Ukranian Tsymbaly Performance in Alberta by Brian Cherwick
The sound of the Ukrainian tsymbaly has been a fixture on the Canadian prairies for almost a century. Virtually obligatory at Ukrainian dances, festivals, and weddings (Klymasz, 377), this hammered dulcimer is little known in other musical circles. Describing the instrument and its contexts, I show how it has become a symbol of identity for Ukrainians in Alberta and how its tradition has taken on uniquely Canadian aspects.
Wooden hammers, known as molotochky, palychky, or pal 'tsiatky, strike the strings.
Most commonly in tradition the instrument rested on the seated performer's lap.
At one time performers stood when accompanying wedding marches and dances, the tsymbaly held by a strap around the performer's neck ....
According to folk belief the sides should be constructed of ash, the bottom deck of maple, and the soundboard of fir which has been struck by lightning. The ash is believed to have the power to charm serpents, the maple personifies humankind, and the lightning-struck fir, representing fertility, wards off illness and evil. Often tsymbaly are decorated with magical symbols. Most common are soundholes shaped like a six-petaled flower and surrounded by a hexagon, which symbolizes wealth, beauty, love, harmony, and peace, and is connected with the energy of life and the sun ....
Vladimir’s music career was the main part of his life at the time. Some of his first important musical competitions took place at the Exhibition of Achievements of Folklore and Agriculture of the ex-USSR. In 1972, before the Olympic Games in Munchen, the concert brigade of the Conservatory was giving performances, during two weeks, to the Olympic sportsmen in the finest sports complexes of the Pribaltic Republics. One of the highlights of that tour was Vladimir performance on Tsimbaly. His extremely wide range of music includes tunes from classics to some of the best folk music around the world.
The paintings, poetry and music Are all merely water drawn from the well of mankind And must be returned to him in a cup of beauty So he may drink And in drinking, come to know himself. --Lorca
The paintings, poetry and music Are all merely water drawn from the well of mankind And must be returned to him in a cup of beauty So he may drink And in drinking, come to know himself. --Lorca
jack Dulci-Zither (60 - 70 Posts) member is offline
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Re: The Tsymbaly « Reply #4 on Jul 30, 2009, 1:07pm »
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