The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-02-14
From the St. Louis Times.

"HAT the Russians are a music-lov- ing folk is known to us-that their
 4 music has individuality and unusual
 qualities is also known, but we have yet in the United States to become familiar
 with the instruments which create the weird, fantastic tunes for the peasants of the steppes the shepherds of the Caucasus and the boatmen on the Volga. It is the heart of great nation put Into
 music, which speaks through the strings
 of these instruments, rescued from ob-
 scurity and brought to their present per lection through the labor of one man, w. W. Andreeff, who will appear here as a
 conductor of the Imperial Russian Court
 Balalaika orchestra.
 The novel instruments used by this orchestra are mainly of the stringed va riety. and although finer in quality of tone, they resemble in some degree the tamburzine of the Slavs, and the man-
 dolin and lute of the Italians. They fall
 into two groups, the balalaika and the
 domra, with the dulcimer for third
 instrument.
 In the free translation balalaika means ancient instrument. It was found in
 the central and northern portions of
 Russia, which comprise the ancient Mus
 covite kingdom. The natives made it from ordinary deal the body triangular in shape, with long neck, the accords of catgut, adjusted when the player wished, either to the minor or the major scale,
 and from five to seven in number. It has xt, Tv,; ;,,,pr ha ha a ilxa MT Andreeff created an instrument high CT in quality of material, of regular shape and dimensions, and arranged a regular neck or finger board with per-
 manent metal accords in chromatic order.
 The type of the instrument, however, and the methods of playing were left un-
 changed. In restoring the balalaika, MT. Andreeff arranged a series of the instru-
 ments, forming a quintet consisting of prima, secundo, viola, bass and double bass All these instruments, with the ex- ception of the prima, are played pizzi- cato, but the prima, in addition to the
 pinch, is played by striking the strings
 evenly with the fingers of the right hand. The second group of these unusual in- struments are the domra. The balalaika was in degree a modification of the
 domra, and while the latter probably ante
 dated it, the domra never gained such popularity with the people as did the
 balalaika. The domra was, however,
 much used in the Sixteenth century, and
 MT. Andreeff found 1t in its original | form in viatka and restored 1t to the Russian nation It was made with a round sounding board with flat base, and the materials were of deal. with cat gut accords.
 The improved instrument made no sub- Tstantial change in the shape, except that round base was substituted for the because 1t was easier to fashion. The
 method of playing with a mediator was left unchanged. In the group of these in- struments the conductor arranged a sex tet-piccolo, prima, viola. tenor, bass and double bass. They resemble somewhat the mandola and differ only in altitude and size.
 Musicians in America are more familiar
 with the ducimer than the other instru-
 ments which will be brought here by the Imperial Russian Court Balalaika or.
 chestra It was taken into Russia and
 used soon after it's appearance in western
 Europe. It differs widely from the in- struments of the same class. such as the cithara and cymbal. Originally there
 were two methods of playing the dulcimer the most ancient, by striking the strings
 with the palm of the right hand while the fingers of the left hand were deadenine
 the strings not required to sound in the
 accord. This type possesses from to 1a
 metal strings.
 The second type had from 20 to 30 cat
 gut strings and was played with the fin gers of both hands. like the harp. The third type had five octaves of , metal strings. These instruments were
 played like the second type by pinchins and twanging the strings. The instru- ment is remarkable for It's beautiful and
 strong tones, but as they required special technical skill proved unsuitable for the
 masses in Russia, for whom MT. Andreeff
 was doing the work of regeneration with the national musical instrument He, therefore. created new variety of the
 instrument to serve his purpose. It in-