Some authorities believe that the term kobza may have been introduced from the East, because a number of these peoples have instruments with similar names, such as the Kobuz. The introduction of this term is dated to the 13th century. Apart from the instruments with similar names, there are other cultural elements that are also similar which lends credibility to this theory. The Georgians have a patron saint who dates back to the 6-7th centuries with Eastern features who rides a Lion. He is known there as St Mamont or St Mamai.⁷

Illustration: Kozak Mamai playing a kobza

Similarities between this personage and the Ukrainian Cossack Mamai paintings are apparent. Both have eastern facial features, sit on the ground in "Turkish fashion" with legs crossed or ride animals. The Georgian Mamai, in comparison to the Ukrainian Mamai however, does not play an instrument.

Some authorities have come to the conclusion that because the word kobza may have entered the Ukrainian language from the East, the instrument did also. Although this may be possible, an alternative seems more convincing. It seems improbable that a developed and cultured civilization such as that of Kyivan Rus would not have known of the existence of musical instruments, especially of string instruments, and would have had to rely on the relatively late arrival of such an instrument in the 13th century.

However, we know that new words and concepts are readily absorbed especially as the need for differentiation of terms becomes apparent. It is known that a large group of Abkhaz people such as the Cherkeses, Karbardynites and Ossentites settled in the Poltava region of Ukraine in the years 1397-1430 and were soon absorbed into the surrounding population. They are often referred to as Polovtsi and later became totally assimilated. Originally they were from the Caucasus and had a highly developed language and literature, which left a great imprint on the language and the traditions of the surrounding population. This settlement coincides with the first use of the word Kobza in texts.⁸

In the contemporary language spoken by the Abkhazian peoples who presently reside in Georgia, the word for river is DON. One will also notice that most of the names of rivers which flow into the Black Sea have this word as their root: i.e. DON, DINETZ (Donetz), DNIPR (Dnepr), DNISTR (Dnestr) and DUNAI (Danube, Donau). In a similar fashion many other words were borrowed.

The word KOB- meaning man-made empty shell or container, and UZ - meaning to do oneself or play oneself, in combination define the kobza well. In addition to this linguistic relationship, the Abkhaz people also share a belief with the Georgians in the mythical Saint Mamai.

The Ukrainian musicologist and writer Hnat Khotkevych wrote: "History has shown us that all nationalities and ethnic groups, have, from the beginning of time, had some sort of lute-like instrument, which had a body, a neck, and strings strung across it. The body varied considerably, being made in different shapes and sizes, and the number of strings differed also, but this did not alter the basic character of the instrument. This is what the people around us had. This was our Kobza."⁹ A lute-like protokobza existed in Ukraine as early as, and possibly earlier than, the 6th century. At that time it was possibly known under a general generic term for a string musical instrument such as husli or gusli. The word gusli comes from the ancient Slavic term for a string - gosl. The Ukrainians later borrowed the term kobza to allow them to distinguish the lute-like instrument from the psaltery, or from the bowed variety of string instrument. The term gusli or husli survives in a number of other Slavic languages in terms related to stringed musical instruments. In Western Ukraine the Lemkos designate the term husli for the violin, while in Poland the word for violin is gesli, in Slovakia it is housle or husle, in Serbia it is husla. In Czech hudba means music, in Croatian gusle is a single stringed bowed instrument, whilst gudok or hudok is a bowed string instrument with 3 strings previously played in both Russia and Ukraine. The word is also used for lute-like instruments of the mandolin type such as the goslje in Slovenia.¹⁰

THE KOBZA

As happens with most instruments, the kobza underwent many modifications. One of the more successful and lasting ones was the appearance of the treble strings called prystrunky, which were strung across the side of the body, as opposed to those strung across the neck. It is thought that their addition was influenced by the Ukrainian psaltery known as the husli and was an attempt at combining the principles of both instruments into a universal one.

The period of the appearance of the treble strings on the bandura is also marked the introduction of homophonic music to the region, and the kobza-bandura began to adapt itself to the role of an accompanying instrument. At this time (1550-1750) there were three different instruments existing side by side:

1) The fretted kobza

2) The fretted kobza with prystrunky.

3) The kobza without frets but with prystrunky

With time of course, certain instruments became standard whilst others were disregarded. In order to differentiate the kobza with the prystrunky from the kobza without prystrunky a new term was introduced in Ukraine. This was the word bandura. The term bandura was now applied specifically to the kobza with prystrunky. The old terminology was not disregarded entirely however, as even today the word kobza is often used as a synonym for the bandura.

Photo: A copy of the kobza played by kobzar O. Veresai

The German historian Rigelman¹¹ (1750) notes the differences between the two instruments and states that "in the (Ukrainian) towns they played the bandura, whilst in the villages they played the kobza." This comparison seems natural when one considers the fact that in the more traditional villages the kobza would have been played longer as villagers were usually more conservative, whilst townsfolk readily accepted new ideas.

THE BANDURA

The term Bandura has a clouded origin. Similar names have been used in other countries such as England (Bandora), Spain (Bandurria), Italy (Pandora), Germany (Bandore) and Portugal (Bandurra), but in each of these countries the instruments lack one important item - the treble strings called prystrunky. To this day the bandura is the only instrument where the prystrunky play a dominant role in it's performance¹². Recent information of the existence of the bandura and bandurists in Ukraine before 1562 seems to disprove the theory, still quoted today, which was formulated by the Russian musicologist O. S Famintsyn, in his book "The domra and other related instruments ...."(1881)¹³, that the Ukrainians initially borrowed the kobza from the East and the bandura from the West, specifically from England.¹⁴ Moreover, the English Bandora was in fact invented by a London violin maker, John Rose, in 1562 and seems to have little in common with the Ukrainian bandura.¹⁵

THE BANDURA IN POLAND

(1300-1700)

Recently it has been discovered that there are mentions of the bandura used in the Polish King's Capella which date back to as early as 1325-9¹⁶, and other sources mention a court bandurist in Kracow named Tarashko Rafal around 1441.¹⁷

The fact that bandurists existed before 1580 is corroborated by other sources which state that during the reign of Sigismund the Elder (1506-48) amongst the instrumental soloists at the court, there was a Ukrainian Bandurist who was also the Kings chess partner.¹⁸

Another source mentions under the date 1500 another Ukrainian bandurist named Churylo.¹⁹

The bandurists who were in the employ of the Polish court rose to prominence in other parts of Europe as well. Some of these also played the lute, whilst one in particular - Voitashko Dovhohrai (Voitsek Dlugorai 1550-1619) left us a number of compositions in the form of lute tablatures which were published in various collections in the 1600's.²⁰

THE BANDURA IN MUSCOVY

(1654-1770)

Apart from those employed in the courts of Poland, after the treaty of Pereyaslav in 1654, bandurists became popular in the courts of the gentry and Tsars of Russia. Timothy Bilohradsky was employed in the court of count Kaiserling and traveled in 1733 to Berlin where he gave concerts and took lessons from the renowned lutanist Sylvius Leopold Weiss (1686-1750) in Dresden. In 1738 he return to St Petersburg.²¹

In 1731 the bandurist Hryhory Liubystok escaped from the court of Tsarina Elizabeth, but he was later apprehended in Ukraine and brought back. To entice him to stay he was awarded the patent of nobility with the honorary title of colonel.²²

It is at this time, that is the first half of the 18th century, that the bandura enjoys a period of widespread popularity amongst the gentry in Petersburg, and musical Instrument shops such as the one owned by the luthier Enkolm (1740) often had banduras in stock or listed in their catalogs.²³

In 1738 a special music school was set up in Ukraine in the city of Hlukhiv, (now in Chernihiv province Ukraine,) to educate musicians for the Muscovite court. It was the first music school of its kind in Eastern Europe, and had 20 people in attendance. 17 students, a conductor and 2 teacher instrumentalists - one to teach husli and the bandura, and the other to teach violin from music.²⁴

This is important as it speaks of a written tradition rather than the oral tradition of playing the bandura which is what survived into the 20th century.

THE TORBAN

It is at the zenith of popularity of the bandura that a new instrument called the Torban or "gentleman's bandura" made its appearance. The torban differed from the bandura in that its body was glued from sections or ribs like that of the lute or mandolin, whereas the bandura, like its predecessor, the kobza, is carved from a solid piece of wood. It had two pegboxes at the end of the neck to allow a second set of bass strings to be strung, and some instruments had frets which made it into a more universal instrument, and instrument which bandurists, kobza, husli and lute players could readily play. The Torban became popular amongst the gentry, especially in Poland. Noted individuals such as Hetman Ivan Mazepa, Semen Paliy, Count Cyril Rozumovsky and his son Andriy were exponents of the instrument. Count Cyril Rozumovsky, in fact, acquired his position due to the skill in singing to the accompaniment of the torban of his brother, who later became the secret husband of the Tsarina Elizabeth. His son Andriy became the Russian Ambassador to Vienna, where he became one of Beethoven's close personal friends. In honor of this association, Beethoven incorporated melodies which were traditionally played on the torban into a number of chamber works including the "Razumovsky" string quartets. Andriy had 3 torbans in his personal music instrument collection.²⁵

The torban is thought to have been directly influenced by the French theorbo which the Kozaks under the command of Colonel Ivan Sirko would have come across during their part in the campaigns on the side of the French during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648). The Kozak armies at this time would have had bandurists amongst their ranks in paid positions²⁶, and it is these bandurists who brought the hybrid instrument back²⁷ . Not only is the construction of the torban very similar to that of the theorbo in that the body of both instruments was glued from ribs and both had double pegboxes, but the similarity in name also points to this relationship. The torban is also known as the teorban which is even closer to the French term. It is also thought that the hurdy-gurdy (lira) was introduced from France at the same time.

Photo (left) Torban made by Mykola Budnyk

Unfortunately, by the 19th century, the torban could rarely be seen, as it was more complex to make and play than the bandura. It was expensive, and therefore inaccessible to the common folk. In the early 20th century, only a handful of torbanists existed, and because of its associations with the gentry, the figure of Hetman Ivan Mazepa (whom current Soviet Scholars treat as a traitor), and the foreign Polish nobility, it was branded antiprolitarian and disregarded.²⁸

The torban, however, has left a great imprint on the development of the contemporary bandura. The doubleheaded pegbox was transferred to the Chernihiv style bandura, and the concept of constructing the body from ribs of wood was adapted by Vasyl Herasymenko to the instruments which he designed and made in the Lviv factory. It is interesting to note, in the light of the fact that the Lviv factory is using many of the constructional characteristics of the torban, that the torban itself was more popular in Western Ukraine, especially in the Lviv and Volyn areas, whereas the standard bandura predominated in Eastern Ukraine.

THE ERA OF THE KOBZARI

The classical bandura continued to evolve into a stabilised form with its own characteristic shape through the centuries. During its evolution, it survived periods of uprising and periods of cultural recession which accompanied the destruction of the Cossack Sich in 1775 by Catherine II of Russia. Feudalism was introduced to Ukraine as a way of subjugating the people, and the new gentry were greatly influenced by the fashions of Western Europe. The bandura was soon replaced by the clavichord and harpsichord in the stately courts of the gentry, and the bandura became used solely by wandering blind balladeers called kobzari. (Kobzar - singular)

The Ukrainian scholar Pavlo Zhytetsky²⁹was of the opinion that the first professional kobzari were recruited from Cossacks who had retired from army service and who now lived in church hospitals. These were the creators of the first epic Ukrainian ballads known as dumy³⁰

which were thought to have been based on earlier epic forms. It is also known that in 1652 Bohdan Khmelnytsky signed an order with regard to the kobzar guilds which had been established in order to mobilize them and use them in the recruitment of Cossacks for a new campaign.³¹

Wandering from village to village, the kobzari reminded the Ukrainian people of their heroic past, stimulating their passion for freedom from foreign feudal lords. Both the Russian and the Polish occupation understood the threat to their security that the kobzari made by inciting the people to rebellion, and repressed them mercilessly. It is only due to the benevolence of the common people, who protected the kobzari, that the bandura avoided complete extinction.

There are a number of cases of kobzari being arrested by foreign authorities which can be cited such as the case of Danylo Bandurka (Rykhlievsky) who played for the Zaporozhian Cossacks and took part in an uprising in 1761 against the Poles³². His fate is unknown. Ten years later, three other bandurists: Prokip Skriaha, Vasyl Varchenko and Mykhailo (Sokovyj's Son in Law) from the village of Sharzhypole were beheaded in January 1770 for their part in an uprising against Polish landlords.³³

At the dawn of the 20th century, the bandura had been preserved in a state similar to that in which it had been in the 17th and 18th centuries. It had become primarily a solo instrument for the accompaniment of songs and was used by the kobzari as a means of earning their daily bread. It did not have a standardized shape or form, nor a constant number of strings, although patterns in the tuning of the strings could be observed. The instrument was constructed by various instrument makers, and was made to their differing tastes. The bodies of the instruments varied considerably, including round, oval, pear-shaped as well as many other forms.

The banduras of the most prominent kobzari at the turn of the 20th century had the following number of strings in comparison with older and more modern banduras:

THE TWENTIETH CENTURY RENAISSANCE

Photo: Hnat Khotkevych, 1913

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the intellectuals began to take an interest in the kobzari and in the bandura itself. One of the most prominent bandurophiles was Hnat Khotkevych (1877-1938). In 1894 Khotkevych had a bandura made which differed slightly from those used by the kobzari in that the neck of the instrument was placed asymmetrically in relation to the body of the instrument, thus allowing more strings to be strung across the soundboard. After a number of tours and lectures demonstrating the instrument, Khotkevych prepared a lecture and concert which took place at the XIIth Archaeological Conference in Kharkiv in 1902. This became one of the turning points in the history of the bandura.³⁵

At this concert 7 kobzari and bandurists, as well as a number of other folk musicians, were combined into an ensemble. This performance stimulated the interest of the intelligentsia even more in the instrument and in the art of the kobzari, and soon non-blind players were forming into ensembles, and schools with bandura classes were established.³⁶ Within a number of years music and elementary bandura texts were being printed.³⁷

 

Photo: Kobzari at the XIIth Archeological conference in Kharkiv 1902. Centre - Hnat Khotkevych

 

 

Previously the bandura had been a diatonic instrument, but when the intelligentsia took up the instrument they found that this was one of the instrument's major drawbacks. During the 20th century a number of attempts were made to chromaticize the bandura, and many of the instrument makers achieved positive results. The newly formed Kyiv Bandurist Chorus (November, 1918) used banduras with added chromatic strings (called piv-tony) which were strung between the diatonic strings (called tony) at an angle, so that the chromatic strings were above the diatonic row at the pegbox, and below them at the bridge. This instrument and the method of chromaticization was first developed by the renowned bandura-maker Olexander Kornievsky in 1908.

Photo: The Kyiv Bandurist Capella, 1925.

 

This method of stringing was quite an achievement, although it only allowed the performer to play the main diatonic row with the occasional accidental, and thus restricted him to playing in a small number of related keys as these chromatic strings were awkward to play. It also restricted the player to play in the one style. This style of playing later became known as the Kyiv style, as it was the Kyivan Bandura Chorus which exploited and propagated the style.³⁸ It is characterized by holding the bandura perpendicularly to the body with the left hand playing the basses, whilst simultaneously holding the instrument.

Another style of playing the bandura was developed in the city of Kharkiv by Hnat Khotkevych, who taught the first bandura class at the Kharkiv conservatory, which was opened in 1928. Khotkevych developed a style based on the Zinkiv method,³⁹ which allowed the left hand access to the whole instrument and thus gave the Kharkiv instrument far greater technical possibilities than the Kyiv bandura. Subsequently, the system of semitone strings on the Kyiv bandura hampered the development of the left hand, and thus this method of chromaticization was dropped in favour of a system of levers which were used to retune the diatonic row by a semitone. This style is sometimes referred to as the Poltava style because the Poltava Bandurist Capella, which was directed by Khotkevych, exploited and propagated it after 1930. This style, however, slowly fell into disuse after 1935 when Hnat Khotkevych was arrested and the Poltava Capella was disbanded.

Photo: The Poltava Bandurist Capella, 1931

 

By the middle of the third decade of this century, both styles of playing the bandura had become stabilised and accepted, but the bandurists were still not happy with their instruments. With the further development of technical prowess they now required an instrument with full chromatization - an instrument that would play in all keys and allow accidentals to be played in those keys. With such an instrument in mind, two major attempts were made, both with equal success.

POST-WAR DEVELOPMENT

A new instrument was developed by the Honcharenko brothers in Ingolstadt, Germany, in 1946, in the workshops of the Shevchenko Bandurist Chorus.⁴⁰

This instrument was based on the Kharkiv bandura, only with the addition of chromatic strings which were strung underneath the main row, and with a vastly superior mechanism to those instruments used by the original Poltava chorus. Unfortunately, the instrument did not have chromatic basses nor did the mechanism allow the instrument to retune strings of different octaves at once. This made the instrument highly suitable for ensemble playing and the accompanying of the voice, but not for general solo instrumental work. Another fact which hampered its development was the fact that such instruments were unknown in Ukraine. This instrument is often referred to as the Poltavka.

Photo: The Hnat Khotkevych Bandurist Ensemble (1971), Sydney, Australia - The only modern ensemble to exclusively use the Kharkiv style of bandura playing.

A more important development was Ivan Skliar's⁴¹ concert Kyiv bandura in 1946, which was developed in the workshop of the newly reformed Kyiv bandurist chorus. This instrument was based on the standard Kyiv bandura, whose shape was designed by Opanas Slastion in the early 1930's, only with the addition of a mechanism housed inside the treble string pegbox. This mechanism retuned the bandura at a flick of a lever which was similar in action to the pedals of the harp. Because it was housed in the pegbox it did not seriously affect the tone of the instrument. In 1954 factory production of this bandura commenced at the Chernihiv Musical Instrument Factory, and by 1985 some 40,000 instruments had been manufactured⁴². Later modifications and further interest in the bandura has led to the establishment of a number of other factories and workshops, such as the Lviv factory and the Melnytso-Podilsk workshop.

In the late 50's and early 60's, Skliar made further progress and attempted to unite the principles of the Concert Kyiv bandura with the Kharkiv instrument to produce a bandura capable of playing in all keys and all styles. An instrument was developed, known as the Kyiv-Kharkiv bandura, but although a number were individually manufactured in 1967 by the Chernihiv factory, because of the complexity of the mechanism, it was unable to be mastered for factory production. As both the Kyiv-Kharkiv bandura and the Poltavka have overcome different problems in different ways, attempts are now being undertaken to unite these instruments into one, and this will no doubt happen in the not to distant future. The most promising endeavors in this field are being made by the Canadian bandura maker Willian Vetzal, who presently resides in Oshawa, Ontario.

Photo: Victor Mishalow - Soloist with the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus.

A positive development in the professionalization of the bandura is the invention of nail guards, by Vasyl Herasymenko in Lviv. These nylon guards give a crisp, mellow tone like that of the natural fingernail but stop the incidence of nail breakage during a performance. An added feature is that the guards stay the same length and thus playing technique is not hampered by nail growth or breakage. In recent years work has been undertaken to reintroduce the fretted kobza back into mainstream Ukrainian folk music and Mykola Prokopenko has designed both 4-string orchestral, and 7-string solo kobzas based on illustrations from Ukrainian chronicles⁴³

. Will improvements continue to take place in the construction of the bandura? Skliar writes: "As with all musical instruments, the bandura will continue to be modernized, especially in the further development of its acoustical qualities, the perfection of the mechanism and the enlargement of the range of the instrument: however, all these developments will be based on the character of the bandura itself⁴⁴

Victor Mishalow

Sydney 1977-1984, 1986

Toronto 1991-2, 2002

 

---

Footnotes

1. These frescoes have been thought by some contemporary scholars to have been painted in the 19th century. See:
Vysockyj S. A.,Tots'kaya Y. F. - Novoie o freske "Skomorokhe" Sofii Kyevskoj.
in the collection: Kul'tura i Isskustvo drevnej Rusy - Vol. II, Leningrad. 1957.
Vysockyj S. A. - Hrafitti i vremia vozverennia Sofyjskoho Sobora v Kyeve.
in the collection: Drevnyj Kiev K. 1875						

2. Horniatkevyç, Andrij - Kobza-Bandura - Sproba istorychnoho pidsumku
in: Zbirnyk na poshanu Hryhoriå Kytastoho N.J. 1980 pp. 62-66
V. P. Tyxomyrov - Istoriya guslej
Tartu, 1962 p.15

3. Shtrytter, I. - Izvestnyj vyzantyjskykh istorykov' ..... 1 SPb 1770 st 5

4. Khotkevych, H. M. - Muzychni instrumenty Ukrayins'koho narodu
Kharkiv, 1930, p. 67

5. Tyxomyrov, V. P. - Istoriya guslej - Tartu, 1962 p. 15
Vyzho T. - Razvytie muzykal'noho iskustve Uzbekystana y eho sviazy s russkoj muzykoj - M. 1970 p. 14
Abu Ali Ibn-Dasta called the instrument an ijdan i.e. an ud or lute, thus the quotation relates to the kobza rather than the husli as is thought 
by many Russian scholars.

6. Khvol'son D. A. - Izvestyia o kaazarakh', bolharakh', mad'iarakh', slavianakh i russkyx Abu-Aly Akhmeda Ben Omar Ibn-Dasta. 
SPb 1869 p. 42

7. Ershalova, S. - Georgian Pottery and chasing on metal
Aurora Art Publishers, Leningrad, 1975 1llustration No 55

8. Prokopenko, M. A. - Kobza in the newspaper: Ukrayins'ki visti, Detroit USA
Prokopenko, M. A. - Kobza - in the newspaper "Kul'tura i zhyttia , Kyiv
Prokopenko, M. A. - Dysertaciya pro kobzu - Manuscript

9. Khotkevych, H. M. - Muzychni instrumenty Ukrayins'koho narodu X . 1930 p.67

10. Khotkevych, H. M. - Muzychni instrumenty Ukrayins'koho narodu - X . 1930 p.67
Famyntsyn, A. S. - Husly - SPb 1890 st 2
In the 16th century Wendelin Tiffenbruker made a harp-lute instrument with bandura-like treble strings. 
Winternitz suggests that this was a unique instrument.
Winternitz, E. - Musical Instruments of the Western World N.Y. n.d. p 68

11. Rygel'man, A. Y. ÷ Letopysnoe povestvovanye o Maloj Rossiy ee narode y kazakax voobshche.
in: Chtenyia v obshchestve istorii i drevnostej rossyjskykh pry Moskovskom universytete
Moskva 1847 # 9 p.87

12. Horniatkevyç, Andrij - Kobza-Bandura Sproba istorychnoho pidsumku
in: Zbirnyk na poshanu Hryhoriya Kytastoho N.J. 1980 p. 62-66

13. Famintsyn, A. S. - Domra i srodnee ej muzykal'nye instrumenty russkogo naroda SPb 1891

14. Diakovsky, M. J. - A note on the History of the bandura. In:
The Annals of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the US. VoI 3-4 (21-22) p 1419 N.Y. 1958
Horniatkevyç, Andrij - Kobza-Bandura - Sproba istorychnoho pidsumku
in: Zbirnyk na poshanu Hryhoriya Kytastoho N.J. 1980 st 62-66
In the fourth year of Queene Elizabeth (1562), John Rose, dwelling in Bridewell, devised and made an instrument, with wire Strings, 
commonly called the Bandora".in J. Stow The Annales or General Chronikle of England . 1615, p 869.

15. Horiåtkevyç, A. - Kobza-Bandura - Sproba istorychnoho pidsumku
in: Zbirnyk na poshanu Hryhoriya Kytastoho N.J. 1980 st 62-66

16. Slownyk Muzykow Polskych
Polskie wydawnitstwo muzyczne Krakow 1964

17. Chybinski, Adolf - Slownyk muzykow dawnej Polski do roku 1800
Krakow, Polskie wydawnictwo muzyczne 1949 p. 19

18.Mishalow, V. - Kobzari of the Polish courts.
In: Bandura # 15-16 1986 pp 35-36

19 1580r - Vojtashek| prizvyskom Dovhohraj banduryst het'mana Zborovs'koho
in: F. Siarzynski - Obraz wieku panowania Zygmunta III 1828 p 365
Zofia Lissa, Josef Chominski, Muzyka polskiego odrodzenia (wydanie drugie) Warszawa PIW 1954 p. 37
Slownyk Muzykow Polskych Polskie wydawnitstwo muzyczne Krakow 1964 p. 217

20. Mishalow, Victor - Kobzari of the Polish courts
In: Bandura # 15-16 NY 1986 pp 35-36

21. Fyndejzen, N. - Ocherky po istorii muzyky v Rosii Vol. I M. 1929 2nd edition

22. i Zhurnaly kamer-fur'eskye za 1748 god SPb VI p. 129
ii Opysanye dokumentov y delåkhran'ikhsia v Arkhyve Sviatejsheho Pravytel'stvennoho Synoda t. X SPb 1901 p. 796

23. Newspaper. Sankt-Peterburskye vedomostej 1772 ç. 74

24. Majburova, K. - Hlukhivs'ka shkola pivchyx XVIII st. ta ii rol' u rozvytku muzychnoho profesionalizmu na Ukrayini ta v Rosii. 
In the Collection: Ukrayins'ke muzykoznavstvo #. 6 Kyiv, 1961

25. Sheffer, T. Tserpukhova, K - Notozibannia Rozumovs'kykh z fondiv TsNB AN URSR - Tsinnyj dokument muzychnoi kul'tury Ukrainy XVIII
In the collection: Ukrains'ke muzykoznavstvo # 6 Kyiv 1971

26. The newspaper: Kyevskaya staryna 1892 vol. 39 p. 296

27 i. Over 2500 Cossacks fought from 1645-1648 under Colonel Ivan Sirko (famous for his letter to the Sultan in the painting by Repin) 
against the Habsburg coalition which included the Polish Catholics on the side of the Habsburgs.  
ii Humeniuk, A. - Ukrains'ki narodni muzychni instrumenty - Kyiv 1967

28. The magazine: Muzyka masam # 10, 1928 Editorial

29. Zhyteckyj, Pavlo - Mysli o narodnyx malorusskyx dumax. Kyevskaya staryna 1893 pp. 186-245

30. Andrusyshen, C.H. - The Dumy lyrical chronical of Ukraine - in: The Ukrainian Quarterly, London Vol 3 1947
Kononenko-Moyle, Natalie - Ukrainian Dumy CIUS and Harvard URI 1979 Toronto Cambridge

31. In 1652 Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky sent out a decree (Universal) with regard to musicians guilds and to all musicians on the banks of the Dniper.

32. Yastrebov, Ya - Hajdamac'kyj banduryst. Kyevskaya staryna volume XVI K. 1886 oktåbr' st. 379-388

33. Kyevskaya staryna vol. II 1882 April, p. 161
Hornjatkevyc , A. The book of Kodna and the three bandurists - in: Bandura #11-12 1985 pp. 27-30

34. Horniatkevyc, A. - Hnat Khotkevych - in Bandura # 5 1982 pp 2-5

35. Khotkevych, H. - Dva povorotni punkty v istoriyi kobzars'koho mystetstva. In the magazine: Muzyka Xarkiv # 10, 1928

36 The first official bandura classes were organised in Kyiv in 1907 at the Lysenko music school. Initially Khotkevych was invited to teach, 
however he had to leave the country because of his participation in the 1905 revolution. On Khotkevych's recomendation 
Ivan Kuchuhura-Kucherenko taught the classes. The first known ensemble of non-blind players was organised from students of the Kyiv University
by fellow student Mykhailo Domontovych and gave its first public performance in 1908. Similar ensembles were organised in Moscow and in Krasnodar.

37 Occasionally this style is called the Chernihiv style as initially the first teachers came from Chernihiv.

38. Khotkevych, H. - Pidruchnyk hry na banduri - L'viv 1909
Khotkevych, H .- Odarochka -tanec' dlia bandury - Kyiv 1910
Domontovych, M - Samonavchytel' hry na kobzi - Odesa 1914 - Vol 1 and 2
Shevchenko, V. - Shkola hry na banduri - M. 1914
Ovchynykov, Vasyl' P. - Samonavchytel' hry na banduri. -M. 1913-14

39. Mishalow, V. - A brief description of the Zinkiv method of Bandura playing in: Bandura # 7-8 N.Y. 1984 pp 13-15

40. Samchuk, U.- Zhyvi struny - Detroit, 1976
nn Bandura i majstry - braty Honcharenky in: Bandura NY 1981 pp 3-4

40. Humeniuk, A. - Ivan Skliar - Moskva. Sovetskyj Kompozytor 1962

41. Mishalow, V. - Pages from the history of the Bandura in: News from Ukraine # 28, Kyiv 1980

42. Mishalow, V. - The Rennaisance of the Kobza in: News from Ukraine # 51 Kyiv 1980
Mishalow, V. - The Renaissance of the Kobza in: Bandura # 13-14 NY 1985 pp 53-57

43. Skliar, I - Kyivs'ko-kharkivs'ka bandura - Kyiv, 1971

44. Shramko, I. - Ukrayins'ka kobza bandura. in: Muzyka #1, 1978

Victor Mishalow

	History of the Bandura Bandura Technology

Bandura technology

With the accelerated development of bandurist capellas as an art form came the accelrerated development of technology related to the performance on the bandura

At the beginning of the 20th century the instrument the instrument was thought to have gone into total disuse. At the time it had some 20 strings with wooden pegs. The volume obtained from the instrument was not loud enough for the concert stage.

Initial developments were made in making the range of the instrument greater and improving the sonority of the instrument. By 1911 instruments with 32 diatonically tuned strings had become common, almost replacing the traditional instruments played by the traditional kobzars.

Metal tuning pegs made an appearance in c.1914. This allowed the performer to accurately tune his instrument,. This was crucial particularly when playing in an ensemble.

By the mid 20's, chromatic strings were also added to the instrument which allowed the performer to play accidentals and allowed the performer to modulate into close related keys. The construction of the instrument was modified to allow for the additional tension of these strings. The number of srings rose to about 56.

In 1931 the first mechanisms were developed, which allowed the bandurist to quickly retune his instrument in a variety of more distinct keys.

In Germany in 1948, the Honcharenko brother's in the workshops of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus continued to refine the mechanism to make it more reliable for the concert stage and also even out the tone of the instrument.

Similar developments were also undertaken by Ivan Skilar in Ukraine who in 1956 developed the concert Kyiv bandura - an instrument which has become the workhorse of most professional bandurists in Ukraine. A slightly more refined instrument was also developed later by Professor Vasyl Herasymenko in Lviv.

In the late 70's these concert instruments began to be manufactured serially by the Chernihiv factory, and later the Lviv factory..

In the mid 70's artificial nails were also developed which allowed the bandurist to perform more professionally. In the 1960's the foundation of the modern professional bandura technique and repertoire were laid by professor Serhiy Bashtan based on work he had done with students from the Kyiv Conservatory.