Sorna

Sornay, also surnay, surnai, Sorna, surnā (y) (Persian سورنا or سورنای consisting of سور, sur and Arabic or Persian نای نی nai ) is a term for wind instruments with conical double reed ( oboe cone ) whose origin is probably in the Arab- Persian culture space and have become widespread in Asia and North Africa from the Maghreb in the west to China in the east.

Etymology

The origin of the word is not entirely clear. Persian sur can be " hard " or "large " mean. If sur is derived from Arabic Sur ( " Horn ") means the compound word a horn flute, because Persian nay translated " (reed ) tube " and refers to the endgeblasene reed flute ( nay ). A derivation only from the Persian language leads to the same environment importance of wind instruments. The Old Iranian * sru is in the combination * sru - nada ( " horn - pipe " and " tones " ) is conceivable, from which the Persian surnā (y) could have developed. A phonetic elongation of the first syllable would result from the word surnā (y) ( " hard - tube "). In the Middle Persian text collection DenkArt from the 9th century, the spelling occurs sūrnāv. Elsewhere this word ends with -ak, such as Georgian zurnak' -i. Directly from surnā does the name of the Turkish zurna oboe.

In addition to the games played in the Persian and Turkish classical music flute called nay or ney any kind of wind instruments. The Turkish short oboe mey has to distinguish a slightly different pronunciation. With adjuncts, the word is specified as qushnay means (of Qush, "two" ) an Uzbek double clarinet, trumpet Karnay an Uzbek.

Origin

The depicted on pottery wind instruments of antiquity possessed a single or double reed, but were not tapered, but cylindrical. The ancient Greek wind instrument double aulos and the correspondences in ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire memet tibia produced thanks to its cylindrical form a deeper sound than the conical oboe and could not be overblown. Their successors are the today's Asian Short oboe type of the Turkish and the Armenian duduk mey until the Japanese hichiriki. In the extremely rare antique pictures of wind instruments that are tapered on the outside, is not possible to determine whether they possessed also a key for the sound education conical bore inside. Whether it was ancient precursor of the conical oboe, is not clearly demonstrated.

The probably only evidence for a Kegeloboe pre-Islamic Sassanid provides a silver vase from the 6th century, which is preserved at the Musée des Beaux -Arts in Lyon. Henry George Farmer describes this vessel and dated it in the nachsassanidische time of 8/9 Century. Engraved next to the player the Kegeloboe other musicians who harp ( Cang ), short-necked lute ( barbat ) and mouth organ ( Musta ) are playing.

The Sornay has spread under similar sounding names with Islam to Central Asia and at the latest during the Mughal period to northern India. There, she was part of the ceremonial palace orchestra Naubat ( Nobat ), among others with long trumpets ( nafir ), boiler drum pairs ( naqqara ) and large barrel drums ( dhol ).

Dissemination

• The mostly -turned from the wood of the mulberry or apricot tree musical instrument is known as zurna in Turkey and in some neighboring countries from Greece to Armenia. The rhythm of the Turkish zurna provides the beaten with sticks davul, in Greece there is a cylindrical drum Dauli in Armenia and a dhol, which corresponds to the Georgian doli.
• In Persian music Sornay is played together with the drum dohol especially in folk music Lorestans.
• The Indian shehnai is played in folk music and since the mid-20th century in the North Indian classical music.
• In Northeast India cone oboes are common with elaborately framed bell, the gyaling resemble that which is played in the Tibetan Buddhist ritual music. One of the simpler types of this region include the tangmuri in Meghalaya and the muri in Assam.

• In Afghanistan, called the wind instrument Sorna, surnay or swarnai in Kashmir. It is played by the village or nomadic population of men, mostly with the dohol ( beaten with sticks double skin drum ) at the wedding, birth and circumcision ceremony. An ensemble of several surnays, a kettle drum ( naqqara ) of metal or clay and the doubt then barrel drum dhol accompanied ( Pather gang, "Theatre of Musicians " ) in Kashmir folk theater performances in which dances and semi- improvised comedy plays were combined at village festivals. The Surnay musicians played at the beginning of the event and again towards the end, where they performed alternating with singing transvestite dancers. The instrumental pieces comes in part from the area of ​​Sufi music.
• In Central Asia, the plaintive, nasal tone of surnay is estimated, which has its counterpart in the pressed vocal technique of mugham. In Uzbekistan is called the accompanying frame drum doira, naghara in Azerbaijan.
• The Sornay under the name suona also become a popular instrument in the Chinese folk music and has received a wide funnel opening of metal in China. This instrument came between the 10th and 14th centuries to Korea, where he received taepyeongso the name. The alternative name soaenap still refers to the origin. In the Burmese teeth of the metal funnel strange hangs crooked down. The Cambodian sralai has as well as the wages a central task melody leading into the large, consisting of percussion instruments orchestra. The pi chanai provides classic Thai- Piphat Orchestra for the melody line.
• Islamic immigrants brought the Sornay type as serune or srunai to Malaysia and as sarunai to the Minangkabau on Sumatra. Main area of ​​application of the instrument is here less military music as to his place of origin, it outweighs the traditional use in mourning ceremonies. The farthest east occurring oboe instrument in the Malay archipelago is the preret on the island of Lombok.
• The playing on the ruler in Niger price songs algaita corresponds in a simpler design this type of instrument. Your bell-shaped bell is made of wood. You might have come in sub-Saharan savannah zone of the Moroccan Ghaita. All these instruments differ essentially only by the respective country-specific mood.