Balalaika: history, video, interesting facts, listen

Musical Instrument: Balalaika

If you are asked, what Russian folk musical instrument do you know? Undoubtedly, the balalaika, the most ancient and recognizable musical symbol of Russia, is immediately recalled. The instrument can rightly be called truly national: in its sound it seems that the Russian soul itself is heard - now distant and insatiable, now sad and thoughtful ...

The great Russian people liked to listen to the balalaika, among them: A. Pushkin, M. Lermontov, L. Tolstoy and M. Gorky.

P.I. Chaikovsky exclaimed: “What a beauty these balalaikas are! How good it is, how artistic and stylish! What a wonderful, transparent sound! I’m not even talking about the performance — it’s artistic, but the very timbre of the sound is amazingly interesting. What amazing effect can they give in the orchestra! By timbre are indispensable instruments. "

Balalaika astonishes foreigners by listening to the instrument, they do not understand how with the help of only three strings it is possible to perform not only folk, but complex classical works.

Here she is such a Russian balalaika, personifying Russian culture. Only three strings, but for the soul takes so that without hesitation, I want to start in a daring dance. Even sad melodies sound on her not so sad, and the funny name of the instrument speaks of a cheerful character and it comes either from the word balabolit - chattering, or from the word joker - jokes.

Sound

Balalaika has rich acoustic, performing and artistic merit. It sounds softly, gently, but very loudly. The timbre of the instrument is chamber, tender, intimate, and is distinguished by warmth and trepidation.

The source of the sound on the balalaika is strongly stretched flexible strings, clamping which in frets with the fingers of his left hand, the performer gets the desired pitch.

The main sound extraction is the striking and pinching of the strings, which, with various variations, are transformed into the performance techniques used by balalaika: pizzicato - single and double, saber, fraction, tremolo and vibrato.

The instrument has only three strings, which are tuned in an unusual way. The two lower strings sound the same - the sound "mi" of the first octave, and the top one - a quart higher, that is, the sound "la".

Balalaika Range from "mi" of the first octave to "to" the fourth.

A photo:

Interesting Facts:

• The balalaika is a very fashionable among foreigners souvenir from Russia, although the most popular is undoubtedly the matryoshka.
• One of the oldest balalaika, preserved in our time, and which is about 120 years old, is an exhibit of the museum of the city of Ulyanovsk.
• Balaiker - this is the name of the master making balalaikas.
• This tool is often mentioned in the works of Leo Tolstoy, Nikolai Gogol, Fyodor Dostoevsky and other great Russian writers.
• The imperial family played a very important role in the recognition of the balalaika. Alexander III initiated a trip to the Paris exhibition of the St. Andrew’s ensemble, as a result of which Europe saw and heard the balalaika for the first time. The success was overwhelming. In the 19th century, all soldiers were given a balalaika to raise their morale, which they left for themselves at the end of the service.

• In the United States of America there is an association of lovers of playing the balalaika and domra, and D. Flynn's book How to make a balalaika was in great demand and reprinted 9 times.
• On June 23, Russia celebrates Balalaika Day, established in 2008, after 320 years from the day of the first documentary mention of this instrument.
• In Japan, there is an orchestra called Tokyo Balalaika. It is formed on the model of the orchestra of Russian folk instruments, but only the Japanese participate in it.
• Balalaikas are played in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden in the orchestras of Russian folk instruments.
• In 2014, in connection with the 20th anniversary of the establishment of friendly relations, the People’s Government of the Chinese city of Harbin presented as a gift to its sister city, the Russian city of Khabarovsk, a giant sculptural composition displaying the symbolic tools of the cultures of the two peoples - Chinese pipa and Russian balalaika.

• Now in Russia, almost every city has its own ensemble or orchestra of Russian folk instruments, where the balalaika plays an important role. Of particular note are such ensembles as "The Bells of Russia", "Skomorokhi", "Art-Contrast", "Siberia", "Tula". As well as orchestras: "Velikorussky them. V. Andreev", "National them. N. Osipova", "Severstal", "Silver strings", "Blizzard" "Chimes" and others.
• She Kitagawa is a musician from Japan. In 2008, she became the first foreign balalaika player to win the international competition of Russian folk music in Yekaterinburg.

Design

Balalaika is a tool that sounds beautiful only when it is made by an experienced master who knows his work well.

Modern tool length which in total is from 60 to 70 cm., is made of pine wood and consists of a total of 70 parts.

Balalaika has three main parts - the body, neck and deck:

• The body, which has a triangular shape, performs the role of a resonator. It usually has 6 or 7 faces, made of segments, which are called rivets.
• The deck is the front part of the body, it has a vocal column - a flower shaped resonator. Above the vocal column is a protective device called shell. It protects the deck from shock during performance. The widest, lower part of the deck is 40 cm, the narrowest - the upper one is only 5 cm.
• The neck is the upper part of the instrument, usually made of ebony. On it are frets, the number of which varies from 16 to 31. The neck is completed with a spatula, on which is located the piercing mechanism necessary for stringing the strings. The strings are usually made of nylon or carbon, but sometimes metallic.

Varieties

The balalaika family has five types of tools:

1. Prima - leading or solo, clear voice, line: "mi", "mi", "la" of the first octave.
2. Second - accompanying, timbre slightly muffled, build: “la”, “la” small and “re” of the first octave.
3. Viola - accompanying, soft and juicy timbre, build: "mi", "mi", "la" of a small octave.
4. Bass - holds a bass line, low tone, deaf, system: "mi", "la" big and "re" small octave.
5. Double bass - creates a harmonic base, timbre low, deaf, system: "mi", "la" contraktavy and "re" of the big octave

Application and Repertoire

Improved at the end of the 19th century by amateur and expert in folk music V. Andreev and the team of his associates, the balalaika was used by professional musicians not only as a solo instrument, but also as an ensemble, and then as an orchestral one. Various groups were created which, with their concert performances, contributed to the recognition of the balalaika and its promotion to the masses.

At first, the balalaic repertoire was not distinguished by its originality, the musicians performed mostly various arrangements from classical musical literature. With the growing popularity of the instrument, the situation has changed a lot, composers such as M. Ippolitov-Ivanov, N. Rechmensky, Yu. Shishakov, N. Vasilenko, N. Budashkin and others create an interesting repertoire for the balalaika, which includes concerts, sonatas, suites and others. works of large form.

Artworks

S.N Vasilenko - Concert for balalaika with a symphony orchestra (listen)

Yu.N. Shishakov - "Lady" (listen)

N.P. Budashkin - "Troika" (listen)

Famous Performers

Unfortunately, the balalaika today is not very popular and only a narrow circle of admirers who are interested in folk music show interest in it. But we must not forget those people who have made an invaluable contribution to the improvement of this instrument and the development of its performing school. The very first who brought the balalaika, which had not yet undergone significant changes, were: I. Khandoshkin, N. Lavrov, I. Yablochkin, M. Khrunov, N. Lavrov, V. Radivilov on the concert stage. Virtuoso performance already on the improved balalaika delighted its listeners: V. Andreev, B. Troyanovsky, M. Rozhkov, V. Konov, M. Danilov, P. Necheporenko, A. Shalov, N. Osipov, D. Kalinin.

Currently, the most famous virtuoso performers who do a lot to maintain the popularity of the balalaika at home and abroad are A. Gorbachev, V. Konov, V. Boldyrev, V. Zazhigin, I. Bezotosny, M. Senchurov, E. Bykov, Yu. Shutov, A. Arkhipovsky (balalaika Paganini) and others.

Story

It is not known when the story of the balalaika began, although there are a lot of hypotheses about the origin. Some musicologists suggest that this is a native Russian instrument, others insist that it is borrowed from the Kyrgyz and its progenitor is dombra. And some believe that the instrument was adopted from the Tatars, at the time of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, but no one disputes that the balalaika appeared a long time ago and was one of the most beloved instruments that brightened the lives of ordinary people.

For centuries, the balalaika did not have a single form, it was round, triangular, even quadrangular and with a different number of strings.

In the 15-17 centuries in Russia, buffoon was very popular, amusing people who earned by amusing the population of villages and towns. They were regular participants of national holidays and festivals, and often in their speeches, to the accompaniment of various instruments, including balalaikas, topical social satire sounded. For this, clowns experienced repression from the authorities and the church, and in the 17th century, by a special decree of Prince Alexei Mikhailovich Tishayshiy, all the buffo tools were to be burned.

But some time passed, the king died, everyone quickly forgot about his decree, and the balalaika once again amuses the common people - peasants and urban artisans. From some sources, we learn that the perky timbre of the balalaika attracted the attention of the highest nobility. Peter I, Catherine II, Paul I - Russian emperors and their entourage did not deny themselves the pleasure of having fun with the perky sound of the instrument.

In the 18-19 centuries, the balalaika became a specially recognized folk musical instrument, but its design was imperfect. A significant contribution to the transformation of the instrument was made by a Russian nobleman Vasily Vasilyevich Andreev - an expert on Russian folk art, a balalaika virtuoso. He thought up a peasant instrument to give an unprecedented life, bringing it to the concert stage.

The first to whom the enthusiast addressed was the Petersburg violin-maker V. Ivanov, who, at the convincing request of Vasily Vasilyevich, made a new-type instrument. It was a balalaika of reduced size, with mortise frets, a body made of mountain maple, and ebony necks - the second birth of the instrument occurred.

The successful solo performances of V. Andreev on the updated instrument caused an unprecedented public response and contributed to an incredible increase in the popularization of the balalaika. But the musician didn’t stop at that; according to his drawings, the famous masters F. Passersky and S. Nalimov produced an even more advanced instrument. The form became triangular, the body was made of beech, and the deck was made of fir, which made the body of the balalaika the most resonant. Masters shortened the neck, inserted metal powders, changed the resonator hole, put the frets in the chromatic system, added caustic mechanics and established a permanent system, later called academic. Today we are used to seeing the balalaika in this form. In addition, the masters commissioned by V.Andreev constructed a whole family of instruments similar to the violin quartet, which included balalaika treble, piccolo (later obsolete), alto, second, bass, and double bass (balalaika of increased dimensions). All of them were three-stringed and had a quart system.

Such instruments later became the main ones in the musical ensemble organized in St. Petersburg by Vasily Andreev in 1887 under the name "Balalaika Circle Fans". The debut performance of the team took place in 1888 and was a great success. Then the ensemble toured triumphantly abroad, as a result of this tour the whole world recognized the balalaika. In 1896, the Balalaik Circle of Fans was transformed into the Great Russian Orchestra, which, speaking in many corners of the globe, glorified Russia and its national culture.

Throughout its history, the balalaika survived a lot: it was burned, but it rose from the ashes and triumphantly conquered Paris, it was forgotten, and she forced herself to remember. If earlier they played music on a balalaika sitting on the bench, now they put on a tail coat, and then they take this extraordinary instrument in their hands.

Russia and the balalaika are two words that are closely linked. The personification of Russian culture is what a balalaika is, it is ours, the real one. Having taken a firm place in the folk art, this instrument proved with dignity that it is capable of much more, and now the whole world applauds it.