STROH VIOLIN
OR PHONO VIOLIN (VIOARA CU GOARNĂ OR HIGHÈGHE)
Stroh
violin or phono violin (viora
cu goarnã or highèghe)
Jelu
Covaci, village in Bălnaca,
Bihor region
1998
Violin
– wood, soundbox
– brass
Violin :
61 cm x 12 cm
H :9 cm
Le (soundbox) : 39 cm
D : 12 cm
Bow : 65 cm x 2 cm
Museum of the Romanian Peasant
The Stroh violin
or phono violin (vioara cu goarnă) can be found only in a few villages
and towns in the tiny region of Transylvania, called Bihor. The
body of a violin has been replaced by a mechanism consisting of
a diaphragm (previously a phonograph amplifier) fitted into a small
round box and connected to a trumpet or bugle bell (previously a
phonograph bell). As the bow makes the strings move, they in turn
make the bridge vibrate, transmitting the vibrations to the diaphragm
which amplifies and expands them through the soundbox. The vioara
cu goarnă has a nasal and penetrating sound, much louder than the
standard violin (called a vioară dulce or "soft violin" in the region)
which it has supplanted over the course of the century.
Amateur musicians play the vioara cu goarnă (country people play
it at home) but professional popular musicians also use it in
their groups called taraf. Some buskers who play at fairs and
in other Romanian regions, also use it. (In the photo from the Note Book, we see
Dumitru Vrânceanu from the village of Berzunti in Moldavia). On
festive occasions in Bihor (weddings, Sunday dances, baptisms,
etc.), their songs and dance tunes (like Pe picior, Poarga and
Mănăntelul) are accompanied by the beating of a large tambourine
(dobă) and possibly by the rhythmic playing of the double-stringed
contră (in this audio recording, a regular violin).
A few craftsmen still make the Stroh violin. The best known makers
today come from the village of Rosia. They sell their violins
from home or at big country fairs.
