History of the Ney
he ney is the only wind instrument in Classical Turkish Music and the principal instrument of Turkish Sufi Music. Its oldest known name, nâ or nay, is a word that passed from Sumerian into Persian, meaning reed or cane. In Arab culture, the word mizmar, which refers to wind instruments in general and literally means “breathing tube” or “vocal organ,” has occasionally been used to refer to the ney. In Turkish, however, this instrument has almost always been called ney. In various European countries, it has been referred to by similar names—for example, naiu in Romania. The Persian suffix -zeden, meaning “to play” or “to perform,” was added to form neyzeden, which over time evolved into neyzen, the term still used today to refer to a ney performer. The Arabic-derived word nâyî, formed according to Arabic grammatical rules, has also been used in place of neyzen.
The oldest known finding of this instrument, believed to have been used in Sumerian society as early as 5000 BCE, dates back to 2800–3000 BCE. This ancient ney is currently exhibited at the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia, USA. It is believed that the ney was used in religious ceremonies even in those early times. The Assomption monk Thibaut described the sound of the ney as “mysterious, enchanting, sweet, and harmonious,” and poetically expressed it as follows:As it passes over the reeds, The gentle flutter of a breeze, Afraid to wake the birds.” The unique quality of its sound has deeply affected people in every era, often evoking spiritual emotions.
The unique quality of its sound has made the ney an important instrument in every society it has encountered. With the Turks’ adoption of Islam, the ney began to be used more widely, and by the 13th century, it had become a symbol of Sufism. The influence of Mevlânâ Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī—an eminent mystic, philosopher, poet, and saint of that century—was instrumental in this transformation.