Bandura, the Russian guitar

Russian music

bandura is a string instrument very popular in musical history Ukrainian. It combines elements of the zither and the lute, which is based on its predecessor, the kobza. It usually has 12 to 68 strings. The musicians who play it are called banduristas.

The first mention of the term bandura dates from a Polish chronicle of 1441, which establishes that the Polish king Sigismund III had this instrument that was known as Taraszko originating from the Ruthenian ethnic group (Ukraine).

The term bandura is generally believed to have entered the Ukrainian language through Poland, either from Latin or from the Greek pandora or pandura, although some scholars consider that the term was introduced into Ukraine directly from the Greek language.

Until the invention as an instrument is attributed to Francesco Landini, an Italian lute player and composer of the Trecento. Similar instruments have been documented as having existed in Ukraine in the previous century.

In the hands of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, the bandura underwent major transformations, due to the development of a specific repertoire. Due to the main role as an instrument for the accompaniment of the voice, the construction and technique was adapted in order to better suit these functions.

In this way, special schools were established for blind bards, laying the groundwork for a class of itinerant musicians known as the kobzares. By the 18th century, the instrument had evolved into a form with approximately four to six strings strung along the neck (with or without frets) and a maximum of sixteen treble strings known as prystrunky strung in a diatonic scale on the case. resonance.

The bandura existed in this form relatively unchanged until the end of the 19th century.


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