Travelling Musicians

Traveling Musicians: Kobzars or Bandurists or kobzars, were traveling musicians from many years ago who played their songs on a bandura or kobza. The first written reference to kobzars was in the 16th century. They performed a large body of works from epic-historical dumas to religious and folk songs. A duma is a song form developed by the kobzars. Dumas combine aspects of lyric-epic songs and historical poems. They are performed in a recitative style, meaning they are spoken with rhythm, and their words, or lyrics, told of historical events. Instruments, such as the bandura and kobza, accompanied the recitation. Another characteristic of dumas is that rhyming words are often used. It is no surprise that the kobzars were popular with the Cossacks and traveled with them during battles against the Turks, Tatars, and Poles. The dumas, especially those that recounted Cossack heroism and victory, were performed to raise the spirit of the men in the army. Some kobzars were captured and jailed after being accused of causing villagers to revolt against the invaders. One reason the kobzars were welcomed in the villages was that life was hard and the people liked it when they could have entertainment. The kobzars also spread news of the day from village to village and provided an accounting of the history of the country and the people.