This past weekend (28-30 November) I had the pleasure of being invited as a speaker and competition participant at «The 44th competition in playing herring instruments», in Ciechanowiec in Poland, together with a small and very competent Norwegian delegation: Sylvelin Sevilhaug, Arne Petter Ødelund, Cecilie Røed, Rune Nyby, Erik Veflingstad and myself. The festival is organised by the Agricultural Museum in Ciechanowiec and is an important meeting place for performers and instrument makers working with traditional herding instruments from Poland and neighbouring countries.
The Festival (Konkurs Gry na Instrumentach Pasterskich im. Kazimierza Uszyńskiego) is an annual international competition and festival in Ciechanowiec in the Podlasie region of Poland, organised by the Agricultural Museum named after the priest Krzysztof Kluk. The competition originated in the 1970s to rescue from oblivion the tradition of playing the ligawka; a long wooden horn and a relative of the Norwegian lur. In Podlasie, ligawka has over time been closely linked to Advent, because it heralds the start of Advent. Over time, the competition has expanded to include several types of shepherding and pastoral instruments (ligawki, bazuny, trombity and the like), and today attracts 150-200 performers from different parts of Poland and neighbouring countries.
Lecture on Norwegian shepherd instruments
Friday 28 November was set aside for a day of lectures and workshops with instrument makers from Finland, Norway, Switzerland and Poland. I gave a talk about the many Norwegian shepherd's and pasture instruments - about how they are built, the traditions surrounding their use and how they have been given new life today.
Same evening Minna Hokka held an exciting presentation about the Finnish herding instruments, and Mike Maurer from Switzerland talked about the history and development of the alphorn. It was both educational and inspiring to see how many similarities there are between the different traditions, and how different solutions we have found to the same challenges.
Concert with Norwegian instruments
On Saturday 29 November, it was time for both the concert and the competition. The Norwegian delegation, representing the Norwegian lur and bukkehorn society, presented a varied and wide-ranging programme of tunes, lullabies, songs and dance. The audience heard both lurs and bukkehorns playing solo and together, in addition to mouth harp, horn flute, Meråker clarinet, flishorn, willow flute and rune drum.
Competition on flishorn and Meråker clarinet
The Saturday continued with competitions in various instrument categories. I participated in two categories:
- Shepherd horns («ROGI PASTERSKIE») - where I played on flishorn (reed horn)
- Other shepherd instruments (INNE INSTRUMENTY PASTERSKIE) - where I participated with Meråker clarinet
In both classes I ended up with a honourable mention (“Wyróżnienia w wysokości”) and prize. It was great to participate, not least to experience the variation in both instrument and repertoire among the participants, from the long Polish ligawka horns to other local variations of shepherd's and natural horns.
It was especially fun that Arne Petter Ødelund, who was also part of the Norwegian delegation, sacured a well-deserved victory in the shepherd horn category with his beautiful playing of bukkehorn! Cecilie Røed got a strong second place in the same category.
A big "Thank you" to Muzeum Rolnictwa w Ciechanowcu, and especially our jack of all trades and contact person Stanislav Remishevsky, for their hospitality and commitment to herding instruments and culture!