Zurna
The zurna[a] (Armenian: զուռնա zuṙna; Old Armenian: սուռնայ suṙnay; Albanian: surle/surla; Persian: karna/Kornay/surnay; Macedonian: зурла/сурла zurla/surla; Bulgarian: зурна/зурла; Hungarian: zurna/töröksip; Serbian: зурла/zurla; Assyrian: ܙܘܪܢܐ/zurna; Tat: zurna; Turkish: zurna; Kurdish: zirne; Greek: ζουρνας; Azerbaijani: zurna; Sinhalese: හොරණෑව[1][horaṇǣva]) is a double reed wind instrument played in the Central Asia, West Asia, the Caucasus, Southeast Europe and parts of North Africa. It is also used in Sri Lanka.[2] It is usually accompanied by a davul (bass drum) in Armenian, Anatolian and Assyrian folk music.
Origins[edit]
The zurna was said to originate from Central Asia and ancient Asia Minor (Anatolia). Images of the zurna are visible in stone reliefs and artwork by the Hittites, who were an ancient empire from Asia Minor about 2000 to 1200 B.C. It was known in Persia from 6th century A.D., and later introduced in several countries following the spread of Islam (A.D. 650-1500).[4]
The zurna played an important role in Ottoman mehter music.[5]
As zurna became popular and intriguing, it spread further to the east and west. In the 16th century, the Central Asian shawms got to China under the name 'sona'. The Kirghiz peoples, from ancient Persia and Afghanistan, had used the zurna, as well as Syrian people, who called it 'zamr'. As the Ottoman Empire sprawled into Europe, the zurna was introduced to the Balkans, Hungary, and even Western Europe. There were alteration of name and its structure, but the similarities to the original zurna was very apparent, as seen in the zurna of Macedonia, the shepherd flute of the Basque and the mountain territories of Italy, and the zurna in North Africa, called 'zmar', of Tunis and Tangier.[6]
In Turkish folk music, the zurna joined with the davul to appoint a melodic concomitant to tribal and village folk dance. Today, the zurna is an essential part of Turkish folk music and dance, as well as in Armenian dance, Assyrian folk dance and Kurdish dance.
Turkish lore says that Adam, who was moulded from clay, had no soul. It is said only the melodious tuiduk-playing of Archangel Gabriel could breathe life into Adam. According to a Turkmen legend, the devil played the main role in tuiduk invention (note the term "devil openings", şeytan delikleri, in Turkish for the small apertures on the bell).
Usage[edit]
Similar to the mizmar and rhaita, zurnas are used in the folk music of many countries and regions, especially in Armenia, Iran, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Central Asia, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, The Maghreb, Albania, Serbia, Bosnia, Kurdistan and the other Caucasian countries, and have now spread throughout India, China, Korea and Eastern Europe.
The zurna is most likely the immediate predecessor of the European shawm, and is related to the Chinese suona still used today in weddings, temple and funeral music.[7] The Japanese charumera, or charamera, traditionally associated with itinerant noodle vendors is a small zurna, its name derived from the Portuguese chirimoya. Few, if any, noodle vendors continue this tradition, and those who do would use a loudspeaker playing a recorded charumera.
A zurna was used by frontman Stu Mackenzie in King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard's 9th studio album, Flying Microtonal Banana.