Dervish Rituals

Fazıl Say was inspired to compose this concerto for ney flute and orchestra by Anatolian Sufi culture and its traditional dance of the Dervishes. Dervish rituals represent the spiritual search for an ascetic and spiritual path beyond secular pleasures. The ney flute plays a prominent role in Turkish Sufi music and is also known by the Sufis as ‘the extended breath of God’. The instrument’s ethereal sound has brought spiritual profundity to this work which extends an invitation to explore the soundscape of Turkish Sufi music.