Shawms

Shawms

The rauschpfeifein A is a reed instrument in the form of a conical pipe with playing apertures and a double-reed. The iconographic sources show the presence of the German rauschpfeifes in Belarus since the 17th c. Stary Olsa uses the rauschpfeife by German master Jens Güntzel. 

The shawm with a single-reed is a wooden reed instrument in the form of a pipe with playing holes with the reed enclosed in a spherical windcap. It had regional and occasional distinctions in its design. It was known in Belarus (having various names, e.g. sapiolka, sopĺ, piščalka, etc.) in the 12th–17th c.
Stary Olsa uses three shawms in G and two shawms in D by Belarusian master Todar Kashkurevich.

The pommer in D is a double-reed woodwind instrument with a double reed. It was popular in Europe at the end of XIII century - early XVII century. This instrument is made from a single piece of wood, a cylinder with a conical expansion-bell, has 7-10 holes and one to change the register (usually with the left hand thumb).
Stary Olsa uses the pommer by Belarusian master Aleksandr Surba.

A fragment of an engraving, the portrait Mars and Victory Favours Us, early 17th c.
A miniature fragment of the Radzivills’ Chronicle Demons play in Monk Isaiah’s Cell , 15th-16th c.
A fragment of a miniature the Radzivills’ Chronicle Games and Dances of Northern Peoples, 15th-16th c.
A fragment of the fresco Christ In Praetorium of St. Trinity Chapel, 15th c., Lublin, Poland, painted by Belarusian masters under auspices of artist Andrej
Would you like to have Belarusian shawms and learn to play? Contact us: staryolsa.official@gmail.com with a title of your mail 'Belarusian shawm'.