Kobzar guilds
Encyclopedia
Kobzar guilds
Regional organizations of kobzar
s and lirnyk
s were widespread in the mid-19th century. Modeled on artisans' guilds, they protected their members' interests. Every brotherhood had its own secret traditions and regulations. Its members collectively chose as their centre a church, for which they bought icons, candles, and oil. They met at the church on certain holy days to attend requiem services for deceased members and to settle urgent matters. In the spring they secretly gathered elsewhere (usually the forests near Brovari outside Kiev
) to elect their officers, to define the territory on which individual kobzars could operate, and to initiate new members according to a prescribed ritual. If necessary, the elected leader (pan otets) would call additional meetings. To become a member one had to have a physical handicap, to study kobza
playing with a master (usually for at least two years), and to obtain permission (vyzvilka) to perform independently, to know the kobzars' lebiiskyi language, and to pay dues regularly.
A member who had violated a brotherhood's moral code was tried by a brotherhood's court. The severest punishment was ostracism. Lesser transgressors were whipped or fined. A member who chose to marry received a dowry from the brotherhood's treasury and was thereafter addressed in the polite second person plural by other members. If members caught a kobzar performing who had not received a vyzvilka, they destroyed his instrument, and he was fined and even beaten. The brotherhoods propagated the idea that kobzars were not beggars but professional artists, and instilled a sense of pride among their members; e.g., in asking or waiting for a reward, a member was forbidden to fall to his knees.
Regional organizations of kobzar
Kobzar
A Kobzar was an itinerant Ukrainian bard who sang to his own accompaniment.-Tradition:Kobzars were often blind, and became predominantly so by the 1800s...
s and lirnyk
Lirnyk
The lirnyk was an itinerant Ukrainian musician who performed religious, historical and epic songs to the accompaniment of a lira, the Ukrainian version of the hurdy-gurdy....
s were widespread in the mid-19th century. Modeled on artisans' guilds, they protected their members' interests. Every brotherhood had its own secret traditions and regulations. Its members collectively chose as their centre a church, for which they bought icons, candles, and oil. They met at the church on certain holy days to attend requiem services for deceased members and to settle urgent matters. In the spring they secretly gathered elsewhere (usually the forests near Brovari outside Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
) to elect their officers, to define the territory on which individual kobzars could operate, and to initiate new members according to a prescribed ritual. If necessary, the elected leader (pan otets) would call additional meetings. To become a member one had to have a physical handicap, to study kobza
Kobza
The kobza is a Ukrainian folk music instrument of the lute family , a relative of the Central European mandora...
playing with a master (usually for at least two years), and to obtain permission (vyzvilka) to perform independently, to know the kobzars' lebiiskyi language, and to pay dues regularly.
A member who had violated a brotherhood's moral code was tried by a brotherhood's court. The severest punishment was ostracism. Lesser transgressors were whipped or fined. A member who chose to marry received a dowry from the brotherhood's treasury and was thereafter addressed in the polite second person plural by other members. If members caught a kobzar performing who had not received a vyzvilka, they destroyed his instrument, and he was fined and even beaten. The brotherhoods propagated the idea that kobzars were not beggars but professional artists, and instilled a sense of pride among their members; e.g., in asking or waiting for a reward, a member was forbidden to fall to his knees.
Sources
- Мішалов, В. і М. Українські кобзарі-бандуристи – Сідней, Австралія, 1986 - 106с.
- Самчук, У. - Живі струни - Детройт, США, 1976 (468с.)