Balalaika: history, video, interesting facts, listen. Theory Big balalaika what is the name of the musical instrument

Now it is impossible to determine exactly when and where this musical instrument, which has become one of the symbols of Russia, appeared. According to some assumptions, Russian balalaika existed even before the baptism of Rus'. Then it was placed in the grave of the deceased so that after death he could enjoy playing his favorite musical instrument.

According to many versions, Russian balalaika is a descendant of the Asian dombra. Just with a changed shape, number of strings and frets. All current assumptions are difficult to prove.

However, according to the widest opinion, the balalaika is considered a Russian folk musical instrument. Even its name clearly resembles words derived from a Russian root: balacat, balabolit, balabonit, joke. Moreover, one of the variants of its name sounded like that: balabaika.

But here too there are different opinions. According to one of them, the word “balabaika” comes from the Turkish “balaba” - a folk musical instrument similar to a dombra, with a rounded shape.

One way or another, this instrument was able to express all its qualities most fully in Russia.

The first known written mention of the balalaika appears on June 13, 1688. This is the “Memory from the Streletsky Prikaz to the Little Russian Prikaz,” in which orders are given to two peasants

“that they rode on a carriage horse in a cart to the Yau Gate, sang songs and played the balalaika.”

For a long time there was no standard for the design of the balalaika. It could have two or three strings. Even the tuning was very different, depending on the taste of each individual performer.

This continued until the end of the 19th century, when a landowner from Vyshnevolotsk district Vasily Vasilyevich Andreev, who was always interested in folk music, first heard the balalaika played. He became very interested in this instrument, and began to actively learn to play it himself. He soon came to the conclusion that this instrument, in the form in which it existed in those years, could not reveal all its capabilities.

Andreev decided to take up the task of improving the balalaika. He made drawings for a new version of the instrument and began placing orders for its production from a variety of metropolitan craftsmen, trying to obtain the highest sound quality.

In 1886, Andreev performed for the first time in public with an instrument of his own design. But, continuing to work on improving the instrument, he is looking for new partners to make the balalaika.

His collaboration with the St. Petersburg master Franz Stanislavovich Paserbsky, who made the first balalaika for Andreev in 1887, was very successful. Soon he made other types of instruments: piccolo, viola, bass and double bass. All of them were created specifically for the orchestra assembled by Andreev.

Initially, balalaikas were equipped with vein constrictions - this has always been one of the most typical features of this instrument. However, Andreev still decides to replace the bindings on the frets, believing that this will significantly improve the sound. Initially there were 5 frets, then 12, and in subsequent versions their number reached 17. This made it possible to use the capabilities of the balalaika much more fully and expressively.

Andreev’s joint work with Paserbsky lasted about 10 years and was very fruitful. But Andreev managed to get much greater success from his collaboration with cabinetmaker Semyon Ivanovich Nalimov.

Nalimov was born in 1857 into a peasant family. As a teenager, he received the profession of a cabinetmaker, and then, due to military service, ended up in the active army. After the service, he worked for various landowners, and Andreev, having heard about his extraordinary abilities, invites Nalimov to his place.

At first, Andreev only wanted to order a batch of furniture from the master, but, amazed at the quality of the work, he made him an offer to start making balalaikas. Their cooperation lasted 26 years, until Nalimov’s death. The instruments he made can, without exaggeration, be considered an example of the Russian balalaika. The instruments were made according to the drawings of Andreev, who constantly sought to improve their design.

The very first prima balalaika made by Nalimov was in the full sense a work of art. He made the body itself from wavy birch. The slightly convex soundboard, composed of four parts, was made from resonance spruce - it had regular parallel radial layers. The top was covered with a shell (apron), flush with which an ebony overlay was embedded. The neck was made from hornbeam. In addition to the 15 frets on the neck, 2 more frets were added on the shell.

For their musical qualities, careful manufacturing and beauty, Nalimov's balalaikas were highly valued. They cost an order of magnitude more than any others.

Nalimov paid great attention to each instrument. It sometimes took up to two years to make one balalaika from start to finish. Now Semyon Ivanovich Nalimov is deservedly called the “Russian Stradivarius”.

The orchestra assembled by Andreev still exists today. Its current name is the Orchestra of Folk Instruments named after V.V. Andreev. The main instruments of this orchestra are balalaikas of various sizes, from prima to double bass.

Now the Russian balalaika has become widely known throughout the world. Musical works are created especially for her. And playing the balalaika is taught in music schools, colleges and conservatories.

Balalaika is a Russian folk three-stringed plucked musical instrument, from 600-700 mm (prima balalaika) to 1.7 meters (double bass balalaika) in length, with a triangular, slightly curved (in the 18th-19th centuries also oval) wooden body. The balalaika is one of the instruments that, along with the accordion, has become a symbol of the Russian people.

The first written mention of the balalaika is contained in a document dated June 13, 1688, “Memory from the Streletsky Prikaz to the Little Russian Prikaz,” in which, among other things, it is reported that in Moscow, the Arzamas townsman Savka Fedorov, the son of Seleznev and the Shenkursky district of the palace Vazheskaya, was brought to the Streletsky Prikaz volost peasant Ivashko Dmitriev, and with them a balalaika was brought so that they rode on a driver's horse in a cart to the Yau Gate, sang songs and played the balalaika and scolded the guard archers who stood guard at the Yau Gate

Another mention of the balalaika dates back to October 1700 in connection with a fight that took place in Verkhoturye district. According to the testimony of the coachmen Pronka and Alexei Bayanov, the courtyard man of the steward of the governor K.P. Kozlov, I. Pashkov, chased them and “beat them with a balalaika.”

The next mention of the name “balalaika” is found in written monuments from the time of Peter the Great. In 1715, during the celebration of a comic wedding organized by order of the tsar, balalaikas were mentioned among the instruments that appeared in the hands of the mummers at the ceremony. Moreover, these instruments were given into the hands of a group dressed as Kalmyks.

During the 18th century. The balalaika spread widely among the Great Russian people, becoming so popular that it was recognized as the oldest instrument, and was even assigned Slavic origin.

Russian origin can only be attributed to the triangular outline of the body or body of the balalaika, which replaced the round shape of the domra. The shape of the 18th century balalaika was different from the modern one. The neck of the balalaika was very long, about 4 times longer than the body. The body of the instrument was narrower.
In addition, balalaikas found in ancient popular prints are equipped with only 2 strings. The third string was a rare exception. The strings of the balalaika are metal, which gives the sound a specific shade - a sonorous timbre.
In the middle of the 20th century. a new hypothesis was put forward that the balalaika existed long before it was mentioned in written sources, i.e. existed next to the domra. Some researchers believe that the domra was a professional instrument of buffoons and, with their disappearance, lost widespread musical practice. The balalaika is a purely folk instrument and, therefore, more resilient.
At first, the balalaika spread mainly in the northern and eastern provinces of Russia, usually accompanying folk dance songs. But already in the middle of the 19th century, the balalaika was very popular in many places in Russia. It was played not only by village boys, but also by serious court musicians such as Ivan Khandoshkin, I.F. Yablochkin, N.V. Lavrov. However, by the middle of the 19th century, the harmonica was found almost everywhere next to it, which gradually replaced the balalaika.
The balalaika received its second birth at the end of the 19th century thanks to the efforts of Vasily Andreev, who was called “the young father of the balalaika.” V.V. Andreev, together with instrumental masters V.V. Ivanov, and then F.S. Paserbsky and S.I. Nalimov, improved the folk instrument and designed a family of balalaikas of different sizes based on the model of a bow quartet. The first performance of the ensemble, which was called the “Circle of Lovers of Joint Balalaika Playing,” took place in St. Petersburg in 1888.
Andreev and his associates - N. Privalov, F. Niman, V. Nasonov, N.P. Fomin did not limit himself to reviving just one balalaika. They also worked to improve other instruments of the Russian people, such as domra, gusli, zhaleika, Vladimir horns, etc. The result of this work was the formation of the Great Russian Orchestra, the first performance of which took place under the direction of Andreev on January 11, 1897 in the Hall of the Noble Assembly. From then on, folk instrument orchestras began to spread with extraordinary speed throughout Russia.
Thanks to the performing arts of Vasily Andreev and his talented followers, such masters as Boris Troyanovsky, Alexander Dobrokhotov and a little later Nikolai Osipov, venerable composers paid attention to the balalaika. Now not only Russian folk songs sound wonderful on the balalaika, but also transcriptions of works of Russian and Western classics; in addition, composers have created an original repertoire for the balalaika, including more than 100 suites, sonatas, concerts and other works of large form.

The balalaika is a truly folk musical instrument, and it also received its name among the people. Occasionally, though, there is another one - the balabaika, which is more typical for the south of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. It is believed that the name “balalaika” comes from the words “balakat”, “joke”, which means “to make idle calls”, “to chat”, to talk about something unimportant. The sounds of the balalaika were associated precisely with the strumming of the strings.

According to another version, the name “balalaika” comes from the Tatar word “bala”, which means “child”. But it is quite possible that the words “babbler” and “babble” also came from this word, since they were associated with baby babble and chatter.

Oddly enough, the history of the creation of the balalaika has preserved very few references to this musical instrument. Information about it is unclear and often contradictory. But there are many more references to domra. This musical instrument is considered the prototype of the balalaika. However, there is a version that the balalaika and domra existed at the same time.

Some historians believe that buffoons played the domra, and the balalaika has always been an exclusively folk instrument. With the disappearance of the buffoons, their musical instrument also disappeared, but the balalaika remained. In addition, there is another assumption that the domra was simply renamed balalaika over time. Perhaps this is due to the fact that at certain periods in history the attitude towards the domra was different: one king enjoyed the sounds of this instrument, while another, on the contrary, did not recognize and persecuted the musicians playing it.

More clear references to the history of the creation of the balalaika are found in documents from the reign of Peter I, for example, in the “Register” of 1714. Starting from the 18th century, the balalaika gradually began to win the love of the Slavic peoples and over time was recognized as a national instrument, becoming a symbol of the Russian people. Initially, the instrument had a round shape, a very long neck, four times the length of the body, and two strings, which were made of metal, which gave its sound a sonorous and, at the same time, softness. Over time, the balalaika was transformed from round to triangular, another string was added and the length of the neck was shortened.

It is a mistake to think that these days the balalaika has been forgotten. Of course, it is no longer as widespread as it once was. However, the balalaika is still in demand among modern professional musicians. Currently, the balalaika has been significantly improved as a musical instrument. This allows you to extract new sounds from it. Musicians who play the balalaika professionally are called balalaika masters or balalaika virtuosos. Thanks to their skills, not only Russian folk melodies familiar to our ears are heard, but also various variations on the theme of works by foreign classics and modern musicians. Today, many musical works of a wide variety of nature have been written, intended for performance on the balalaika - concerts, sonatas, suites, and so on.

Moreover, training programs for balalaika masters are supported at the state level. Almost every children's music school in the country offers training in playing the balalaika. The study period varies from 5 to 7 years.

Among the famous balalaika virtuosos one can name Vasily Vasilyevich Andreev, Dmitry Anatolyevich Kalinin, Semyon Ivanovich Nalimov, Boris Sergeevich Troyanovsky and many others.

The history of the origin of the balalaika goes back centuries. It’s not so simple here, because there is quite a large number of documents and information about the origin of the instrument. Many believe that the balalaika was invented in Rus', others think that it originated from the Kyrgyz-Kaisak folk instrument - the dombra. There is another version: perhaps the balalaika was invented during Tatar rule, or at least borrowed from the Tatars. Consequently, it is difficult to name the year of origin of the instrument. Historians and musicologists argue about this too. Most adhere to 1715, but this date is arbitrary, since there are references to an earlier period - 1688. Probably, the balalaika was invented by serfs to brighten up their existence under the rule of a cruel landowner. Gradually, the balalaika spread among peasants and buffoons traveling throughout our vast country. Buffoons performed at fairs, entertained people, earned money for food and a bottle of vodka, and did not even suspect what miracle instrument they were playing. The fun could not last long, and finally, the Tsar and Grand Duke of All Rus' Alexei Mikhailovich issued a decree in which he ordered all instruments (domras, balalaikas, horns, harp, etc.) to be collected and burned, and those people who would not obey and give away balalaikas, flog them and send them into exile in Little Russia. But time passed, the king died and the repressions gradually ceased. The balalaika sounded again throughout the country, but again not for long. The time of popularity was again replaced by almost complete oblivion until the middle of the 19th century.

So the balalaika was lost, but not completely. Some peasants still played music on three strings. And, one day, while traveling around his estate, the young nobleman Vasily Vasilyevich Andreev heard a balalaika from his servant Antipas. Andreev was struck by the peculiarity of the sound of this instrument, but he considered himself an expert in Russian folk instruments. And Vasily Vasilyevich decided to make the most popular instrument out of the balalaika. To begin with, I slowly learned to play myself, then I noticed that the instrument was fraught with enormous potential, and decided to improve the balalaika. Andreev went to St. Petersburg to see violin maker Ivanov for advice and asked him to think about how to improve the sound of the instrument. Ivanov objected and said that he would not do a balalaika, categorically. Andreev thought for a moment, then took out an old balalaika, which he bought at a fair for thirty kopecks, and masterfully performed one of the folk songs, of which there are a huge number in Russia. Ivanov could not resist such an onslaught and agreed. The work was long and hard, but still a new balalaika was made. But Vasily Andreev was planning something more than creating an improved balalaika. Having taken it from the people, he wanted to return it to the people and spread it. Now all soldiers serving in the service were given a balalaika, and when leaving the army, the military took the instrument with them.

Thus, the balalaika again spread throughout Russia and became one of the most popular instruments. Moreover, Andreev planned to create a family of balalaikas of different sizes, modeled on a string quartet. To do this, he gathered the masters: Paserbsky and Nalimov, and they, working together, made balalaikas: piccolo, treble, prima, second, viola, bass, double bass. From these instruments the basis of the Great Russian Orchestra was created, which subsequently traveled to countless countries around the world, glorifying the balalaika and Russian culture. It got to the point that in other countries (England, USA, Germany) orchestras of Russian folk instruments were created based on the Great Russian model.

Andreev first played in the orchestra himself, then conducted it. At the same time, he gave solo concerts, the so-called balalaika evenings. All this contributed to an extraordinary surge in the popularity of the balalaika in Russia and even beyond its borders. Moreover, Vasily Vasilyevich trained a huge number of students who also tried to support the popularization of the balalaika (Troyanovsky and others). During this period, composers finally paid attention to the balalaika. For the first time the balalaika was performed with an orchestra.

Today the instrument is going through hard times. There are few professional performers. Even in the village they forgot about the balalaika. In general, folk music is interesting to a very narrow circle of people who attend concerts or play some folk instruments. Now the most famous balalaika players are Boldyrev V.B., Zazhigin Valery Evgenievich, Gorbachev Andrey Aleksandrovich, Kuznetsov V.A., Senchurov M.I., Bykov Evgeniy, Zakharov D.A., Bezotosny Igor, Konov Vladimir Nikolaevich, Mikhail Fedotovich Rozhkov. All these people try to maintain the popularity of our great instrument and are engaged in teaching and concert activities.

In the history of the balalaika there have been ups and downs, but it continues to live and it is not for nothing that all foreigners consider it the personification of Russian culture.

Georgy Nefyodov

The name “balalaika”, or, as it was also called, “balabaika”, comes from the consonant Russian words balakat, balabonit, balabolit, balagurit, which means to chat, empty ring. These concepts convey the essence of the balalaika - a playful, light, “strumming”, not very serious instrument.

According to one version, the balalaika was invented by peasants. Gradually it spread among buffoons traveling around the country. Buffoons performed at fairs, entertained people, and earned their living. Such fun, in the opinion of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, interfered with work, and he issued a decree in which he ordered all instruments (domras, balalaikas, horns, harps, etc.) to be collected and burned. But time passed, the king died, and the balalaika began to sound again throughout the country.

Balalaika is a plucked string instrument. This is a type of lute, one of the main musical instruments of the 16th–17th centuries. The ancient balalaika did not always have a triangular shape. It could be oval or semicircular, and had two and sometimes four strings. The modern balalaika was created in 1880 by masters Paserbsky and Nalimov, commissioned by the founder of the first folk instrument orchestra and a remarkable balalaika player, Andreev. The instruments made by Nalimov remain the best sounding to this day.

The group of balalaikas in the orchestra of musical instruments has five varieties: prima, second, viola, bass and double bass. They differ in size and sound timbre. The leader of the group is the prima, who most often performs solo. They play it by clanking - making single strikes on the strings with the index finger, tremolo - by quickly alternating strikes on the strings down and up, and pizzicato - by plucking the strings. The largest of the balalaikas - the double bass - has a height of 1.7 m.

The balalaika is a common musical instrument that is studied in academic music schools.

Three strings, and what a sound!

With shimmer, alive.

I recognize him the moment -

The most Russian instrument.

(Balalaika)

What's the easiest way to get sound without using your voice? That's right - hit something with something at hand.

The history of percussion instruments goes back centuries. Primitive man beat out rhythm using stones, animal bones, wooden blocks and clay jugs. In Ancient Egypt, they knocked (played with one hand) on special wooden boards at festivals in honor of the goddess of music, Hathor. Funeral rites and prayers against disasters were accompanied by blows on the sistrum, a rattle-type instrument in the form of a frame with metal rods. In Ancient Greece, the crotalon or rattle was common; it was used to accompany dances at various festivals dedicated to the god of wine.

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