Nai (instrument)
Nai (from Persian / Arabic nāy , "pipe") is the pan flute in Romania and the Republic of Moldova . In the nai , the 20 to 30, usually 22 pipes today are arranged in a slightly curved manner. It is the best known of the Romanian flutes ( fluier ) and is related to the oriental flute nay .
origin
The nai came to Romania with the Turks during the Ottoman Empire ; the oldest written sources date from the 16th century. It has preserved its existence through the centuries, mainly thanks to the Romanian Roma . Between the two world wars it was almost forgotten as a folklore instrument. But the Folklore Institute in Bucharest , founded in 1949, entrusted the then only panflutist Fănică Luca (1894–1968) with the task of saving the nai from ruin. Fănică Lucas students, including Gheorghe Zamfir , spread the nai around the world, expanding repertoire and playing technique. Today the nai is played in all music genres (from classical to jazz).
literature
- Tiberiu Alexandru: Nai. In: Laurence Libin (Ed.): The Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments . Vol. 3, Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York 2014, p. 566
- Tiberiu Alexandru: The Romanian panpipe. In: Gustav Hilleström (Ed.): Studia instrumentorum musicae popularis III. Festschrift to Ernst Emsheimer on the occasion of his 70th birthday January 15th 1974. (Musikhistoriska museets skrifter 5) Nordiska Musikförlaget, Stockholm 1975, pp. 13-21
