tradicija/ tradition
T he gusle’s music is typical for these hilly regions of the Balkans, and it is an instrument filled with sym- bolism. Most commonly made of maple wood, which represents the cult of ancestry, with a maple leaf in the form of a cross carrying a message of Christianity. “Since childhood I listened to gusle play- ers in Bijelo Polje and the surrounding area, in myhomeregion,wheretheguslewasplayed during festivities. I recall as one of the most beautiful days that day when I 12 years old and I received my first gusle as a gift. And I keep them all and never tire of them. Their sound brings me serenity, grace, positive en- ergy, relaxation...”says Goran Grba (50), a gu- sle teacher at the school of traditional sing- ing to the accompaniment of the gusle of the Serdar Janko Vukotić Gusle Player Soci- ety in Belgrade, which has been support- ed by the Serbian Ministry of Culture and the City of Belgrade Secretariat for Culture. He works as a forensic officer for the police and lives in Lazarevac. He has spent over 35 years as a gusle player and has been awardedatguslecompetitionsinSerbia,Bos- nia’s Republika Srpska, Montenegro and among the diaspora. “My joy while I play the gusle is con- stantly increasing! The gusle has played an important role in the history of Serbian ep- ic poetry, because gusle players were like minstrel folk singers, singing of events from the history of the nation for centuries, while verses were not written down. According to a folk proverb: Whoever the gusle sings of is wearing a halo, and whoever it tears apart cannot be fixed by any doctor. We proudly preserve the history of the Serbs in the gusle.” Free double lessons are held on the premises of the Society on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 5pm. There is no limit on the number of participants or their age and gender. The school has secured several gu- sles for teaching purposes, but it is recom- mended that students purchase their own. “It isn’t only men who play the gusle, nor is it loved only by middle-aged people and those in their later years. Among the train- ees are women and men aged from seven to 77, of various professions, interests, tem- peraments... Every gusle player sings in their own style and at their own tempo, while it’s important to have a talent for acting due to the interpretation of verses.” As an instrument of steppe nations, its older roots originate in Central Asia. Its most closely related instruments in terms of ap- pearance and sound are the Mongolian mor- in khuur and Tuvan igil. The gusle can also be found in Syria, while the Western Slavic Lužički Serbs, or Sorbs, have a string instru- ment called the husle. Serbs who convert- ed to Islam sang of Muslim heroes to the ac-
companiment of the gusle. This custom has almost been forgotten. “Guslanje means“singing”, i.e. speaking or reciting epic verses while playing on the instrument. There is no note for the gusle. Countless tones can be played on them. It consists of a sound box - pelvis, covered with an animal skin. It is connected to a long neck that ends in the shape of the carved head of a horse, eagle or hawk. The bow is most commonly in the form of a snake - a symbol of highland anger. The strings for the gusle and bow are made from complex arrange- ments of the hair of a horse’s tail.” Gusles should be marked by the own- er. The craftsman makes them according to his own style, but each gusle player needs to feel which one is right for him. Provided they are carefully protected, they will last forever. The bow is drawn over tightened wires, producing a sharp and dramatic sound that’s veryexpressive.Whenbeingplayed,thebody of the gusle is placed on the knees or in the lap, while the instrument’s neck is held in the palm of one hand. “The decasyllable poetic meter is the basis of singing alongside the gusle. Sing- ers also sing octosyllabic verse, while epic poems are performed by male and, much rarer, female singing groups. Such poems can have anywhere from 20 to 200 verses. Among the poems with around 800 verses are Njegoš’s famous Mountain Wreath and The Ray of The Microcosm. Thanks to the devotion of writer, Slavic expert and ethnol- ogist Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, many Serbi- an epic poems were written down and pre- served at the start of the 19 th century. Gusle players sang of the heroes of the Battle of Kosovo and other national battles, Saint Sa- va, the members of the Nemanjić, Obreno- vić and Karađorđević dynasties, Gavrilo Prin- cip, Nikola Tesla, Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović, Patriarch Pavle et al. Lovers of gusle music claim that time is the best solution: endure or disappear.” Savez guslara Srbije osnovan je 1923. godine u Beogradu i broji oko 2.000 guslara iz oko stotinu guslarskih društava The Association of Gusle Players of Serbia was founded in 1923 in Belgrade and numbers around 2,000 gusle players from around a hundred gusle societies
– karlice, presvučene kožom. Na nju se nadovezuje dugačak vrat sa završetkom u obliku izrezbarene glave konja, orla ili sokola. Gudalo je najčešće u obliku zmije – sim- bol gorštačke ljutine. Žice (stru- ne) za gusle i gudalo su od ured- no složenih dlaka konjskog repa. Gusle treba da su obeležje vla- snika. Majstor ih napravi u svom sti- lu, ali svaki guslar treba da oseti ko- je su prave za njega. Ako se brižljivo čuvaju, nemaju rok trajanja. Gudalo se povlači po zategnu- tim žicama, proizvodeći oštar i dra- matičan zvuk, vrlo ekspresivan. Pri sviranju telo gusala se polaže na ko- lena ili u krilo, dok se vrat instru-
menta pridržava dlanom jedne ruke. – Deseterac je osnova pevanja uz gusle. Pevaju se i osmerci, a ep- ske pesme izvode i muške i mnogo ređe ženske pevačke grupe. Pesme mogu da imaju od 20 do oko 200 stihova. Među delima od oko 800 stihova su čuveni Njegoševi Gor- ski vijenac i Luča mikrokozma . Za- laganjem pisca, slaviste i etnologa Vuka Stefanovića Karadžića mno- ge srpske epske pesme zapisane su i sačuvane početkom 19. veka. Guslari su opevali junake Kosov- ske bitke i drugih narodnih boje- va, Svetog Savu, članove dinastija Nemanjić, Obrenović, Karađorđe- vić, Gavrila Principa, Nikolu Teslu, vladiku Nikolaja Velimirovića, pa- trijarha Pavla... Ljubitelji guslarstva tvrde da je vreme najbolje rešeto: opstaće ili nestati.
Zalaganjem pisca, slaviste i etnologa Vuka Stefanovića Karadžića mnoge su srpske epske pesme zapisane Thanks to the devotion of writer, Slavic Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, many Serbian epic poems were written down expert and ethnologist
90 |
Made with FlippingBook interactive PDF creator