Pchelovodova, I. V. TRADITIONAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF THE UDMURTS: THE EXPERIENCE OF STAGE PERFORMANCE. Proceedings of Petrozavodsk State University. 2025;47(3):19. DOI: 10.15393/uchz.art.2025.1170


BUBRIKHOV READINGS: TRADITIONS AND INNOVATIONS IN THE STUDY OF FINNO-UGRIC LANGUAGES AND CULTURES

TRADITIONAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF THE UDMURTS: THE EXPERIENCE OF STAGE PERFORMANCE

Pchelovodova
I. V. 		Udmurt Federal Research Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Keywords:
Udmurts
musical instruments
tradition
transformations
ethnoorganology
ethnomusicology		 Summary: Contemporary ethnoorganology pays special attention to the study of traditional musical instruments of various ethnic groups in the context of related sciences such as ethnography, ethnomusicology, anthropology, archeology, and cultural studies. The study of a wide range of issues related to the traditional use of tools includes, among otherthings, consideration of its current state. Today, the instrumental tradition is undergoing changes. This is especially true for performance practice, as instruments move from their original environment to the stage, leading to significant and minor transformations. It was this aspect that became the basis for the presented research on the instrumental culture of the Udmurts. The focus is on four instruments that, due to their special significance in the Udmurt tradition, deserve special attention: krez (helmet-shaped gusli), kubyz (three-stringed bowed instrument), uzygumy (longitudinal overtone flute), and chipchirgan (natural longitudinal pipe). As the published and expedition materials show, all these instru- ments have lost their traditional function, but they have found a new life on stage. Being acoustic in nature, they require sound amplification using additional technical means that do not always accurately convey their timbral coloring. This prompted the Udmurt master and performer, Evgeny Bikuzin, to create an electronic-sounding kubyz. The instruments themselves and the repertoire of the performed works also undergo changes depending on the tasks of the performer or the team. These changes relate to the shape of instruments (e. g., kubyz or pyzhkrez) as well as the playing techniques (e. g., krez). The biggest transformations today are observed in women learning to play traditionally “male” musical instruments (e. g., kubyz, uzygumy or chipchirgan).



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