Wikipedia:Domra

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About The Domra

The Domara is a member of the lute family, four stringed plucked instrument resembling the Italian mandolin, played with a pick and tuned as a violin G-D-A-E. Russian Folk instruments have a long and tremulous history. The domra boasts the oldest record, it is illustrated in 9th century murals of Kievan Rus. In 17th century tsar Alexey Mihailovich - The Quietest, outlawed domras as vestiges of pagan Christian roots. The real reason behind this decree was the fact that domra players allowed themselves to critique the church and the tsar in their singing tradition. Balalaika came to replace the forbidden domras.

Domras and balalaikas as we know them today were brought to us at the end of the 19th century by the father of contemporary Russian Folk Orchestras, Vasiliy Andreev. He has transformed these folk instruments, balalaika and the forgotten domra, into fully developed concert instruments with a wide repertoire of Russian folk, and Russian and Western classical music and a wide variety of forms, from primas to contrabasses.