
2. Lecture course for bachelors and masters of the direction “Arts and Humanities”:
- “Basics of Musical Culturology”
- “Musical Culture of world Civilizations”
- “Popular Music and Theory and Practice of Show Business”
- “Basics of American Music”
- “Musical Culture of the Far East”
- “Musical Traditions of the Middle East”
- “Musical Traditions of South and South-East Asia”
- “World Musical Heritage”
- “Music Business: Russian and Foreign Experience”
- “Classical musical”
- “Culturology”
Science
- A systematic approach to the study of the phenomenon of sound/music as a universal typological model that can act as a “cultural code” of a civilization and reflect a certain model of worldview, political and ideological structure of the state, the socio and cultural specificity of ethnic groups was proposed. Scientific developments make it possible to predict the current trends and socio and cultural dynamics of the world musical cultures.
- On the basis of independently collected materials in expeditions in India, Vietnam, Japan, Iran and Iraq scientific research on the typology of musical cultures of world civilizations was conducted and the impact of contemporary global processes on the development of musical activity of the person was analyzed. Was shown that there was a civilization where the very sound work is defining in musical culture. In China sound is the fundamental principle of the Universe, it is symbolically connected with the five elements (water, fire, wood, metal, earth). In ancient Indian concepts the sound is thinner than the ether (akasha) and any matter. For nomadic peoples sound is an instrument of human habitation of the surrounding space (boundless steppe), its diverse location, communication with the animal world.
- For the first time in scientific practice of Russian Music Culturology an attempt at determining the structure of the architectonics of the musical culture of South-East Asia, analyzing the topos of the meanings of the phenomenon of the sound, symbolism of sound and music civilization codes and character of sound and music expression was made. For the first time in ethnological practice the concept “bronzofon” was introduced, the famous bronze drums and gongs are considered, first of all, as sounding units with special acoustic properties; analyzing the prevailing around them sacred and mystical symbols that have long been established in the cultural practice of the peoples of the region the timbre image of most of its musical traditions was determined.
- An opinion that peoples of South-East Asia chose bronze for the production of sound units, because this material allowed to achieve bright, audible over long distances, wave-like sound, which cannot not be extinguished either by sounds of the jungle or by the sound of the sea waves was given. The symbolic content of the bronze drum lies in its shape - a sense of the receptacle of macro and microcosm. On the basis of the studies an assumption about the physiological effects of the sound of the Gong was made. The Gong ensemble is not an ensemble for hearing. It is used by local people, first of all, as a means of immersion in a special psycho-emotional state.
- Together with the composer and musicologist G. K. Mikhailov of Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory new scientific directions were developed: “Musical Culturology” and “Sonology of Culture”, allowing to consider in a different perspective the phenomena of different musical cultures of the world. The essence of approaches is to recognize the sound phenomena as primary in constructing a model of musical culture; the sound reflects in ethical, aesthetic, philosophical exercises on various regional civilizations, and also in mythology and cosmogony, and is regarded as ontologically self-sufficient substance that is organizing the world space and time.
- Vasilchenko E. V is the author of 10 textbooks (2 with the stamp of the Educational and Methodical Association), more than 100 publications in regional, Central Russian and foreign publications, journals “Observatory of Culture”, “Vestnik RUDN on Philosophy”, “Culture and Civilization”, “Burganov House. Space of Culture”, etc., publications in Vietnamese, Arabic, English, as well as three monographs:
- Vasilchenko E. V. Sound - musical instrument - the human voice in the civilizations of the Far East and South-East Asia. Russian. Dep. in INION RAS № 52626 from 13.05.97.
- Vasilchenko E. V. Musical cultures of the world. Culture of sound in traditional Eastern civilizations: Monograph. – M., 2001.
- Vasilchenko E. V. Sound-music in the system of culture of world civilization. Monograph. M.: Publishing house RUDN, 2008.
Scientific interests
- - phenomenon of sound in the system of culture of world civilizations;
- Sonology of culture;
- typology of world musical cultures - South and South-East Asia, Far East, Middle East, USA and Asia-Pacific region;
- gender processes in world cultures - South and South-East Asia, Far East, Middle East, Central Asia;
- global processes in the development of human sound and music activity;
- ontological aspects of sound perception;
- world modelling, symbolic, semantic and other levels of musical texts;
- universals and archetypes of musical culture;
- place of sound and music in the system of expressive means (dance, poetry, theater, painting).