What is a bandurria?
The bandurria is a plucked chordophone from Spain, similar to the mandolin, primarily used in Spanish folk music, but also found in former Spanish colonies. Prior to the 18th century, the bandurria had a round back, similar or related to the mandore.
How many strings does a bandurria have?
Prior to the 18th century, the bandurria had a round back, similar or related to the mandore. It had become a flat-backed instrument by the 18th century, with five double courses of strings, tuned in fourths.
What is an orchestral bandura?
Orchestral banduras were first developed by Leonid Haydamaka in Kharkiv 1928 to extend the range of the bandura section in his orchestra of Ukrainian folk instruments. He developed piccolo- and bass-sized instruments tuned, respectively, an octave higher and lower than the standard Kharkiv bandura.
Do they still play bandurria in Peru?
In Lima, Peru, the harp and bandurria duos were common used during the early 20th century. Today, people in Peri still play bandurria and they often accompany it with the popular vals criollo or vals peruano.
What is the function of bandurria?
Bandurria. Pear-shaped body with a round sound hole, the bandurria is the mainstay of the group. This instrument usually carries the main melody and plays melodies and counterparts. Bandurrias may be divided into first, second, and third, each one playing a different part.
What is bandurria and laud?
The bandurria and laud are Spanish folk citterns which have 12 metal strings which are tuned in pairs. A cittern is a European fretted instrument with a teardrop shaped body, pairs of metal strings and a flat as opposed to a dome shaped back.
Where is bandurria Philippines?
This instrument most likely evolved in the Philippines during the Spanish period, from 1521 to 1898. The Filipino bandurria (also banduriya) is used in an orchestra of plucked string instruments called rondalla. It is tuned a step lower than the Spanish version, that is, low to high: F# B E A D G.
How many instruments are played in a bandurria?
I play the bandurria—a 14-string traditional Filipino instrument that is similar to the mandolin. It is one of five instruments that comprise the rondalla, a musical ensemble of string instruments—the bandurria, the octavina, the laud, the guitar, and the bass.
How many frets does a bandurria have?
The fingerboard has 12 fixed metal fre ts, and the instrument is traditionally played with a short, hard plectrum. The bandurria, which is used in many styles of folk and popular music, was known in 16th-century Spain and traveled to Latin America; it is still used in Peru.
What is a stringed instrument?
Stringed instrument, any musical instrument that produces sound by the vibration of stretched strings, which may be made of vegetable fibre, metal, animal gut, silk, or artificial materials such as plastic or nylon. In nearly all stringed instruments the sound of the vibrating string is amplified….
What is a lute in music?
lute. Lute, in music, any plucked or bowed chordophone whose strings are parallel to its belly, or soundboard, and run along a distinct neck or pole. In this sense, instruments such as the Indian sitar are classified as lutes. The violin and the Indonesian rebab are bowed lutes, and the Japanese…. Stringed instrument.
What is a bandurria guitar?
It has a built and design that is derived from the guitar and cittern. Today, the bandurria is often made with a small and pear-shaped wooden body, it also has a flat back and a short neck, with five to seven paired sequences of strings that are hitched to a guitarlike bridge. The bandurria’s strings are typically tuned in fourths which gives ...
What is the bandurria in the Philippines?
In the Philippines, they have a 14-string bandurria that is often used in several Philippine folkloric songs. This harp bandurria has 16 frets and a shorter neck compared to the typical the 12-string bandurria. Since the Philippines was colonized by Spain for almost 300 years, most experts believe that the bandurria was bought by the Spaniards and evolved in the Philippines from 1521 to 1898. In the Philippines, the bandurria is often used in an orchestra of plucked string instruments they call the rondalla.
What is the name of the Spanish dance called?
Aside from that, Bermudo he also mentioned some other types of mandurria that has four or even five strings. The Spanish dance called zapateo, is a dance that is derived from the Spanish zapateado, this was popularized tobacco cultivators who came from the Canary Islands. In order to do this dance properly, it is accompanied with a bandurria along with some other instruments during the 1900s.
What is a bandura?
Gusli. A bandura ( Ukrainian: банду́ра) is a Ukrainian, plucked string, folk instrument. It combines elements of the zither and lute and, up until the 1940s, was also often referred to by the term kobza. Early instruments (c. 1700) had 5 to 12 strings and similar to the lute.
What is the bandura repertoire?
Up until the 20th century, the bandura repertoire was an oral tradition based primarily on vocal works sung to the accompaniment of the bandura. These included folk songs, chants, psalms, and epics known as dumy. Some folk dance tunes were also part of the repertoire.
How many strings does a bandura have?
These instruments usually have some 12-20-23 strings, tuned diatonically (4-6 bass strings and 16-18 treble strings known as prystrunky ).
How many bandurists were deported from Ukraine?
A significant number, approximately 30-50 bandurists, were also deported to Siberia from Western Ukraine. By the 1960s, total Communist Party control of the bandura art was achieved. A period of feminisation of the bandura took place where males were not accepted into conservatory courses to study the bandura.
When did banduras become popular?
From 1923, there was a period of tolerance to Ukrainian language and culture existed whilst Soviet power was entrenched in the country. During this time the popularity of the bandura grew considerably. The bandura underwent significant changes in the 20th century, in construction, technique and repertoire.
What instrument did the Cossack Mamay play?
The mythical Cossack Mamay playing a kobza-bandura. Up until the mid 18th century, the instrument known as the bandura had frets and was played in a manner similar to the lute or guitar. The instrument was similar to the German bandore with usually 5 single courses strung along the neck.
Who was the bandurist in the Polish king?
The earliest mention of the term bandura dates back to a Polish chronicle of 1441, which states that the Polish King Sigismund III had a court bandurist known as Taraszko who was of Ruthenian (Ukrainian) ethnicity and was also the king's companion in chess. A number of other court bandurists of Ukrainian ethnicity have also been recorded in medieval Polish documents.
Overview
The bandurria is a plucked chordophone from Spain, similar to the mandolin, primarily used in Spanish folk music, but also found in former Spanish colonies.
Instrument development
Prior to the 18th century, the bandurria had a round back, similar or related to the mandore. It had become a flat-backed instrument by the 18th century, with five double courses of strings, tuned in fourths. The original bandurrias of the Medieval period had three strings. During the Renaissance they gained a fourth string. During the Baroque period the bandurria had 10 strings (5 pairs).
The modern bandurria has 12 strings (6 pairs). The strings are tuned in unison pairs, going up in fourths from th…
Variations and uses in different parts of the world
Juan Ruiz first mentioned the term "mandurria" in the 14th century in his "Libro De Buen Amor." After that, Juan Bermudo gave the description of the bandurria in his "Comiença el libro llamado declaraciõ de instrumentos" as a three-string instrument in 1555, but he also mentioned other types with four or even five strings. In the early 1870s, a child's wake was accompanied with the bandurria music in Jijona, Alicante Province. The zapateo, a dance derived from the Spanish z…
Notable players and music
• Javier Mas "Tamiz".
See also
• Rondalla
• Laúd
• Octavina
• Music in the Philippines
• Music of Peru
Bibliography
• Sparks, Paul (2003). The Classical Mandolin. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195173376.
Overview
A bandura (Ukrainian: банду́ра) is a Ukrainian, plucked string, folk instrument. It combines elements of the zither and lute and, up until the 1940s, was also often referred to by the term kobza. Early instruments (c. 1700) had 5 to 12 strings and similar to the lute. In the 20th century, the number of strings increased initially to 31 strings (1926), then to 56 strings – 68 strings on modern 'concert' instruments (1954).
Etymology and terminology
Banduras are first recorded in a Polish chronicle of 1441, which mentioned that Sigismund III, king of Poland, employed the Ruthenian Taraszko at court to play the bandura and be his chess companion. Medieval Polish manuscripts recorded other court bandurists of Ukrainian descent.
The term bandura is generally thought to have entered the Ukrainian language via Polish, either from Latin or from the Greek pandora or pandura; some scholars believe the term was introduced directly from Greek.
History
The use of lute-like stringed instruments by Ukrainians dates back to 591. In that year, Byzantine Greek chronicles mention Bulgar warriors who travelled with lute-like instruments they called kitharas. There are iconographic depictions of lute-like instruments in the 11th-century frescoes of Saint Sophia's Cathedral, the capital of the vast medieval kingdom of Ruthenia. It is not known by what specific term these instruments were referred to in those early times, although it has bee…
Construction
The back of a traditional bandura is usually carved from a solid piece of wood (either willow, poplar, cherry or maple). Since the 1960s, glued-back instruments have also become common; even more recently, banduras have begun to be constructed with fiberglass backs. The soundboard is traditionally made from a type of spruce. The wrest planks and bridge are made from hard woods such as birch.
Ensembles
The premier ensemble pioneering the bandura in performance in the West is the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus. Other important bandura ensembles in the West that have made significant contributions to the art form are the Canadian Bandurist Capella and the Hnat Khotkevych Ukrainian Bandurist Ensemble.
Numerous similar ensembles have also become popular in Ukrainian centres, with some small ensembles becoming extremely popular.
See also
• Bandora
• Bandurria
• Kobza
• Ukrainian folk music
Further reading
• Diakowsky, M. A Note on the History of the Bandura. The Annals of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the U.S. 4, 3–4 no. 1419, N.Y. 1958, С.21–22
• Diakowsky, M. J. The Bandura. The Ukrainian Trend, 1958, no. I, С.18–36
• Diakowsky, M. Anyone can make a bandura – I did. The Ukrainian Trend, Volume 6
External links
• Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus
• Folk Bandura Online