Bandura - Medieval Strings

The modern bandura sports 60 stings that are played with two hands. It is uncommon to find instrumentals using the bandura. However, there are a few musicians who enjoy playing just the music. The video below is one such duo where a straight flute is the accompaniment. The echo of medieval times is remarkable.

The Ukrainian musical instrument was first referred to in a Polish text from 1441. According to the text, King Sigismund had a musician named Taraszko who played chess with the king and entertained him with the bandura. The word itself is not a Ukraine word and speculation is that it came from either Greek, Polish, French, Russian or all of the above. Likewise, the synonym for “bandura” also has a mysterious pedigree - “Kobza” is believed to be Turkish – or maybe not.

Chronicles in Byzantine Greek from 591, speaks of Bulgur warriors carrying Lute-like instruments that were called “Kitharas”. These instruments are thought to be fretless stings.

It is from the compilation of all the documents and stories of a lute-like instrument that it is called the Ukrainian bandura. The Ukrainian musical instrument must have been imbued with special powers by the 17th century, as Elizabeth of Russia, daughter of Peter the Great married the court bandurist.

When Western music spread across Europe, the bandura fell to the wayside of popularity with the exception of the Cossacks. The Cossacks reformed the instrument so that it was better able to be used as an instrument to be strummed while accompanied by singing of the Cossack to his lady.

The Cossack bandura had 4 to 6 stoppable strings that ran along the neck with optional frets and 16 treble strings that crossed the soundboard. It remained this way until the late 1800s.

The bandura continued to be played by street bards and minstrels instilling a unique Ukrainian awareness of their own culture. This type of awareness threatened the Russian control in the view of the Czar, which resulted in the banning of the bandura in 1876. Since the vocal music was sung in Ukrainian and the spoken everyday language was Russian, the restriction generated a loss of the Ukraine knowledge.

In 1930, under Stalin, lessons were once again made available to the people. With it the language of the music awakened an understanding of the old folk ways. Thanks to the Ukrainian bandura, the people developed a self-awareness that Stalin saw as a menace. Again, the playing of the bandura was outlawed.

After the death of Stalin, the restrictions were lifted yet again and classes were taught at the Kiev conservatory. Today, classes in playing the Bandura are offered at the Odessa Conservatory and the Kharkiv University of Culture.

Making A Bandura

The construction of a bandura is a complicated procedure. One Bandura maker, Andy Birko, has published a blog where he has entered photos and commentary of the step-by-step construction.

Bandura Music Camp

An annual music camp lasts for two weeks each year where you can learn to play the bandura. They even arrange for you to rent one rather than to invest in a purchase until you decide if you like it.