Frula

The frula (pronounced [frǔla], Serbian Cyrillic: фрула), also known as svirala (свирала) or jedinka, is a musical instrument which resembles a medium sized flute, traditionally played in rural Southeast Europe, primarily South Slavic countries. It is an end-blown aerophone with six holes, typically made of wood. The frula is a traditional instrument of South Slavic shepherds, who would play while tending their flocks.

Frula
A frula, in the collections of the Toplice National Museum, Prokuplje, Serbia.
Classification
Related instruments
see list

For a list of similar instruments, see the section below.

Names

In Croatia, it is also commonly known as "jedinka".[1] Other local names in Croatia include žveglica, šaltva, kavela, ćurlik.[2] In English, the instrument has also simply been called the "Serbian flute".[3][4]

Overview

The frula is a small wooden flute with six holes.[5] In rural Southeast Europe, the frula was played by shepherds while tending their flocks.[5] It is a traditional instrument of Serbia,[6] one of several aerophones used for leisure time, rituals, or accompanying the kolo (circle dance), along with long flutes (duduk, cevara), the double flute (dvojnice), and the bag-pipe (gajde).[7]

Legacy

There are many events dedicated to the frula, such as the Prva pastirska frula in Jagnjilo, Dani Save Jeremića in Ražanj, sabori frulaša in Lelić and Prislonica, takmičenja frulaša in Iđoš, and Frula fest in Kruševac.[8]

A popular Serbian folk song is Ej čija frula[9] ("O, whose frula"), recorded by, among others, Braća Bajić, Radiša Urošević and Cune Gojković.

Other similar flutes

References
  1. Rad kongresa. 1981. p. 334.
  2. Danica. Hrvatsko književno društvo sv. Ćirila i Metoda. 1951. Sviraljka s usnama »jedinka« (svirala, žveglica, šaltva, kavela, ćurlik, to su samo neka njezina lokalna imena)
  3. Scribner's Magazine. Charles Scribner's Sons. 1922. p. 269.
  4. Charles Austin Beard (1930). Toward Civilization. Longmans, Green and Company. p. 275.
  5. Christopher Deliso (2009). Culture and Customs of Serbia and Montenegro. Greenwood Press. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-313-34436-7.
  6. Dragoljub Zamurović; Ilja Slani; Madge Phillips-Tomašević (2002). Serbia: life and customs. ULUPUDS. p. 188. ISBN 9788682893059.
  7. Don Michael Randel (2003). The Harvard Dictionary of Music. Harvard University Press. pp. 771–. ISBN 978-0-674-01163-2.
  8. "Edukativna radionica za zaštitu frulaške prakse AJ, ČIJA FRULA PO UNESKU SVIRA". Archived from the original on 2015-04-08. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  9. NIN: nedeljne informativne novine. Politika. 1996. p. 6. а чувена је она српска пе- сма ових простора „Еј, чија фрула овим шором свира"
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