balalaika
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balalaika
Balalaika
Russian stringed pizzicato instrument. As a rule the body is triangular in shape; the neck has frets and three strings (in earlier models, two). The sound is produced chiefly by strumming all strings with the index finger of the right hand and by plucking separate strings. In the 18th and 19th centuries it was widely used as a solo and ensemble instrument and to accompany singing. In the 1880’s it was perfected by V. V. Andreev and the instrumental masters F. S. Paserbskii and S. I. Nalimov. The family of balalaikas created later forms the basis of Russian folk instruments orchestras. Outstanding performers on the balalaika were V. V. Andreev, B. S. Troianovskii (1883–1951), N. P. Osipov (1896–1945), and P. I. Necheporenko (born in 1916). Major works for balalaika written by Soviet composers include concertos for balalaika and orchestra by S. N. Vasilenko, M. M. Ippolitov-Ivanov, and others.
REFERENCES
Babkin, B. “Balalaika: Ocherki istorii ee razvitiia i usovershen-stvovaniia.” Russkaia muzykal’naia gazeta,1896, nos. 6–7, 9.Sokolov, F. V. Russkaia narodnaia balalaika. Moscow, 1962.
K. A. VERTKOV