Sopilka (, ) is a name applied to a variety of

woodwind instrument Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and ...

s of the end-blown

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

family used by Ukrainian folk instrumentalists. ''Sopilka'' most commonly refers to a

fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

made of a variety of materials (but traditionally out of

elderberry ''Sambucus'' is a genus of between 20 and 30 species of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae. The various species are commonly referred to as elder, with the flowers as elderflower, and the fruit as elderberry. Description Elders are most ...

viburnum ''Viburnum'' is a genus of about 150–175 species of flowering plants in the moschatel family, Adoxaceae. Its current classification is based on molecular phylogeny. It was previously included in the honeysuckle family Caprifoliaceae. The memb ...

wood) and has six to ten finger holes. The term is also used to describe a related set of folk instruments similar to recorder, incorporating a fipple and having a constricted end. Sopilkas are used by a variety of Ukrainian folkloric ensembles recreating the traditional music of the various sub-ethnicities in western Ukraine, most notably that of the

Hutsuls The Hutsuls (Hutsul/; ; ) are an East Slavic ethnic group spanning parts of western Ukraine and northern Romania (i.e. parts of Bukovina and Maramureș). In Ukraine, they have often been officially and administratively designated a subgro ...

of the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...

. Often employing several sopilkas in concert, a skilled performer can mimic a variety of sounds found in nature, including bird-calls and insects.

History

Sopilka is one of the oldest music instruments: the earliest known sopilka ever found is made of

mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus.'' They lived from the late Miocene epoch (from around 6.2 million years ago) into the Holocene until about 4,000 years ago, with mammoth species at various times inhabi ...

bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

and is from the

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

age. It is also depicted in many

11th century The 11th century is the period from 1001 (represented by the Roman numerals MI) through 1100 (MC) in accordance with the Julian calendar, and the 1st century of the 2nd millennium. In the history of Europe, this period is considered the early ...

's stories and paintings, such as a

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv The Saint Sophia Cathedral (, або Софія Київська) in Kyiv, Ukraine, is an Architecture of Kyivan Rus, architectural monument of Kievan Rus'. The former cathedral is one of the city's best known landmarks and the first heritage sit ...

. At first, it used to be solely a folk instrument, played by

shepherd A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...

s or by trios (named ) and sometimes played during

wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

s. It is also cited in the

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

'' The Forest Song'' by Lesya Ukrainka.

Modern usage

With the development of the 10 hole fingering instruments in 1967, sopilkas became part of the music education system in Ukraine. Pop groups began to use the instrument in their performances. The first was the

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

group

Kobza The kobza (), also called bandura () is a Ukrainian folk music instrument of the lute family (Hornbostel-Sachs classification number 321.321-5+6), a relative of the Central European mandora. The term ''kobza'' however, has also been applied to ...

. More recently, the sopilka has found its way into the music of singer Ruslana, folk rock band Haydamaky, speed folk group Kubasonics,

folktronica Folktronica is a genre of indie electronic music comprising various elements of folk music and electronica, often featuring uses of acoustic instruments—especially stringed instruments—deploying hip hop, electronic or dance rhythms, and ...

bands Onuka and Kazka, and flautist from the folktronica groups Go_A and Kalush.

Varieties

There are many types of flute-like instruments in Ukraine. Some varieties include dentsivka (including dvodentsivka and pivtoradentsivka), dudka-vykrutka, floyara, floyarka, frilka, telenka, and zubivka.

Gallery

References

Sources

*Dverij, R. –
Shkola hry na khromatychnii sopiltsi
' - Lviv, 2008. - Part 1 - 72 pages, part 2 - 68 pages, part 3 - 64 pages. *Humeniuk, A. – ''Ukrainski narodni muzychni instrumenty'' - Kyiv:

Naukova dumka Naukova Dumka ( — literally "scientific thought") is a publishing house in Kyiv, Ukraine. It was established by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine in 1922, largely owing to the efforts of Ahatanhel Krymsky, a prominent Ukrainian ling ...

, 1967 *Mizynec, V. – ''Ukrainian Folk Instruments'' - Melbourne: Bayda books, 1984 *Cherkaskyi, L. – ''Ukrainski narodni muzychni instrumenty'' - Tekhnika, Kyiv, Ukraine, 2003 - 262 pages.

External links

Ukrainian Folk Wind Instruments

Samples and Pictures of Ukrainian Instruments
{{Authority control End-blown flutes Ukrainian musical instruments