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Concept
Gusle
Summary
The gusle (гусле) or lahuta (lahutë) is a single-stringed musical instrument (and musical style) traditionally used in the Dinarides region of Southeastern Europe (in the Balkans). The instrument is always accompanied by singing; musical folklore, specifically epic poetry. The gusle player holds the instrument vertically between his knees, with the left hand fingers on the strings. The strings are never pressed to the neck, giving a harmonic and unique sound.
Singing to the accompaniment of the Gusle as a part of Serbia's intangible cultural heritage was inscribed in 2018 on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO.
There is no consensus about the origin of the instrument. 7th-century Byzantine Greek historian Theophylact Simocatta ( 630) wrote about "small lyres" brought by the Slavs who settled the Balkans; some researchers believe that this might have been the gusle. Others, such as F. Sachs, believe that the gusle has an Oriental origin, brought to Europe in the 10th century via the Islamic cultural wave. Arab travellers report evidence that the Slavs used the gusle in the 10th century. Teodosije the Hilandarian (1246–1328) wrote that Stefan Nemanjić (r. 1196–1228) often entertained the Serbian nobility with musicians with drums and "gusle". Reliable written records about the gusle appear only in the 15th century. 16th-century travel memoirs mention the instrument in Bosnia and Serbia. In the 19th- and 20th century the instrument is mentioned in Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Croatia and Albania where it is called Lahuta.
The word Gusle comes from the Old Slavic word "gosl" for fiber. The Old Slavic root morpheme gǫdsli (Russian gúsli, slovak husle, Czech housle, Slovenian gósli) is associated with guditi/gósti, or gudalo/godalo, related to onomatopoeia for a low resonating sound; cf. gu(n)delj/гу(н)дељ = cockchafer, which makes such sound when flying.
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