FRICATIVE STRING
INSTRUMENTS
The lira, or relia, is a variant of the hurdy-gurdy, an instrument that
can trace its history back to the 10th
century. It is thought that the lira was introduced into Ukraine in the
17th century and served as an instrument to
accompany of religious psalms and epic ballads performed by wandering
blind musicians called 'lirnyky'.
Occasionally lirnyky were hired to play dance music at weddings. These
lirnyky often organized themselves into
guilds or brotherhoods with their own laws and secret language.
The traditional lira has three strings, one on which the melody is
played with the aid of a special
keyboard, the other two producing a drone of a fifth. The sound is
produced by a wooden wheel that is rotated by a
crank held in the right hand. This wheel rubs against the strings, setting
them in motion like a bow on a violin.
Several different types of chromatic liras have been produced in Ukraine,
however interest in the instrument has
declined considerably. Prominent contemporary performers on the lira
include Vasyl Nechepa and Mykhailo
Khai.
(No 20 Photo of lira owned by author)
Lira from unpublished book "Ukraintsi" p. 726
(No 22 photo of lirnyk)
The traditional fiddle has now been replaced by the standard violin,
however the folk tradition of playing
the instrument is still alive. The fiddle is a prominent instrument at
weddings, found in ensembles of troyista
muzyka that usually perform dance music. Fiddlers also play solo works of
a program type for listening. Many
traditional fiddles were very crude in construction, some being just
boards with strings attached. The Ukrainian
writer, Ivan Franko, said that "in Galicia one has to make the fiddle from
a pine tree struck by lightning. Then it
will be loud."
One of the most ancient bowed string instruments of the Eastern Slavs
is the hudok. The hudok had three
strings and was played with a bow. It was popular in the times of Kievan
Rus' where it is thought to have used
primarily for the playing of dance music. It was often used by the buffoon
musicians and accompanied by the husli.
An 11th century fresco on the walls of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev
shows a hudok player with a group of other
musicians. The instrument was approximately 80cm (31.5 in.) in length and
was balanced on the knee while it was
played. The back of the hudok was carved from a single piece of timber and
the three strings were bowed all at
once. Two of the strings providing a constant drone while a melody was
played on the third. The hudok was made
redundant by the violin and the lira and is no longer used in Ukraine.
No 23 Illustration (p 18) from Humeniuk p126
The basolia has now been replaced by the standard cello. Previously the
Basolia was these instruments
were homemade and of very rough construction, and usually had having only
three strings and usually being larger
than the standard cello. Sometimes the soundboard was sewn rather than
glued to the body. The basolia has now
been totally replaced by the standard cello.
The basolia was an instrument that was often ridiculed for its quality
of sound and the skill of the player.
All the same, wedding music without it was unthinkable. The basolia was
introduced into Ukraine from the West
after the fiddle had established itself, however, there are mentions which
date back to the 17th century in
descriptions of the wedding of Bohdan Khmelnytsky's son Yuri where an
orchestra containing this instrument
performed.
(No 24 illustration from Hrinchenko p 103)
Photo (p.19) Basolia (left) and a three-stringed alto fiddle
The kozobas is a bowed and percussive instrument that is popular in
folk ensembles in Western Ukraine.
It is a recently developed instrument and is basically a wooden pole
joined to a drum at one end with a cymbal
hanging from the other end. The drum membrane acts as the soundboard for
one or two strings strung from the
end of the pole to the end of the drum. The strings are played with a bow
that occasionally hits the cymbal hanging
from the other end of the pole. Recent developments include instruments
with four strings tuned like those of a
double bass.
No 25 Photo (p.20) Kozobas from Tovarystvo Ukraina
A musical oddity is the musical saw. It uses a violin bow to set the
saw blade into motion. The frequencies
of the vibrations from the saw blade are controlled by bend the blade of
the saw. It is in common use in the
Priashiv region in West Ukraine.
