Music as an Identity Saver and Its Consequences in Cognition and Behavior

The substance and meaning of identity has far-reaching consequences in the humanities, in social sciences, arts, and music, as well as in many other research programs. It is a basic aspect in defining societies, ethnic groups, nations, lands, regions, and different cultural entities. It offers possibility to identify and characterize different cultural phenomena, their origin, historical background and presence. Musicology has different strategies to overcome the problem of identity, especially by comparison, style analysis, and classification procedures. Language and music as special forms of communication belong to most effective criteria influencing our cultural tradition, social consciousness and behavior. Some examples are presented concerning the development of liturgical and non-liturgical music (Gregorian chant), the unifying musical tendencies in reformatory movements in the 15th and 16th centuries, in the case of social and ideological changes throughout of Europe, in the 18th and 19th century etc. In the last decades much attention is given to concepts of continental and cultural identity, the Asian, African, European, Latin American one etc. Folk music, traditional music and national music are important elements in achieving and building identity feeling and representing it inside and outside of the societies. Musical instruments are often understood as national symbols, with their special shape,form, function, playing mode, national repertory being an integral part of the cultures and their identity.