The thesis studies ways of formation and development of music societies as one of the most important factors in European musical culture of XIX – early XX century. In the context of humanitarian interdisciplinary discourse are considered the basics of the formation of diverse musical, choral, cultural-educational societies in a historical perspective, beginning from the XVI century and mainly focusing on the culminating stage of their development in the ХІХ – early ХХ century. In this broader context stands out a specific example of Galician Musical Society, centred in Lviv, which serves for testing general principles of activity of similar cultural-educational, musical societies.
At the present stage the scientific interest to the little-known pages of musical life of the past in all its richness and diversity are expressed in numerous musicological and wider – in cultural studies of Ukrainian and foreign scientists. However, the activities of musical societies as very important social and cultural phenomenon, through which the transition from the guild circles, salon aristocratic music-making and spontaneity of spreading of musical art – to professional institutions, clear organization and optimal infrastructure of musical life, still has not become a subject to systematic interdisciplinary research in Ukraine; theoretical level of mentioned range of problems in art history also had not been sufficiently developed. This is due, primarily, to the long period of silencing of objective picture of musical culture, including such its important element as musical societies, using ideological considerations: «nationalist» or «bourgeois» vectors of their development, as well as deficiency of documentary-archival materials, which could be used to carry out an objective reconstruction of this important segment of musical life. However, in the modern humanistic science more clearly outlined is the need for an accurate scientific reconstruction of those processes and phenomena, which laid the foundation for important processes of social development and can be considered from historical, cultural, spiritual, artistic and aesthetic positions. This encompasses without a doubt also musical societies in the diversity of their variety, since they functioned as a cultural, educational, choral, specialized etc.
In the process of formation and development of musical societies the scope of their activities steadily expanded and acquired new socio-cultural functions according to the level of spiritual needs and demands of the society. This explains increasingly attracting professional musicians and consecutive course to the professionalization of all forms of musical life, that allows to recognize mentioned societies as a cultural phenomenon, a proof of intellectual and artistic maturity. From this position we treat all the activities of the Galician Musical Society (GMS), which can be comprehended as a generalization of typical for European cultural space principles of similar centres.
Based on the study and analysis of the historical, culturological, source studies materials, dedicated to the mentioned issues, had been outlined most important socio-cultural functions of the societies that offer new ways to represent the significance of the achievements at a certain historical stage of development. It was revealed that societies not only contributed to the expansion of the aesthetic world view of a broad democratic audience, but also acquired the social-patriotic direction. It was found that nation-unifying role of such cultural centers often served as the impetus for the deployment of the national liberation movements, on the way to gaining independence and establishing their own state. Thus, the music societies demonstrate not only their original purpose – to proliferate high art, but they appear as a perfect communicative tool that helps unification of the nation.
It was revealed that the diversity of functions of music societies can be divided for certain groups. The first group can be defined as cognitive, which involves educational activity, expansion and enrichment of musical and aesthetic mindset of its members as well as of the general public, educational-professionalizational work, creation of numerous musical and educational institutions including the conservatory, the last in this group is considered a stimulating function, which activates composing and performing creativity thanks to the support of societies. The second group – public-engaged, designed to ensure existential needs, we attribute to it a function of prestige of participation in societies, organizational, concert or philharmonic tasks, since societies became the precursors of professional institutions, entertaining and charitative. Last nation-creating group make a function of national identification, spiritual unity around religious traditions, compensatory, providing for the testing of the state models in the structures of societies, and informative
