Milestones in Bandura History
~325 BC: Greek marble sculpture of a “pandoura” player, which is where we get the word “bandura.”
~850 AD: Painting of an early “komuz” player in Western China. The word “komuz” is related to the word “kobza,” which was loaned to Ukrainian through the Turkic languages. Up until the early 20th century, “bandura” and “kobza” were typically used as synonyms.
~1330: The Codex Cumanicus – a dictionary written in Crimea in the 14th century – records the Cumans using the word “kobuxči” to mean “musician.” This is related to the word “kobza,” and marks the word’s earliest record within the borders of modern-day Ukraine.
1441: A document listing court bandurist Rafał Taraszko in Krakow comprises one of the earliest references to the “bandura.”
15th Century: Depiction of a lute in a church in Bukovina.
1587: The oldest reference to “Dumas Russi” - Ruthenian Dumas – is found in “Annales sive De origine et rebus gestis Polonorum et Lituanorum libri octo” by Stanisław Sarnicki.
Dumas are epic songs that were typically performed on the kobza-bandura by traveling bards called “kobzars.” This text provides the earliest evidence of the kobzar tradition.
~1590: Wendelin Tieffenbrucker develops the "polyphant,” one of the earliest instruments which combines the lute and the zither, in northern Italy. It was not terribly popular and probably did not directly influence the bandura, despite their visual similarity.
1670: Depiction of an English theorbo player. The theorbo’s double-neck would influence the contrabass scroll found on the torban and some later banduras.
c.1700: Oldest surviving kobza, held in the National Museum in Kraków.
1728: One of the earliest depictions of Kozak Mamay with his kobza. At this time, we still don’t see notable differentiation between Ukrainian banduras/kobzas and European lutes.
1740: The torban – an instrument based on the theorbo – is supposedly invented by the Polish monk Tuliglowski.
There is considerable uncertainty around whether or not that 1740 date actually refers to a torban and – if it did – whether or not that torban had prystrunky.
The bent-stave design of the back of the torban probably influenced the construction of the Lviv bandura. The double-neck influenced the double-scroll found on many later banduras (including most Centore Banduras).
~1770: The earliest depiction of “prystrunky” on a bandura. This is when the bandura begins to diverge significantly from European lutes.
1775: Tsarina Catherine II liquidates the Zaporozhian Sich – the state of the Ukrainian cossacks. Before this, many kobzars were employed by the cossacks.
The now-unemployed kobzars merge with the existing “lirnyk” tradition (lira-playing bard) and become traveling musicians/beggars. While kobzars were often blind before this, they become predominantly-so after.
1840: The Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko publishes his collection of poetry entitled “Kobzar” (The Kobza Player / The Bard). He would be arrested a few years later, spending most of the rest of his life in prison or exile.
1873: Kobzar Ostap Veresai performs at the Archeological Congress in Kyiv. He was already considered one of the last of a dying tradition at this point.
Veresai was relatively unique among his peers because of his willingness to collaborate with ethnographers; most other kobzars feared that this would lead to sighted musicians stealing their repertoires and eliminating their source of income.
1876: The Russian Empire bans public performances in the Ukrainian language, effectively making the kobzar lifestyle illegal.
Late 1800s: Kobzars in the Chernihiv province – like Terentiy Parkhomenko (pictured left) – play prystrunky with their right hand and basses with the left. This would eventually develop into the modern Kyiv-style of playing.
1902: Hnat Khotkevych gathers kobzars into an ensemble which performed at an Archeological Conference in Kharkiv. This kicked off interest in the bandura among sighted musicians.
1918: The Kyiv Bandurist Capella is formed.
Early 1920s: Brothers Alex and Petro Honcharenko build their first bandura with their father, Fedir.
Mid 1920s: Chromatic strings start to be added to Kyiv-style banduras
1925: The Poltava Bandurist Capella is formed.
~1930: Hryhory Paliyivets develops the predecessor to the modern Poltavka in collaboration with Hnat Khotkevych and Volodymyr Kabachok. It is a diatonic instrument, and the first to feature semitone switches.
1935: The Kyiv and Poltava capellas merge into The Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus.
By 1938: More than half the members of the bandurist chorus are executed, arrested, or otherwise disappeared.
Hundreds of bandura players, luthiers, kobzars, and lirnyks (lira players) are executed in the Great Purge.
Among those is Fedir Honcharenko, who died in the Solovki prison camp in 1934.
1938: Hnat Khotkevych – who started the 20th century revival of the bandura and shepherded the Kharkiv bandura project – is executed.
1942: The Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus is sent to a forced labor camp in Nazi Germany, ending the Kharkiv Bandura tradition in Ukraine
1946: Alex and Petro Honcharenko take up bandura repair and construction in the Displaced Persons camps in Germany.
The brothers adapt the chromatic strings of the Kyiv bandura onto a Kharkiv bandura body, developing the modern “Poltavka”.
1949: The Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus emigrates to the United States. They are followed by the Honcharenko brothers.
1954: The Soviet Chernihiv Musical Instrument factory begins production of Kyiv-style banduras based on Ivan Skliar’s designs. They show considerable influence from piano construction, which the factory also produced. The vast majority of the world’s banduras were built in this factory between 1960-1990.
These instruments – and their attempt at making the bandura a “universal” instrument like the piano – were not always well-received in the diaspora. Zinoviy Shtokalko wrote:
“We have emphasized that the bandura is not a universal instrument. It never was, or ever wanted to be one. Attempts to make the bandura a universal instrument stem from a most unfortunate misunderstanding and the absence of the most elemental information about its traditions.”
Despite this, their availability and low-cost led to widespread adoption in the diaspora.
1955: Ivan Skliar develops the Chernihivka mechanism, the first reliable ganged bandura mechanism, meaning that a single lever adjusts the tonality across all of the prystrunky.
This ushered in a shift in Ukraine from diatonic to chromatic basses, even for the non-mechanism banduras. This change was not as popular in the diaspora, and to this day diatonic basses are more common outside Ukraine.
1956: The world’s first women’s bandura chorus – “SUMA” – is established in Detroit. They mainly play Poltavkas of the Honcharenko design (many of which were made by Yuriy Pryjmak), but in their later years a handful play Chernihiv banduras.
1962: Petro Honcharenko publishes guides for making various types of Kharkiv bandura semitone switches.
1964: The first “Lvivianka” is developed by Vasyl Herasymenko for production at the Trembita Musical Instrument factory. This is a type of Kyiv bandura, but borrows its curved back design from the torban.
The Trembita factory continues to manufacture banduras to this day.
1967: Ivan Skliar develops the Kyiv-Kharkiv bandura, an engineering masterpiece which makes it possible to play both Kyiv and Kharkiv style bandura on a single instrument, with a ganged semitone mechanism on the bridge.
Unfortunately, it is heavy, complex, quiet, and uncomfortable to play. Skliar passed in 1970, and the design was abandoned.
1968: Zinoviy Shtokalko – one of the world’s most talented Kharkiv-style bandura players – passes at 48 years old.
1979: Bill Vetzal learns how to make Kharkiv banduras from Alex Honcharenko. He becomes the world’s most prolific Kharkiv bandura maker despite not speaking any Ukrainian and not knowing how to play the instrument.
1979: Kobzarska Sich, the world’s first bandura camp, is established in Emlenton, Pennsylvania.
1982: Alex Honcharenko produces detailed blueprints and a construction guide for making Poltavkas. These designs become a de-facto standard in the diaspora.
As Alex said in a 1984 interview:
“And now, in the twilight of my years, I would like to pass all this on to the younger generation, so that they might craft banduras that they would be proud to show off.”
Centore Banduras are a direct descendent of these blueprints.
1984: Hryhory Kytasty – longtime directory of the Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus – passes.
1984: Vasyl Herasymenko develops the modern ganged bandura mechanism, an improvement over earlier mechanisms, and the only one still manufactured.
This mechanism moved the levers out of the way, making it easier to play with the left hand over the top (though still nowhere near as comfortable as on a Kharkiv bandura). Multiple levers can be moved at one time, speeding up key changes.
It also added saddles to improve the string break angle and to make it easier to regulate.
1991: Ukraine declares independence
Production at the Chernihiv Musical Instrument factory soon slows to a crawl. It struggles to survive without Soviet subsidies.
2000: The Chernihiv Musical Instrument factory declares bankruptcy and shuts down. Its buildings are abandoned.
2004: Bill Vetzal develops the world’s first composite bandura, made of fiberglass
2015: The Women’s Bandura Ensemble of North America is established to bring together talented, female bandurists.
2022: Danylo Centore spends a week with Bill Vetzal learning how to build Kharkiv banduras.