The lira, or relia, ( uk, ліра) is a
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
variant of the
hurdy-gurdy
The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vio ...
, an instrument which can trace its history back to the 10th century. Regarding the origins of the lira in the region there are two schools of thought:
# The lira is an evolution of the medieval bowed
lira
Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the local name of the currencies of Lebanon and of Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, including those of Italy, Malta and Israe ...
of the Byzantine Empire, ancestor of most European bowed instruments. The Byzantine lira was possibly introduced into Ukraine through the various
trade routes to Byzantium.
# The lira was introduced into Ukraine in the 17th century by
Cossacks
The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
who had fought in France as mercenary soldiers.
The lira was used as an instrument to accompany religious psalms, kants and epic ballads (known as ''
dumy'') performed by itinerant blind musicians called
lirnyky ]
The lirnyk (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: лірник; plural лірники - lirnyky) were itinerant Ukrainians, Ukrainian musicians who performed religious, historical and epic songs to the accompaniment of a Lira (Ukrainian instrument), l ...
(sing. lirnyk). Occasionally lirnyky were hired to play dance music at weddings. They often organized themselves into
Kobzar guilds, guilds or brotherhoods with their own laws and a secret language known as
Lebiy.
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 which is rotated by a crank held in the right hand. This wheel rubs against the strings, setting them into vibration like a bow on a violin.
A number of different types of chromatic liras have been produced in Ukraine. In recent times interest in the instrument has increased considerably.
Present day makers of the lira include
Serhii Perekhozhuk,
Serhii Pavlychenko (Hrytsko), and
Jurij Fedynskyj.
See also
*
Bandurist
A banduryst ( uk, бандури́ст) is a person who plays the Ukrainian plucked string instrument known as the bandura.
Types of performers
There are a number of different types of bandurist who differ in their particular choice of instrumen ...
*
Hurdy-gurdy
The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vio ...
*
Kobzar
A ''kobzar'' ( ua, кобзар, pl. kobzari ua, кобзарі) was an itinerant Ukrainian bard who sang to his own accompaniment, played on a multistringed bandura or kobza.
Tradition
Kobzars were often blind and became predominantly so b ...
*
Lirnyk ]
The lirnyk ( Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: лірник; plural лірники - lirnyky) were itinerant Ukrainian musicians who performed religious, historical and epic songs to the accompaniment of a lira, the Ukrainian version of the hurd ...
*
Ukrainian folk music
Ukrainian folk music includes a number of varieties of traditional, folkloric, folk-inspired popular music, and folk-inspired European classical music traditions.
In the 20th century numerous ethnographic and folkloric musical ensembles were e ...
Sources
* Mizynec, Victor - ''Folk Instruments of Ukraine'' - (Bayda books, Australia 1987)
* Cherkaskyi, L. - ''Ukrainski narodni muzychni instrumenty'' // Tekhnika, Kyiv, Ukraine, 2003 - 262 pages.
* Margaret J. Kartomi - ''On Concepts and Classifications of Musical Instruments''. Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology, University of Chicago Press, 1990
{{Authority control
Ukrainian musical instruments
Kobzarstvo
Hurdy-gurdies