Svirel
Encyclopedia
Svirel is an old folk
Russian
wind instrument
of the end-blown flute
type. In the Old Rus’ this instrument was made either of hollow reed or cylindrical wood branches. A legend says that Lel', son of the Slavic
goddess of love Lada was a svirel player. In spring he would make his svirel of birch branches.
Traditional Russian svirel has not yet been studied well enough. Specialists have long tried to relate the present day’s pipe instruments to their Old Russian names. Most often the chroniclers used three names for this type instruments: svirel, sopel
(sopilka
) and tsevnitsa.
, since it can be found in the Common Slavonic language and, consequently, it had existed in the epoch preceding the division of this language into the Eastern, Western and Southern branches. Yet, it is difficult to say whether this name referred to a definite kind of instrument: in the Old Rus’ any wind instrument
player but for horn
or trumpet
players was called svirets or sviryanin.
However, it is difficult to say whether the Old Russian svirel was a double or a single pipe: there is no data about this preserved. What makes things still more complicated is the fact that names of similar instruments of kindred nations, such as Russians, Ukrainians and Byelorussians are often mixed.
N. I. Privalov fixed the name svirel to the double pipe, because this is how the instrument was called in Smolensk
region, the major area of its popularity. This being the case the single svirel came to be called sopel
. Nowadays svirel is more and more often referred to the end-blown flute
type instrument with a whistle device nested into its upper part.
Bringing together two pipes into one instrument makes it possible for one player to perform two-voice melodies. The repertoire of double svirel tunes is quite extensive and versatile. Double svirel was unevenly spread in Russia
.
In the early 20th century Vasily Andreyev
introduced into his orchestra
svirels with key mechanism. Instruments of such construction still can be found in modern folk music
orchestras.
Ethnic Russian music
Ethnic Russian music specifically deals with the folk music traditions of the ethnic Russian people. It does not include the various forms of art music, which in Russia often contains folk melodies and folk elements or music of aother ethnic groups living in Russia.-History:The roots of Russian...
Russian
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
wind instrument
Wind instrument
A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of...
of the end-blown flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
type. In the Old Rus’ this instrument was made either of hollow reed or cylindrical wood branches. A legend says that Lel', son of the Slavic
Slavic mythology
Slavic mythology is the mythological aspect of the polytheistic religion that was practised by the Slavs before Christianisation.The religion possesses many common traits with other religions descended from the Proto-Indo-European religion....
goddess of love Lada was a svirel player. In spring he would make his svirel of birch branches.
Traditional Russian svirel has not yet been studied well enough. Specialists have long tried to relate the present day’s pipe instruments to their Old Russian names. Most often the chroniclers used three names for this type instruments: svirel, sopel
Sopel
Sopel may refer to:*Brent Sopel , Canadian professional hockey player*Jon Sopel , English television presenter and correspondent*Sopel, Łódź Voivodeship, a village in Poland...
(sopilka
Sopilka
Sopilka is a name applied to a variety of woodwind instruments of the flute family used by Ukrainian folk instrumentalists. Sopilka most commonly refers to a fife made of a variety of materials and has six to ten finger holes...
) and tsevnitsa.
Construction
Svirel is a simple wooden (sometimes metal) pipe. On the upper end it has a beak-like whistle device and in the middle of the face side it has several (usually six) finger-holes cut out. Wooden pipe is made of buckthorn, hazel, maple, ash tree, or bird cherry tree.Etymology
The word svirel is obviously older than sopelSopel
Sopel may refer to:*Brent Sopel , Canadian professional hockey player*Jon Sopel , English television presenter and correspondent*Sopel, Łódź Voivodeship, a village in Poland...
, since it can be found in the Common Slavonic language and, consequently, it had existed in the epoch preceding the division of this language into the Eastern, Western and Southern branches. Yet, it is difficult to say whether this name referred to a definite kind of instrument: in the Old Rus’ any wind instrument
Wind instrument
A wind instrument is a musical instrument that contains some type of resonator , in which a column of air is set into vibration by the player blowing into a mouthpiece set at the end of the resonator. The pitch of the vibration is determined by the length of the tube and by manual modifications of...
player but for horn
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
or trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
players was called svirets or sviryanin.
History
So, svirel playing traditions of the Russians seem to be much older than the epoch of the Eastern Slavic community. Two such pipes were found during archeological excavations of the Old Novgorod in 1951-1962. One of them dating back to the late 11th century is 22.5 cm (approximately 9 inches) long and has four finger-holes. The second pipe dating to the early 15th century is 19 cm (approximately 7.5 inches) long and has only three holes.However, it is difficult to say whether the Old Russian svirel was a double or a single pipe: there is no data about this preserved. What makes things still more complicated is the fact that names of similar instruments of kindred nations, such as Russians, Ukrainians and Byelorussians are often mixed.
N. I. Privalov fixed the name svirel to the double pipe, because this is how the instrument was called in Smolensk
Smolensk
Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River. Situated west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history since it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk...
region, the major area of its popularity. This being the case the single svirel came to be called sopel
Sopel
Sopel may refer to:*Brent Sopel , Canadian professional hockey player*Jon Sopel , English television presenter and correspondent*Sopel, Łódź Voivodeship, a village in Poland...
. Nowadays svirel is more and more often referred to the end-blown flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
type instrument with a whistle device nested into its upper part.
Playing technique
Double svirel has two similar pipes of different lengths. Each of the pipes has a whistle and three finger-holes. Size of the double svirel varies on a great scale. The bigger pipe can be 29 to 47 cm long, and the smaller 22 to 35 cm. The big pipe is usually held in the right hand and the small one in the left hand.Bringing together two pipes into one instrument makes it possible for one player to perform two-voice melodies. The repertoire of double svirel tunes is quite extensive and versatile. Double svirel was unevenly spread in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
In the early 20th century Vasily Andreyev
Vasily Vasilievich Andreyev
Vasily Vasilievich Andreyev was a Russian musician responsible for the modern development of the balalaika and several other traditional Russian folk music instruments, and is considered the father of the academic folk instrument movement in Eastern Europe. His accomplishments included:*...
introduced into his orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
svirels with key mechanism. Instruments of such construction still can be found in modern folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
orchestras.