Pagan holidays of ancient Russia. Gusli musical instrument

Hello, dear readers! Today in this short article we will talk about the Russian folk musical instrument gusli. Probably, this name is familiar to many, but not everyone has an idea about this stringed instrument, so let's get to know each other better.

Now few people know about such an ancient, surprisingly sounding instrument as a harp. It is mainly associated with the hero of the epic epic gusli Sadko. But at certain points in history they were very popular among the people.

They were distributed in the northern territory of Russia. Recently, during excavations, they were found in the cultural layers of the 11th century. Along with archaeological exhibits, you can also find real, “sounding” instruments. Nowadays, specialists studying folklore in the Russian outbacks find folk performers and bit by bit collect, once rich, material. In addition, at the beginning of the 20th century, academic harps were constructed. They moved folklore tradition northern lands of Russia into the walls of conservatories.

The root "ghusl" is in all Slavic languages. Accordingly, many other peoples have instruments similar to the harp. Since ancient times, two types of instruments have been known - pterygoid and helmet-shaped.

Pterygoid psaltery most often had from 6 to 9 strings tuned to diatonic, this number was quite enough to perform various tunes for pensions or dances. The resonator case was hollowed out from a single piece of wood, covered with a soundboard from a milestone, and stretched. In parallel, the version of the instrument is helmet-shaped with the number of strings of 20-25 pieces. They were made by gluing or gouging. Both tools have evolved and improved over time.

Currently, interest in this tool is steadily growing. At festivals and near folklore events, you can meet masters who arrange master classes in self-manufacturing harp. Genuine specimens are taken as the basis, and minimal shape adjustments are made in order to improve the sound. As a rule, these instruments are distinguished by their bright timbre and authentic form. In addition, manufacturers themselves provide initial lessons for mastering the game. Folklorists also adapt the material collected in the villages and create video lessons based on genuine folk tunes.

With the advent of the accessible Internet, it becomes possible for the gusli to reach the wider masses. Magic sound attracts any sophisticated listener Mastering the skills of playing is much easier than with other instruments because the basis educational material authentic folklore. This gives hope for a more extensive distribution of the harp not only in a narrow circle of professionals, but also in wide circle music lovers.

Gusli The origin of the word gusli Gusli is an ancient musical instrument. Thousands of years of human history have hidden from us both the age and place of their birth. AT different countries and at different peoples this instrument was called differently. Among the Slavs, the name of this instrument, I think, is associated with the sound of a bowstring. The same string that was pulled over the bow. AT ancient times the elastic string of the bow was called differently - "extinguished". Here is one of the hypotheses for the origin of the name of the instrument.

Gusli is a folk musical instrument. It comes from the word "hum". Buzz called the sound of the strings. They were in a horizontal position. The heroes Dobrynya Nikitich, Nightingale Budimirovich and the Novgorod guest Sadko played the harp. They were common among buffoons. In the 20th century, the harp was improved. The instrument acquired a triangular shape, the number of strings became constant

They played the harp while sitting, the instrument was placed in a slightly inclined position on their knees, resting its top on the chest. A melody was played on the high register strings, and homophonic-harmonic accompaniment and a bass bourdon were performed on the lower strings. The standing game was also practiced.

Gusli is a musical instrument, a variety of which is the harp. Also, the Greek psalter, the Jewish connor and the Armenian canon have similarities with the harp; these include: the Chuvash harp, the Cheremis harp, the clavier-shaped harp and the harp, resembling the Finnish kantele, the Latvian kukles and the Lithuanian kankles.

Production Usually made from an already processed board, sometimes from a wooden deck, which is split to the desired dimensions. The manufacturing technology is quite simple. It can be both pine and spruce, sometimes (in Siberia) - cedar. Previously, they also used, and sometimes now, apple and maple sycamore.

Strings The sound of the harp depends on the quality of the strings. On modern harps, the strings are made of wire made from special grades of steel. The strings differ in length and have a section from thin 0.30 mm to thicker 0.70 mm. AT this example the strings stretched on the harp do not have a stand, and their sound is gentle and ringing.

Playing Techniques The sound on the instrument is extracted in the following ways: rattling; alternately hitting the strings up and down with a plectrum; arpeggio - sequential extraction of sounds included in a chord, from low to high sounds, the same in reverse motion; glissando - fast sliding of a plectrum along open strings; tremolo - quick alternation of light blows with a plectrum on the strings, with a certain frequency, alternately down and up; pizzicato reproduction of individual sounds or chords by pinching the fingertips of the right or left hand; the extraction of chords is performed by blows of the pick down. The strike on the string is done more sharply and strongly, accentuating.

Gusliary Guslyar Egor Strelnikov was born in Ukraine, in the Zaporozhye region. From the very first concerts, he showed himself as a bright, original gusler-instrumentalist, a virtuoso-nugget! The element of sounding live strings of the harp, their magic and multi-timbre depth, the thirst to master all the subtleties and techniques of the game, led him to the class of the famous Russian master Dmitry Lokshin. The art of the instrumentalist gained even greater strength when he became a performer of spiritual chants and epics of Ancient Russia. Bright string imitation of bell ringing led him to the belfry Orthodox churches. And now, he is already the ringer of the St. Danilov Monastery in Moscow. AT concert activity, there is a meeting with associates Valery Garanin, Lyubov Basurmanova, Maxim Gavrilenko, Vasily Zhdankin and guitarist Ivan Smirnov. He takes an active part in festivals of sacred and traditional music. His cultural mission to Serbia at the beginning of 2005 turned out to be very important for the spiritual unity of the Russian and Serbian peoples, which resulted in the concert “Russians for the Children of Kosovo”. Singer-gusliar Andrey Baikalets. Came to Moscow on foot from ancient city Irkutsk, from the sacred waters of Lake Baikal. Guslyar-singer from the hinterland, from the thick of the people. His unexpected appearance was a joyful event for many. And his appearance is open, and the harp is sonorous, and the voice itself - all this harmoniously merging together, awakens the living pictures of antiquity. Spiritual songs, epics performed by him disturb, warm the soul, remain in memory for a long time. The abundance of his repertoire, the maturity of the Christian worldview are surprising. He knows what needs to be done, where to go and what awaits us ahead. In his songs, anxiety, an appeal sound, and at the same time, they contain hope, faith and love for one's neighbor. The most popular is his album "Paradise my Paradise". Valery Nikolaevich Tikhov () - an outstanding Russian Soviet performer on the harp, the creator of the original repertoire for this instrument, the organizer and creator of the harp class at the department folk instruments Leningrad Conservatory. The records were destroyed.

A report on music about the harp will briefly help you prepare for the lesson, and you will learn a lot useful information about it ancient instrument. The report about the harp can be supplemented with interesting facts.

A short message about the harp

What is gusli?

Gusli is the oldest plucked stringed musical instrument. In Russia, they mean a kind of recumbent harp. They existed on the territory of Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, Russia, Latvia, Poland, Estonia, Finland and others. European countries(where they had their original name). And in each country they had their own characteristics. Between themselves, they were similar to a fan of strings, a string holder, a peg row and a resonator under the strings along the entire length.

Gusli: a story for children

It is impossible to say exactly who invented the harp, and when it happened. In the history of the Finnish kantele, Slavic gusli, Latvian kokle, Estonian kannel, Lithuanian kankles, there are only guesses and assumptions. There are opinions that this stringed instrument came to us from China, where the string instrument guqin was known long before the birth of Christ. According to another version, lyre-like instruments were brought to their colonies by the Romans.

The Finns claim that the first kantele gusli were made by Weimemeinen, in Russia and Belarus, that the harp is a modernized "musical bow". Therefore, the confusion with assumptions is incredible.

In the Old Russian manuscript “The Tale of a Belarusian Man and Monasticism”, the author depicted in the letter “D” the figure of a king who played the harp. The shape of the body resembles a helmet. Subsequently, the shape of the resonator flat box changed: a trapezoidal shape appeared. With a decrease in the number of strings, wing-shaped harps also developed.

Back in the 9th century, they were made from dugout dry boards of maple or spruce. With the advent of metallic strings, the harp rang. Craftsmen have passed down the secret of tool making to their apprentices for centuries. Goose tunes and songs were loved to listen not only to ordinary residents, peasants, but also kings. However, the harp often spoke unflatteringly about the rulers in their songs. Therefore, there were persecutions of the harpists. Over time this plucked instrument turned from archaic into a stage professional instrument with a unique sound.

To date, every orchestra of folk instruments has plucked harp in its composition: keyboards and table-shaped ones. Their sound gives the orchestra the flavor of ancient chimes.

Gusli: types of instruments

There are such types of gusli:

• voiced. These are the simplest and most ancient harps. A trapezoidal or triangular box was placed on the knees when playing. The number of strings varied from 7 to 13. When the sonorous harp became part of symphony orchestra, then the flocks immediately see their shortcomings: a small range. Then it was decided to build a harp of different sizes.
• Plucked. Equipped with 60 strings that cover 5 full octaves. The musician plays the harp with both hands, simultaneously leading the melody on thin and bass strings. They can reproduce complex polyphonic works.
• Keyboards. This is the youngest type of harp that appeared in the twentieth century. They are created in 4 sizes: piccolo, prima, alto, bass. They produce a full, rich, pleasant sound.

How do harps sound?

This original instrument can produce a melodious and gentle voice, can convey the murmur of a stream and bird singing, portray a bell chime. The sound source is flexible stretched strings. Each of them is tuned to the desired sound pitch. It is removed with a mediator or fingertips. Different harps use their own sound extraction techniques: arpeggio, rattling, pizzicato, glissando, tremolo.

Gusli interesting facts

• The performer on the harp is called the harpist.
• Tsar Ivan the Terrible had an ensemble of guslists at court, which amused him.
• Patriarch of All Russia Nikon ordered in 1654 to burn all the psaltery in the state.
• The first song that was recorded with notes for the gusli was Ukrainian folk song"Oh pid cherry." Recorded in St. Petersburg French composer F. Boualde in 1803.
• In May 1945, the Guslist Ensemble performed on the steps of the defeated Reichstag in Berlin with a concert in honor of the victory.

Gusli. History of the ancient instrument

Gusli - ancient musical instrument. Thousands of years of human history have hidden from us both the age and place of their birth. In different countries and among different peoples, this instrument was called differently. Among the Slavs, the name of this instrument, I think, is associated with the sound of a bowstring. The same string that was pulled over the bow.

In ancient times, the elastic bow string was called differently - "gusla". Here is one of the hypotheses for the origin of the name of the instrument. And by attaching a hollow vessel to a string, we get a primitive musical instrument. So: strings and a resonator that amplifies their sound is the main principle of this plucked instrument.

Back in the 9th century, the Slavs surprised the kings of Byzantium with the harp. In those distant times, the psaltery was made from dugout dry boards of spruce or maple. Maple "Yavor" is especially loved by music masters. This is where the name of the gusli comes from - "Yarovchatye". And as soon as the strings began to be pulled from metal, the psaltery rang and began to be called "voiced".

The fate of this instrument has long been associated with the folk song and epic tradition. For centuries, craftsmen have passed on the secrets of making gusli. Goose tunes, songs of singers, were loved by both the people and the kings.

Today, every orchestra of folk instruments has a harp in its composition. The sound of these instruments gives the orchestra a unique flavor of ancient goose chimes.

Currently, interest in the harp has grown markedly. Modern guslars appeared - storytellers who set themselves the goal of recreating ancient tradition both playing the harp and singing to the harp.

Unfortunately, if you want to buy an instrument, you have to talk about small workshops in Russia, where the harp is very rarely made by individual copies. In the whole world, it seems to me, there is not a single factory where this unique instrument would be produced.

Varieties of gusli

1. Helmet-shaped gusli, or "psalter"

In contact with

Traditionally, there are several types of plucked gusli, which are interconnected by a common name, while they are different instruments.

Musicians who play the harp are called harpists.

Story

Gusli is a musical instrument, a variety of which is a harp, cithara, lyre, psaltery, zhetygen. Also, the ancient Greek cithara, the Armenian canon and the Iranian santur are similar to the harp. These include: Chuvash harp, Mari (Cheremis) harp, clavier-shaped harp and harp, resembling Finnish kantele, Latvian kokle and Lithuanian kankles.

There was a hypothesis that it was the cithara that was the ancestor of the harp, but in fact it is the ancient Greek branch of the evolution of the harp.

The heroes of the Russian epic epic play the harp: Sadko, Dobrynya Nikitich, Nightingale Budimirovich.

Researchers of the early 20th century noted the striking similarity of the contemporary Chuvash and Mari (Cheremis) gusli with images of this instrument in medieval Russian manuscripts.

For example, in the Missal of the XIV century, where in capital letter D is a man playing the harp, and in the Makarievskaya Chet-Mineya of 1542. In these images, the performers hold the harp on their knees and hook the strings with their fingers.

In exactly the same way, at the beginning of the 20th century, the Chuvash and Mari (Cheremis) played the harp. The strings of their harp were intestinal. Their number was not always the same.

The psalter-like harp is believed to have been brought to Russia by the Greeks, and the Chuvash and Mari (Cheremis) borrowed this instrument from the Russians.

The clavier-shaped harp, which was also found at the beginning of the 20th century mainly among the Russian clergy, was an improved type of psalter-shaped harp.

Kinds

Pterygoid (voiced)

Also called yarovchatye (from the word (white maple) - the type of wood from which the body of the harp is made, except for the spruce soundboard of the instrument). Historically, the very first types of gusli. As a rule, they are a solo or accompanying instrument to the singer's voice. They have a diatonic scale.

Helmet-shaped (harp-psalter)

Also known as helmet-shaped. The Russian population has fallen into disuse and is found only among the peoples of the Volga region. Psalter-shaped harps are in the form of a helmet or a hill and from 10 to 26 strings of the same tuning as those of the wing-shaped ones (lowered seventh step).

In Veliky Novgorod, on all five finds depicting musical instruments, there is an image of a musician (gudts) with an instrument like a helmet-shaped harp.

Lyre-shaped

They are also called gusli with a game window. They were distributed on the territory of Ancient Russia and Poland in the XI-XIII centuries (Novgorod, Staraya Russa, Gdansk and Opole). The earliest finds come from Novgorod and the Polish city of Opole, which date back to the 11th century.

A harp with a playing window has an opening in the upper part of the instrument (playing window). This feature makes this instrument related to other lyre-shaped instruments. Probably placed in the game window left hand the musician and fingers manipulated the strings (muted / plucked). With his right hand, the musician struck the strings closer to the tailpiece. During the game, the instrument was held vertically, with the lower end resting on the knee or on the belt. When playing on the move or while standing, he could rest against the thigh.

Stationary

Also clavier-like, rectangular and table-like. They have a chromatic scale. The instrument was created in the XVI-XVII centuries. based on the gusli voiced and helmet-shaped. It also existed as a portable instrument, which was laid horizontally on the knees of the harpist. Basically, it was distributed as a fixed instrument with the number of strings 55-66. Such harps were used in Russian homes of wealthy citizens, including among the clergy, which is why such harps were also called priestly.

Plucked

Plucked and keyboard harp can also be called academic or concert. The build and sound range of the plucked harp is the same as that of keyboard harp, but the technique of the game is more complex. The strings are plucked with both hands: the left creates an accompaniment for the melody played right hand. The strings are stretched in two planes: the gamma is located at the top A major, at the bottom of the rest of the sounds.

Keyboards

Created by N. P. Fomin in 1905 on the basis of rectangular harp. They are used in folk instrument orchestras mainly as an accompanying instrument for playing chords. With the left hand, the performer presses the keys, and with the right hand he plucks the strings with a leather pick, or, sometimes, without it.

Game technique

Voiced harp

The harp is played sitting or standing. When playing while sitting, the harp is kneeled with an edge, slightly tilted to the body. When playing while standing or during a procession, the harp is hung on a string or strap. The harp is placed on your knees or on the table.

Musical repertoire for the gusli is varied. The winged harp is characterized by the traditional game " to the songs" and " dancing», « under a fight". Playing along with songs is distinguished by smooth beats and the same rhythm, and all rhythmic patterns are performed by voice. Playing to the dance, on the contrary, is distinguished by a sharp and pronounced "marching" rhythm. The repertoire for the helmet-shaped harp included, first of all, the game of song melodies, but did not exclude the game for dancing and dancing.

Photo gallery

Useful information

Gusli (other Russian gusli, old Slav associated with buzzing)

What is gusli

Stringed musical instruments of various designs and origins, common in Russia. The most ancient Russian stringed plucked musical instrument is the lyre-shaped gusli. In ancient times, all stringed musical instruments could be called gusli.

Gusli can be called a purely Russian phenomenon. Although many Slavic peoples have musical instruments with similar names:

• gusle - among the Serbs and Bulgarians
• gusle, guzla, gusli - among Croats
• gosle - among Slovenes,
• guslić - among the Poles,
• housle ("violin") y Czechs.

However, these instruments are quite diverse, and many of them are bowed (for example, guzla, which has only one horsehair string).

On the five-stringed harp with a playing window, found in Novgorod at the Troitsky excavation site in 1975 in the layers of the middle of the 11th century, there is a Cyrillic inscription "Slovisha".

Setting

The harp is tuned diatonically with a decrease in the 7th step: Do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si flat-do. In ethnographic samples, several ways of tuning are known, including bourdon - constantly sounding strings during the game.

Bourdon setup:

1. for 9-string gusli (Pskov region) Sol-do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si flat-do;
2. for 9-string gusli (Novgorod, Pskov regions) B flat-do re-mi-fa-sol-la-si flat-do;
3. for 12-string gusli (Novosibirsk region) C-to-sol-to-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si flat-to-do;
4. for 5-string harp (Belgian musicologist Dr. Gutry, 17th century) ( Leningrad region) Do-fa-sol-si flat-do;
5. South Russian system (Voronezh, Kursk, Oryol provinces) Sol-si flat-do-re-mi.

Tuning the harps of the academic school (orchestras of folk instruments) - without lowering the seventh step: Do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si-do.

Clavier-shaped harp device

This instrument consisted of a rectangular resonant box with a lid, which rested on a table. On the resonance board, several round cutouts were made - golosnikov - and two concave wooden bars were attached to it.

Iron pegs were screwed into one of them, on which metal strings. The other beam played the role of a keeper, that is, it served to attach the strings. The clavier-shaped harp had a piano system, and the strings corresponding to the black keys were placed below the corresponding white keys on the piano keyboard.