Sorna

The sornā or Sarnā (Persian سورنا, سُرنا sornā, also سورنای, سُرنای sornāy, also Surna and Zurna) is an ancient Iranian woodwind instrument.

Etymology

The word sorna is a Pahlavi derivative of sūrnāy (literally "strong flute"), which is a compand of 'sūr-' (strong) and '-nāy' (flute). Possibly it was called "strong flute" due to its double-reed-construction rather than usual nāy, which was made of a single tube of cane. Also it is suggested that the first part of word of sorna, is from sūr- again from Pahlavi and New-Persian, meaning the "banquet, meal and feast", thus the "banquet-flute".

It is also suggested that "Sorna" is a cognate of "Horn", as "Sorna" simply means horn. This is a result of the Centum-Satem isogloss, and later Grimm's Law. Even in Persian there is another wind instrument whose name appears to be a cognate of both "Sorna" and "Horn", called "Karna" (کرنا); this may stem from a re-borrowing from another language.

History

The instrument's history dates back to the Achaemenid Dynasty (550-330 BCE), and was used to play at the end of the day from the city gate or from the local administration building. This custom persisted in England until the 19th century, the town waits playing shawms to mark the hours. The instrument was mainly played in outdoors in regional music of Iran in the festive ceremonies (the Persian poet Molana Rumi mentioned the sorna and dohol in his poems).

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