A kobzar (kобзар in Ukrainian) was a Ukrainian itinerant (sighted, initially) Cossack bard, a tradition which was established during the Hetmanate Era, i.e. 16th and 17th centuries in Ukraine. Kobzari accompanied their singing with a stringed instrument called a kobza. After the abolition of Hetmanate by the Empress Katherine of Russia the apellation "kobzar" was applied to all itinerant blind singers. Their repertoire preserved sung epic poems called dumas. The stereotypical kobzar of the 19th century was usually blind. In Ukraine kobzars were organized in a Guild, known as Kobzars'kyj Tsekh and had to undergo a rigorous apprenticeship (usually 3 years in length) before undergoing the first set of open examinations to become a kobzar.

The institution of the kobzardom essentially ended in the Ukrainian SSR in the 1930s, under a campaign against Ukrainian culture and intellectuals after Stalin's reversal of Ukrainization policy (see korenizatsiya, Russification). Authentic kobzar performance was replaced with stylized performances of pseudo-folk and semi-classical music utilising the bandura.

In recent times there has been an interest in reviving of authentic kobzar traditions which is marked by the re-establishing the Kobzar Guild as a school of historical Ukrainian performance practice.

At the turn of the XIXth century there were three regional kobzar schools. 1. Chernihiv kobzars 2. Poltava kobzars 3. Slobozhan kobzars with some differences in repertoire and playing style.

Kobzar is also a seminal book of poetry by Taras Shevchenko, the great national poet of Ukraine.

See also

External links

• Kobzar at Encyclopedia of Ukraine

Ukrainian music | Musicians

Кобзарь | Кобзар