The small sopila – sopjelo
Josip Blau, turner
Rijeka, 1875
wood (ash)
turning, drilling, carving
length = 42,5 cm
length of the chanter = 27,3 cm
diameter of the side = 7,1 cm
POH-425/1920
The Collection of Musical instruments by Franjo Ksaver Kuhač
The small sopjelo is made of waxed bright ash wood and consists of several parts: a reed, pirouette, a chanter, a fontanelle, a wooden stop, and a side. This small spojela is missing its reed. The instrument is tuned to D. The small sopjela is usually played in pair with the great sopila and they most often accompany a dance.
Both the great sopjela under inv. no. POH-414/1920 and this small sopjelo were built by a turner Josip Blau from Rijeka who gave this instrument to Kuhač. In his work Kuhač cites Lovro Radetić from Rijeka - “the best sopjela player from the Primorje region” and writes that, according to Radetić: “Today no one will give or can give sopjelo players as much wine to drink as they require to keep their tongue and throat wet, both of which are getting drier the bigger the shawm they are playing is” (Kuhač 1878: 12).
