Part of the bagpipe – the berde
Aljmaš, 1751
pewter
casting
length = 51,5 cm
POH-428/1920
The Collection of Musical instruments by Franjo Ksaver Kuhač
The berde resemble a long pipe which, when bagpipes are played, sits on the bagpipers shoulder. It consists of four parts and can be adjusted so that individual parts are more or less pushed into one another. The berde in themselves have no holes but provide one, basic tone. They are richly and nicely decorated, and this berde prove this is so. These berde are abundantly coated with tin and four small pieces of glass are inserted.
The bagpipes were most commonly built by the bagpipers themselves, depending on their knowledge, creativity and skills. Bagpipes are a widely used instrument among “...south Slavs, without exception, but nowhere as much as in Slavonija and Bačka, where the most skilled bagpipers are found. They most often accompany a dance, in which gadljar is in the middle, moving right to left and vice versa and encouraging dancers to be more animated.” (Kuhač 1879: 53).
