MUSEUM OF PEOPLE'S FRIENDSHIP

SVIREL

Svirel is an ancient wind musical instrument, a kind of longitudinal flute . Sometimes it can be double-barreled, with one of the trunks usually 33-35 cm long, the second 45-47 cm long. At the upper end of the barrel there is a whistle device, in the lower part there are 3 side holes for changing the pitch of sounds. The trunks are tuned to each other in a fourth and give as a whole a diatonic scale in the volume of a septim .

In ordinary language, a flute is often called wind instruments such as single-barreled or double-barreled flutes.

It is made of wood with a soft core: elderberry , willow , bird cherry . This core is twisted with a thin stick or burned out with a hot wire. One end of the pipe is cut obliquely, a thin tongue is split off near the hole, and then 4 to 8 holes are cut along the length of the pipe. Sometimes such pipes are made from reeds , angelica , reed or other hollow material.

In ancient times, the flute was a musical wind instrument consisting of seven reed pipes of different lengths connected to each other. According to ancient Greek mythology, Hermes invented it to amuse himself while grazing cows.

There is another legend about the ancient Greek god of the forest Pan , who was chasing his beloved Siringa, and she, running to the river, prayed to her parents and asked them to turn her into reeds, which they did. Pan ran to the river - but Siringi and no, only one reed around. And then Pan cut off all the reeds, thinking to find Siringa, and, not finding her, tied several reeds and began to play on them. This musical instrument is still very much loved by the shepherds of Greece.

Over the centuries, the design of the pipe has undergone changes. Each nationality brought its own national characteristics to this instrument, therefore, it has its own name for different peoples. For the Bashkirs it is “kurai”, for the Uzbeks “nai”, for the Belarusians “zhaleika”, “fluer” for the Moldovans, “sotgilka” for the Ukrainians, “salamuri” for the Georgians, “flute” for the Russians.

The svirel is still not well understood. Experts have long been trying to correlate common whistle instruments with ancient names. Most often chroniclers use three names for tools of this type - flute, nozzle and tartar.

The word "flute" is more ancient than "sopel", since it is found in the common Slavic language and, therefore, existed in the era that preceded the division of this language into eastern, western and southern branches. However, it is difficult to say whether such a name related to an instrument of a certain type: in ancient Russia, a performer on any wind instrument, except for a horn and a trumpet - “trumpet”, was called a "swirl" or "swine".

The pipe is a simple wooden (sometimes metal) pipe. At one end of it there is a whistle device in the form of a "beak", and in the middle of the front side, a different number of play holes are cut (usually six). The tool is made from buckthorn, hazel, maple, ash or bird cherry.

A double pipe (twin, twin) consists of two pipes of the same type of uneven length. Each pipe has a whistle device for blowing air and three play holes. The sizes of the double pipe vary widely. The length of the large pipe is 29-47 cm, the small pipe is 22-35 cm. Usually the large pipe is held in the right hand, the small pipe in the left.

Combining two pipes into one instrument makes it possible to perform two-voice melodies by one player. The repertoire of double-pipe tunes is extensive and very diverse. The double pipe was unevenly distributed throughout Russia.