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Fujara UNESCO

Fujara UNESCO

Fujara
musical INSTRUMENT and Its Music

Candidature for Its Proclamation as Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity

Submitted by Pro Musica Bratislava, Slovakia  2004

1. Identification
a) Member state Slovakia
b) Name and the form of culthural expression
Fujara – musical instrument and its music
c) Name of the community
Inhabitants of Podpoľanie – the Central area of Slovakia and its neighboring regions.
d) Geographic location and forms of cultural expression:
–  The town of Detva and neighboring villages and towns. 
–  Association of Slovak Fujara Players, Hriňová-Korytárky 313, Sk-96204, Slovakia.
–  Competitions of Fujara playing at the Podpoľanie folklore festival and other locations in central Slovakia – as Východná, Zvolen, Hriňová, Očová, Kokava nad Rimavicou and others.
– Festival of fujara and fujara player held yearly in June in Detva-Korytárky.
Location of the communities concerned See maps 1, 2 and 3.
e) Frequency of the form of cultural expression Throughout the whole year, but mainly from spring to autumn played by shepherds, as well as on performances executed at festivals, namely in Detva,
Východná, Heľpa, Kokava nad Rimavicou and others, with about 60 fujara makers, producing yearly 300 – 400 instruments.
f) Organization and persons responsible in the community involved:
– Association of Slovak Fujara Players (Spolok slovenských fujarášov) Hriňová-Korytárky 
– Tutorial Center of Podpoľanie (Podpolianske osvetové stredisko), Zvolen.
– Pro Musica, Bratislava.
Persons responsible
– Roman Malatinec, President of the Association of Slovak Fujara Players, Hriňová-Korytárky 313, SK-96204 Slovakia. Further persons involved
in the presidium of the association: Karol Kočík (Kováčová) the past president a.o.
– PhDr. Igor Danihel, director of the Tutorial Center of Podpoľanie (Podpolianske osvetové stredisko), Bystrický rad 1, 96026 Zvolen.
– Prof. PhDr. Oskár Elschek, DrSc., past Chairman of the Ethnomusicological Department of the Institute of Musicology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Beskydská 6, 811 05 Bratislava, and member of the Institute of Ethnology, University of Sc. Cyril and Method, Nám. J. Herdu 2. 917 01 Trnava.
– Prof. PaedDr. Bernard Garaj, CSc., Katedra etnológie a etnomuzikológie (Institute of ethnology and ethnomusicology), University of Constantine the Philosopher, Hodžová 1, 94974 Nitra.
– Ing. Miroslav Ruttkay Dauko, director of Pro Musica, L. Dérera 10, 83101 Bratislava.

2. DESCRIPTION
a) Description of the cultural space and form of cultural expression

The instrument

The fujara is an extreme long flute with three finger holes, which is distributed exclusively in Slovakia, concentrated in its appearance in central Slovakia. The proper tube of the flute has prevailingly the length of 160 – 200 cm, and is supplemented by a shorter tube, 50 – 80 cm long, with the function of canalizing the airflow to the edge of the proper large bass flute. The large tube has an open end
and is in the upper part closed. The smaller tube is closed on both sides. The small tube has two mouthpieces in order to lead the airflow into the split of the block of the large flute. (See the construction of he fujara in a drawn scheme Fig. 3. and in an X-ray photograph Fig. 4). The fujara has a special construction in its head in order to concentrate the inflation pressure in the most economic
and effective mode for the sound production. The instrument has always only three widely spaced finger holes, positioned in the nether part of the fujara (see Fig. 5). The fujara is known and almost exclusively played as a single flute, but was traditionally
built also as a large symmetrically or asymmetrically constructed double flute. Infrequent is the so-called little fujara or “piccolo”, built as to the length of 100 – 120 cm. For the fujara elder, maple trees as well as other wood (acacia, arrow etc.) is used.