سرنا

What it means

سرنا (sorna) is a double-reed wind instrument, the Persian member of the family that includes the Turkish zurna, the Indian shehnai, and (more distantly) the Western oboe. The body is a conical wooden tube, around 30 to 60 centimeters long, with seven finger holes on the front and one on the back, ending in a flared bell. A double reed is mounted at the top, and the player uses circular breathing to keep the note going without break. The sound is loud, piercing, and unmistakably outdoor.

This is the instrument you do not bring inside. It is the instrument of weddings on a village square, processions in the street, religious ceremonies in courtyards, and historically the naqareh-khane, the drum-and-sorna ensembles that played from rooftops at sunrise and sunset in royal cities for centuries.

How to use it

sorna seda-ye boland va kharaji darad, baraye majles-haye baz mesl-e arusi va asha-ye sonnati estefade mishavad.

The sorna has a loud outdoor sound, used for open-air events like weddings and traditional ceremonies.

سرنا صدای بلند و خارجی دارد، برای مجلس‌های باز مثل عروسی و عشای سنتی استفاده می‌شود.

sorna-zan ba do-hol kenar-e dar-e talar mizanand ta mehman-ha vared shavand.

The sorna player and the dohol drummer play beside the hall door as guests arrive.

سرنازن با دهل کنار در تالار می‌زنند تا مهمان‌ها وارد شوند.

The sorna and dohol pair

The sorna almost never plays alone. Across Iran it is paired with the دهل (dohol), a large cylindrical double-headed bass drum slung across the shoulder. The two instruments together are the soundtrack of folk weddings, the Nowruz haji-firuz figure on Tehran streets, religious processions during Moharram in certain regions, and the wrestling matches in zurkhane traditions in some cities. In Kurdistan, Lorestan, Sistan and Baluchestan, the regional sorna and dohol traditions are distinct living arts.

Where it comes from

The word سرنا is Pure Persian, related etymologically to sour (festive horn) in Middle Persian. The instrument itself is documented in Iran from at least the Sasanian period and traveled across the Islamic world after the seventh century, becoming the zurna in Turkish, surnay in Central Asian, and shehnai in North Indian Mughal court music. The Persian sorna is the older form from which several of those branched.

Where to find one

Sornas are still made by hand in Lorestan, Kurdistan, and Khorasan, by makers who often also play. A village wedding sorna runs forty to a hundred and fifty dollars. The reed (a small piece of cane the player carves himself) is replaced constantly; a sorna player carries a pouch of them.

In our voice

You will hear a sorna in Iran before you see it. Stand on any Tehran street corner during the last week before Nowruz and a haji-firuz with a sorna or dohol may walk past. That sharp piercing line riding over the drum is the sound.

References

• Dehkhoda, سرنا
• Vajehyab, سرنا