Wind instruments
End-blown whistle flute, shepherds, songs, dances, raliavimai, sutartinės
well attested
lumzdelis, vamzdelis, dūdelė
What is lamzdelis?
Lamzdelis, also called lumzdelis or vamzdelis, is a Lithuanian wind aerophone: an end-blown whistle flute. Sound is made by blowing air through the whistle opening at the end of the tube, while melody is produced by covering tone holes with the fingers.
It has virtuoso possibilities, from simple shepherd melodies to complex dance repertoire. Lamzdelis was played solo or in ensembles, sometimes in pairs or in two voices.
Construction and sound
A traditional lamzdelis is a straight tube 15-40 cm long and 2-4 cm in diameter, with a cylindrical channel and 3-8 finger holes. It is usually made from ash trunk or from willow, alder, aspen, sometimes pine bark; the upper end is straight or slightly slanted.
It can produce from a few to a dozen diatonic or anhemitonic, sometimes chromatic, tones. The sound is soft, bright, and flexible, and shepherds used it to imitate the cuckoo and other birds. From 1940, folk-instrument orchestras used P. Serva's modified lamzdelis: a 25 cm wooden or ebonite tube with 10 holes, a chromatic scale, and C, D, or G tunings.
History and tradition
Lamzdelis was used throughout Lithuania, but the Kupiškis area was especially famous. Makers and players such as J. Gudelis, J. Kriūka, P. Kriūka, J. Poška, and D. Vaitiekūnas played one or two lamzdeliai; one Juozevičius played a paired lamzdelis he had made. Players are also known from the Vabalninkas, Panevėžys, Ukmergė, and Raseiniai areas.
Mostly outdoors, lamzdelis was used for raliavimai, ridavimai, tirliavimai, nature-sound imitations, sutartinės, song, talalinė and dance melodies, marches, and sometimes church hymns. It also sounded in village bands, joining shepherd everyday life with refined melodic art.
Lamzdelis today
Since the second half of the twentieth century, traditional lamzdeliai have been made by rural and urban makers and used by folklore ensembles and village bands. Modified lamzdelis is taught at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre and music schools, and Lithuanian composers have written works for it.
Lamzdelis remains one of the most sensitive Lithuanian wind instruments. It fits both old shepherd improvisation and the academic stage, linking living village tradition with professional music.