HUMANITARIAN POWER OF CULTURE AND THE LIMITS OF MUSICAL ART AUTONOMY IN PROFESSIONAL MUSIC EDUCATION

Abstract

This article examines the place of musical art within the humanitarian hierarchy of culture and questions the widespread assumption of its full autonomy in the context of professional music education. The central argument is that culture functions as a humanitarian metasystem that precedes and conditions artistic practices, while music operates as a subordinated yet highly expressive form of cultural discourse. From this perspective, values, meanings, and ideals articulated through music are not immanent musical properties but culturally constructed coordinates that shape artistic sense-making. The study aims to conceptualize the limits of musical autonomy by situating music education within broader cultural power relations that define normative horizons of interpretation, evaluation, and legitimation. Methodologically, the research relies on philosophical and cultural-theoretical analysis, drawing on interdisciplinary approaches from cultural philosophy, aesthetics, and the humanities. The article advances the idea that professional music education serves as a key institutional mechanism through which cultural priorities are stabilized and transmitted, thereby reinforcing the humanitarian authority of culture over artistic forms. By reframing music education as a space of cultural mediation rather than purely artistic self-realization, the paper contributes to contemporary debates on the role of the humanities in shaping artistic consciousness. The results open perspectives for further research on cultural authority, symbolic power, and the reconfiguration of artistic autonomy within modern educational systems.