Gajdica

Gajdica belongs to the group of reed aerophones and, hence, within the category of Slovak instruments, to the group that includes all types of bagpipes. The reason is the same principle of tone creation and playing practice. Gajdica is thus a full-fledged part of the widely developed pipers’ tradition in Slovakia. It is a seven-hole cylindrical clarinet-type instrument that uses a single reed. It is produced by drilling haze, elder or maple-tree wood and its length reaches 35–45cm. Its body consists of three parts: the whistling element called perdzavka, the melodic reed called gajdica, and the cow horn referred to as ruh. There are six holes cut on the top part of the melodic reed, the seventh being on the back side. The sound of the instrument is extremely penetrating, rich, and its natural tuning significantly influenced the singing expression of the players especially in the past. The gajdica players of the Upper Šariš region have largely contributed to the existence and preservation of gajdica and its musical expression and style. There is unfortunately a lack of information about the origin, deeper history, and territorial expansion of this instrument; however, the oldest mentions date back to the turn of the 19th and 20th century, coming from the municipalities of Kamenica and Lúčka- Potoky (today’s Sabinov District). From there, gajdica has gradually expanded to other municipalities of the Upper Torysa region with a strong shepherding tradition. The most significant and the oldest known gajdica player was Andrej Mizerák (1897 – 1977) from the municipality of Lúčka-Potoky, who contributed throughout his entire life to the preservation and promotion of gajdica as well as to the training of other players of this instrument. The basis of the playing repertoire of this instrument consists of shepherds’ songs, individual instrumental melodies, and signals. The segment of the odzemok type of dance melodies is also important; however, gajdica is most frequently used for the musical accompaniment of the unique shepherds’ culture dance, commonly referred to as Ofči zdich (Sheep’s Perish). The ancient gajdice tradition is naturally influenced by innovations: one of the most significant one is attributed to Alexander Gernát, who created a double gajdica (dvojgajdica) in 1976, following the philosophy of gajdica playing in terms of style and aesthetics. The specific character of gajdica, its inspiring nature and viability is manifested through the growing number of gajdice players, who nowadays present this instrument and its music culture on the folklore scene. The folklore group of Ján Lazorík from Krivany uses gajdica as an accompanying instrument for its dancing and theatrical performances.