Transcriber: Zsuzsa Viola Reviewer: Tanya Cushman
(Valentinas Krulikovskis) We both are actors.
We play in theater,
in Russian Drama Theater here in Vilnius,
and we both have the same passion.
This passion is that little musical instrument
which is called Jew's harp.
We are not professional musicians, but two years ago, we started playing it,
and now we play for our pleasure,
we perform for the public,
sometimes we take part in different musical festivals.
Slava taught children in school how to make self-made Jew's harp.
In this year,
we organized the first Jew's harper session
here in Vilnius.
In our last performance,
we combined futuristic Khlebnikov's poetry
with Jew's harp music.
In spite of Jew's harp
being a quite well-known instrument in the world,
I am sure that there are people who still think,
"Hmm, Jew's harp.
What the (Jew's harp sound) is that?
(Laughter)
Okay. Let's start from its name.
This musical instrument is called Jew's harp in English,
but the thing is
that it has nothing in common with Jews, Jewish or Judaism.
Very simply,
this name, "Jew's," came from the English word "jaw" - mouth.
So sometimes it's called jaw's harp or mouth harp.
Perhaps you will be surprised to know
that Jew's harp almost exists in every nation, in every culture,
and it has more than 900 different names.
Slava knows all of them.
(Laughter)
For example -
Slava, how it's called in China?
(Viaceslavas Lukjanovas) Khou xhiang.
(VK) In India?
(VL) Morchang.
(VK) In Russia?
(VL) Vargan.
(VK) In Norway?
(VL) Munnharpe.
(VK) Yes.
If we talk about Europe, in Germany, it's called ...
(VL) Maultrommel.
(VK) In France?
(VL) Guimbarde.
(VK) In Italy?
(VL) Marranzano.
(Laughter)
(Applause)
(VK) Marranzano.
Marranzano or scacciapensieri.
Okay.
In Hungary, it's called
(VL) Doromb.
(VK) And, of course, the place where we are here today,
in Lithuania, it's called
(VL) Dambrelis or bandūrėlis.
(VK) Yes. Dambrelis.
(Laughter)
(Applause)
Dambrelis or Jew's harp
is known as one of the oldest musical instruments in the world.
But no one knows where it actually came from.
At first, it was made of wood or bone
or something else that you can find in nature.
And it has the shape of a little plank
and looks somehow like this.
Of course, nowadays we made it from credit card.
But you can play it; it sounds.
The next level was the advent of iron.
With the advent of iron,
Jew's harp finally found its original shape.
And it sounds exactly the same as many, many ages ago.
(Jew's harp sounds)
Did you know
that you hear a sound of Jew's harp many times in your everyday life
but never realize what it actually is?
For example - Tom and Jerry cartoon.
This sound appears in almost every episode
when Tom cat is astonished.
(Jew's harp sound)
(Laughter)
(Applause)
Yes.
Or famous Disney cartoon, Winnie the Pooh,
where is character Tigger,
and when he's jumping on his spiral tail,
you can hear also
(Jew's harp sound)
(Hoo hoo. Hoo hoo hoo.)
Yes. But of course, Jew's harp, it's not a toy;
it's a musical instrument, and it's not just for fun.
The specificity of this musical instrument -
that the sound goes not from the instrument itself
but from the whole body of the one who plays on it.
You will be surprised to know, again,
that among those who played on Jew's harp
were such famous people like American President Abraham Lincoln
or it was Russian Tsar Peter the Great, Peter the First.
But if we talk about Russia in time of Stalinism,
Jew's harp in Russia was forbidden
for its close connection to shamanism.
Shamans believed that Jew's harp is like a horse
which can take you to another world, to the world of spirits.
Another interesting fact of Jew's harp history
is in 1821,
German musical instrument maker Friedrich Buschmann
invented the well-known harmonica,
mouth harmonica,
which is based on several little Jew's harps connected together.
(Jew's harp and harmonica alternating notes)
A bit later, the accordion appears, which is made by the same way.
As a result, Jew's harp, this little musical item,
was undeservedly forgotten for some time.
Nowadays, the interest in Jew's harp is increasing.
There are many different seminars, masterclasses and sessions
all over the world.
But for most people, it still remains exotic.
And we hope it will become less exotic for all of you
after our today's performance.
(Jew's harp music)
(Applause)