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Hymns & Music
Hymns, responses, melodies and their liturgical use.
01Abuna TaklaAbuna Takla was a nineteenth-century Coptic deacon, teacher, chant collector, and composer who compiled The Services of the Deacon, published in 1859, and transmitted his musical knowledge to seven students.02Annual tuneThe annual tune, al-sanawī, is the daily melody type of Coptic chant, associated with Adam and Batos and distinguished from melodies for particular seasons and occasions. [^1]03Coptic chantCoptic chant is the vocal liturgical tradition of the Coptic Orthodox Church, transmitted chiefly through oral teaching and distinguished by melodic formulae, extended vocal ornamentation, and melodies associated with particular seasons and occasions.[^1][^2][^3]04Easter DoxologyThe Easter Doxology celebrates Christ’s descent into Hades, His victory over death, and the joyful deliverance of His elect.[^1]05Fasting tuneThe fasting tune, called al-ṣiyāmī, is one of six main melody types identified in Coptic music and is associated with fasting periods.[^1]06Festal tuneThe festal tune, al-faraiḥī, is a Coptic melody type for feasts, weddings, and baptisms, transmitted orally and shaped by traditional musical formulae that permit variation.07Kiahk TuneThe Kiahk tune is a Coptic melody type associated with Advent, distinguished by an orally transmitted structure in which musical formulae occupy consistent positions.[^1][^2]08LahnLahn (plural alhan) is an Arabic term used in Coptic worship for a recognized melody or melody type assigned to a liturgical text.[^1]09Melisma in Coptic ChantMelismatic Coptic chant extends a syllable over multiple notes. Its elaborate vocal passages follow traditional musical structures, although sources differ in their terminology and descriptions of duration.[^1][^2]10Only-Begotten SonThe Only-Begotten is a hymn shared by the Coptic and Greek churches, with the same text but entirely different melodies in the two traditions.[^1]11Palm Sunday tuneThe Palm Sunday tune, called al-sha‘anīnī, is a Coptic melody type used on Palm Sunday and feasts of the Cross.[^1]12Pope Cyril IVPope Cyril IV, the 110th patriarch of the See of Saint Mark, became known as the “Father of Reform” for his concern for learning, church institutions, and the laity.[^1]13Sorrowful tuneThe sorrowful tune is a named melody type in Coptic liturgical music, associated with the week before Easter; Idribi is a sorrowful Good Friday chant expressing the tragedy of the Crucifixion.14TheotokionA Theotokion is a hymn praising the Virgin Mary and celebrating Christ’s incarnation and nativity, used in the Coptic canonical hours and Psalmodia.[^1]15TrisagionThe Trisagion, meaning “thrice-holy,” is a hymn used in Coptic worship, understood as addressed to Christ and sung or recited in forms that vary with the service and feast.[^1][^3]