Annual tune
The 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]
Also known as: al-sanawī · al-Lahn al-Sanawi · Daily melody
In brief
The annual tune, al-sanawī, is the ordinary or daily melody designation in Coptic Orthodox chant, distinguished from tunes reserved for particular seasons and celebrations. Associated with Adam and Batos, it appears in year-round psalmody and is also prescribed for Sunday burial and memorial services instead of the mourning melody.
Definition and use
The annual tune, called al-sanawī, is identified as the daily melody among the six main melody types used in Coptic music for ordinary days and special occasions; the source lists Adam and Batos under this heading. 1 More broadly, melodies designated sanawiyyah (“annual”) are sung throughout the year, in contrast to melodies reserved for a particular occasion. 2
The annual designation therefore concerns liturgical use: the classification distinguishes the daily melody from melodies for feasts, Advent, fasting periods, Palm Sunday and feasts of the Cross, and the week before Easter. 1
This classification of Coptic chant by liturgical event differs from the eight-mode system known as Oktoechos, in which Coptic melodies were not classified. 6
The word [[Lahn|lahn]], plural alhan, is the Arabic equivalent of a Coptic term adopted from Greek ekhos, and liturgical books use it to specify the music appropriate to a particular text. 12 Although English translations include “air,” “tone,” “melody,” and “mode,” the term basically denotes a recognizable melody or melody type known by a particular name. 13 In the wider repertoire, one text can be sung to different alhan, while a single lahn can carry different texts and may have short (qasir), abridged (mukhtasar), and long (tawil) forms. 14
The other principal melody types named alongside al-sanawī are al-faraiḥī, which also serves weddings and baptisms; Kiyahk; al-ṣiyāmī; al-sha‘anīnī; and al-ḥazainī. 15
Musical structure and transmission
The daily melody al-sanawī belongs to the well-known melodies whose structure is largely established by tradition, with different cantors singing melodic formulae in identical positions. 3 These formulae are clusters of notes that can be repeated, shifted in pitch, or used in different melodies; they also allow cantors to lengthen or shorten vocalises. 5
Well-known melodies serve as memory aids for singing different hymns, while the position of a formula and the structure of the melody help singers recognize a chant. 7
In Magdalena Kuhn’s account, the first formula identifying a festal melody is fixed by tradition for professional and lay singers alike, while a cantor generally has greater freedom in selecting formulae for the middle or end. 16 She contrasts the relatively settled structures of the annual and Kiyahk melodies with the greater variation in formula placement found in less familiar Palm Sunday and festal melodies. 17 This distinction locates variation within particular parts of a melody rather than treating improvisation as an unrestricted alteration of the chant. 18
Kuhn also observes that intervals between successive notes are normally small, and that the high, middle, or low register in which a chant is performed has no symbolic significance but can be adjusted to the singer’s voice. 19
Ornamentation and vocalises
In the broader musical vocabulary underlying this account, syllabic singing assigns a single note to each syllable, sometimes with a short final ornament, and takes its rhythm from the text. 20 Neumatic melodies place one or two notes on an important syllable within or at the end of a verse, whereas melismatic melodies give a group of notes to a single syllable of an important word. 21
The extended vocalises called al-hazzāt (“vibration”) are a distinctive development of melismatic singing, concentrating on one or two vowels of an important word while other words may be joined together. 22 In these vocalises, “i” and “e” commonly become “ei,” while “a,” “o,” and “u” become “aw” or “ow.” 23 Across the Coptic repertoire, a vocalise may last between one and twenty minutes, depending on the day, occasion, feast, and especially the cantor’s knowledge and skill; its stated purpose is to induce a deep meditative state. 24 Such ornamentation is governed by traditional musical structure and a definite metric rhythm, rather than functioning as free embellishment without rules. 25
Use in psalmody
A specific example occurs in the Lobsh Watus, which varies according to the season: alongside versions for the feasts of the Lord, days of rejoicing, and Kiyahk, there is a version for the remainder of the year, designated al-Lahn al-Sanawi and sometimes called Bikawarnidas. 4
Most Psalis are designated Adam or Batos according to the day of the week, although some specify another familiar Psali or hymn whose melody is to be used. 8 These Psali melodies are rhythmic and syllabic, with little melisma or improvisation, and usually have a range of four or, at most, five tones. 9
The service and its books
Psalmodia denotes both a choral service and its choirbook, and the service belongs to the “little synaxis,” the prayers and hymns preparing for the “great synaxis,” or Divine Liturgy. 26 It is usually sung antiphonally, although a responsorial arrangement alternating a soloist and the congregation is also used. 27 Originally consisting only of psalm recitation, Psalmodia subsequently incorporated other hymns, with an order maintained throughout the year subject to modifications for Lent and major feasts. 28
The service is appointed immediately before the Evening Offering of Incense, after the Prayers of the Midnight Hour, and between Morning Prayer and the Morning Offering of Incense. 29 The account of musical practice describes daily observance in monasteries and a customary Saturday-night observance in city churches, while the separate entry on Psalmodia describes non-monastic celebration more generally as occurring when the Divine Liturgy is to be celebrated. 30
The texts and order of prayers, hymns, and readings are contained in al-Absalmudiyyah al-Sanawiyyah, while a separate al-Absalmudiyyah al-Kiyahkiyyah supplies hymns for the month of Kiyahk. 31 A 1978 edition of the annual Psalmodia edited by Emile Maher Ishaq included Coptic and Arabic texts, a Latin-letter phonetic transcription of the Coptic, and accompanying cassette recordings. 32
Lobsh and the odes
The term lobsh comes from a Coptic word meaning “crown” or “consummation” and designates the concluding stanza of certain hymns, including the conclusion of the Theotokia on days other than Sunday. 33 The Saturday Theotokia’s lobsh has two sections called the first and second sharah, while the lobsh of the Monday and Tuesday Theotokias use an Adam melody and those for Wednesday through Saturday use a Watus melody. 34
A Lobsh Adam, sometimes called a psali, follows the first and second odes, whereas the second psali following the third ode is properly a Lobsh Watus. 35 The four odes or hos comprise the Song of Moses in Exodus 15:1–21, Psalm 136, the Song of the Three Holy Children, and Psalms 148–150, respectively. 36 They are unrhymed strophic pieces whose divisions follow the Coptic biblical verses, and they are sung in a definite rhythmic pattern in duple meter. 37
The 1911 Kiyahk Psalmodia also places additional sections called lobsh after the lobsh of the odes and Theotokias, ending them with a tarh; the additional Theotokia sections draw on explanations, interpretations, or paraphrases published from manuscripts by De Lacy O’Leary, and their use is optional. 38
Psali texts and intercessions
Psalis are metrical hymns accompanying a Theotokia or an ode, and the Arabic terms absaliyyah and madih, plural mada’ih, identify them as songs of praise or laudation. 39 Each has between twenty-six and forty-six strophes arranged as rhymed quatrains, often in Coptic or Greek alphabetical acrostic order, with double and reverse acrostics also serving to help singers remember the complete text. 40 Their characteristic refrains usually repeat the fourth line of a strophe, although sometimes both the third and fourth lines are repeated. 41
Except for certain Kiyahk paraphrases, Psalis are described as the only pieces of Coptic music whose authors are identified within their texts, often in a strophe asking mercy for the writer as a poor servant or sinner. 42 Editions prepared by Muyser and Yassa ‘Abd al-Masih from fourteenth- and eighteenth-century manuscripts demonstrate the technical skill of Psali authors in handling Coptic rhyme and rhythm. 43
The midnight psalmody also includes the Tobhat, a litany naming saints and offering intercessions beginning with the words “Pray to the Lord,” with seventy-four verses in the year-round form and eighty-three in Kiyahk. 44 Like the doxologies, these intercessions use a Watus melody that varies with the season. 45
Adam and Watus in the weekly cycle
Adam takes its name from the opening word of the Monday Theotokia, whose opening verse concerns Adam’s sadness or contrition. 46 Batos, also called Watus, takes its name from the opening of the Thursday Theotokia, Pibatos, referring to the bush that Moses saw in the desert. 47 Although the two types differ in verse structure, length, and mood, the account of Coptic musical practice observes that their music differs little in contemporary performance and that both can occur within the same service. 48
From Sunday through Tuesday, the day’s Theotokia, its psali or the corresponding feast psali, the lobsh, the Difnar, and the tarh are assigned to Adam. 49 From Wednesday through Saturday, these corresponding pieces are assigned to Watus. 50 The broader survey of musical practice also associates Batos with the evening service and Holy Week, while noting that Adam can be prescribed on additional specified days. 51
These weekly assignments have important exceptions: the second ode and its lobsh are sung to Adam daily, as are the Adam doxology after Morning Prayer and the Adam aspasmos in the anaphora. 52 The third ode, its two following psalis, the Tobhat, and the doxologies are assigned to Watus every day, and the Watus aspasmos is likewise sung daily in the anaphora. 53 The names Adam and Watus have also passed into the choirbooks of the Ethiopic Church. 54
Sunday burial and memorial services
On Sundays throughout the year, burial and memorial services use Bikawarnidas, called al-lahn al-sanawi or the ordinary melody, rather than the mourning melody. 10 This practice accords with canon 11 of Pope Christodoulus (1046–1077), which prohibits Sunday weeping, lamentation, and speeches for the dead while permitting intercession, the Eucharist, prayer for the dead, and almsgiving. 11
Historical evidence and preservation
In the fourteenth century, approximately twenty-six alhan were named, most of which are still known. 55 For the earlier history of the musical tradition, the absence of early Coptic musical notation leaves very little direct knowledge of the structure of early melodies. 56 The surviving manuscripts and service books are records of texts and rubrics, with music transmitted through oral teaching and rote learning from generation to generation. 57
Marian Robertson’s comparisons of transcriptions made decades apart suggest that simpler melodies may have remained intact for centuries, while comparisons of recordings at the Institute of Coptic Studies found stable basic melodies and embellishments occurring in corresponding places. 58 This stability was especially evident in choral pieces, whereas solo performances showed more variation and improvisation in ornamentation and melismata. 59
Collectors, cantors, and recordings
The modern documentation of the wider tradition owes much to Abuna Takla, a nineteenth-century deacon encouraged by Pope Cyril IV (1854–1861) to collect old chants by travelling through Egypt’s villages and towns from north to south. 60 He sought early records of church chants, also collected folk songs, and composed liturgical melodies that Ragheb Moftah regarded as part of the basis of contemporary traditional Coptic liturgical music. 61
A central performer in the recorded tradition was Mikhail Girgis al-Batanouny (1873–1957), the blind master chanter also known as Mu‘allim Mikha’il Jirjis, who served at Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo and taught church music at the Clerical College. 62 His training drew on older masters, particularly Mu‘allim Armaniyus and Mu‘allim Salib, and he later collaborated with Ragheb Moftah when the Higher Institute for Coptic Studies was founded in 1954. 63
Kuhn reports that approximately six hundred traditional liturgical melodies survived orally from the middle of the nineteenth century into the recorded repertoire. 64 The first audio recordings she identifies are eleven wax cylinders made in 1931 by Alfred Berner, performed by al-Batanouny and preserved in Berlin’s Phonogramm-Archiv. 65 Between 1935 and 1957, Moftah built a further collection, again performed largely by al-Batanouny, which was preserved on audio tape and subsequently in digital form. 66 The complete Moftah collection is housed in the Music Division of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and digital files have also been preserved at the German Center of Music in Hannover. 67
Kuhn cautions that studying this recorded tradition means working with a repertoire substantially collected and created by one chanter, Abuna Takla, and predominantly performed by another, al-Batanouny. 68
Questions
Frequently asked questions
- What does “annual tune” mean in Coptic worship?
- It denotes the ordinary or daily melody designation, al-sanawī, as distinct from melodies reserved for particular seasons or occasions.
- How are Adam and Watus related to the annual tune?
- The classification of six main melody types lists Adam and Batos, also called Watus, under al-sanawī. Many hymns use Adam from Sunday through Tuesday and Watus from Wednesday through Saturday, with specified daily exceptions.
- What is Bikawarnidas?
- Bikawarnidas is a name sometimes given to the annual version of the Lobsh Watus. It also names the ordinary melody prescribed for Sunday burial and memorial services.
- Is the annual tune freely improvised?
- Its structure is largely established by tradition, with cantors placing melodic formulae in corresponding positions. Ornamentation operates within inherited musical rules rather than unrestricted improvisation.
- Why is the annual tune used at Sunday funerals?
- Sunday burial and memorial services exclude the mourning melody in accordance with the prohibition of Sunday lamentation in canon 11 of Pope Christodoulus, while retaining prayer and intercession for the dead.
References
Sources
- 1.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 3)
In Coptic music, six main types of melody are used for ordinary days or special occasions: al-sanawī daily melody (ADAM and Batos) al-faraiḥī for feasts, weddings, baptisms, etc. Ⲭⲟⲓⲁⲕ (Kiyahk) during Advent al-ṣiyāmī during fasting periods al-sha‘anīnī on Palm Sunday and feasts of the Cross al-ḥazainī in the week before Easter
- 2.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 78)
Some, designated sanawiyyah (annual), are sung throughout the year, whereas others may be reserved for one occasion only.
- 3.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 2)
Very well-known melodies, such as the daily melody al-sanawī, or the ADVENT melody Ⲭⲟⲓⲁⲕ (Kiyahk in Arabic), are largely constructed by tradition. In these chants, we find formulae sung by different cantors in identical positions.
- 4.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 316)
It should be noted that the Lobsh Watus varies according to the season. Thus, there is one for the feasts of the Lord and the days of rejoicing, another for the month of Kiyahk, and so on. These are in addition to the one used for the remainder of the year (al-Lahn al-Sanawi) and sometimes called Bikawarnidas.
- 5.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 2)
All three kinds of improvisation melodies are composed in clusters of notes, called modus or formulae. One group of notes can be repeated once or multiple times in a chant. Moreover, a group can be repeated in a higher or lower pitch, or even in sequences (sets of notes that follow each other in a particular order). Formulae permit a cantor to lengthen or shorten vocalises, both in daily use and on special feast days. The same formula can be repeated on the same vocalise in different positions: at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of a song. One formula can also be used in different
- 6.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 2)
In contrast to Byzantine and Gregorian melodies, Coptic melodies were not classified in Oktoechos, but are divided into melodies for liturgical events
- 7.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 3)
Different hymns are sung to well-known melodies that are used as a kind of memory aid. ... Both the position of a formula in Coptic melody and the structure of that melody are very important for recognizing a chant.
- 8.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 83)
Most Psalis are to be sung either to the melody-type Adam or Batos, depending on the day of the week, and are thus designated as Psali Adam or Psali Batos. However, certain ones specify the title of another familiar Psali or hymn to whose melody they may be sung.
- 9.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 83)
These melodies are rhythmic and syllabic, that is, the notes match the texts with little trace of melisma or improvisation; their range usually covers four, or at most, five tones
- 10.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 333)
On Sundays all the year round, burial and memorial services for the dead are to be performed without using the mourning melody. Hymns are to be sung only to the BIKAWARNIDAS, called al-lahn al-sanawi (i.e., the ordinary melody; see LAHN).
- 11.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 333)
This is in accordance with canon 11 of Pope CHRISTODOULUS (1046-1077), which says, "And there shall not be allowed on Sundays weeping or lamentation or speeches, and it is not allowed to a Christian to do this or anything of it for the dead, except the Intercession and the Eucharist and the prayer for the dead and alms, in the measure of his (the Christian's) ability, that the Lord may have mercy upon the souls of your dead."
- 12.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 184)
LAHN (plural alhan), Arabic translation of Coptic /,oc, adopted from Greek ekhos, a term used in Coptic liturgical books and manuscripts to specify the music to be sung to a given text.
- 13.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 184)
Sometimes translated into English as "air," "tone," "melody," or "mode," it refers basically to either a certain melody or melody type that is readily recognized by the people and known by a specific, often descriptive name
- 14.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 78)
The same text may be sung to different alhan, and conversely, the same lahn may have different texts. Furthermore, the same lahn may have three forms: short (qasir), abridged (mukhtasar), and long (tawil).
- 15.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 3)
al-faraiḥī for feasts, weddings, baptisms, etc. Ⲭⲟⲓⲁⲕ (Kiyahk) during Advent al-ṣiyāmī during fasting periods al-sha‘anīnī on Palm Sunday and feasts of the Cross al-ḥazainī in the week before Easter
- 16.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 2)
The first formula serves to identify the melody for a certain feast day. This formula is fixed by tradition and is the same for every singer, whether professional or lay people.
- 17.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 2)
Very well-known melodies, such as the daily melody al-sanawī, or the ADVENT melody Ⲭⲟⲓⲁⲕ (Kiyahk in Arabic), are largely constructed by tradition. In these chants, we find formulae sung by different cantors in identical positions. Less well-known melodies, such as the al-sha‛ānīnī melody for Palm Sunday, or the al-faraiḥī melody used for weddings and special feasts, can vary in their use of formulae.
- 18.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 2)
As previously noted, a vocalise is not an unbounded improvisation. Rules and tradition govern their composition.
- 19.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 3)
The intervals (the distance from one note to the next) are normally small. The level of the melody of a chant—high, low, or middle of a vocal register—has no symbolic meaning. It has to be convenient for the human voice and can be adapted to the voice of every singer.
- 20.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 1)
Syllabic style: a single note is assigned to each syllable in the corresponding text with a short ornament on the final note. The rhythm of the text defines the rhythm of the melody.
- 21.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 2)
Neumatic melodies: one or two notes are placed on an important syllable in the middle or at the end of a verse. 3) Melismatic melodies: a group of notes is performed on a single syllable of an important word.
- 22.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 2)
Vocalises: (Arabic: al-hazzāt, vibration): This variation of a melismatic melody includes extremely long vocalises, mostly constructed by formulae. It is a common characteristic, and indeed a kind of specialty, of Coptic music. A vocalise is always placed on one or two vowels of an important word in a text, whereas other words can be bound together.
- 23.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 2)
The vowels “i” and “e” in a word usually become “ei,” while the vowels “a,” “o,” and “u” become “aw” or “ow.”
- 24.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 2)
A vocalise can last between one and twenty minutes. Its length depends on the day, the occasion, and the liturgical feast, but especially on the cantor’s knowledge and skill. The purpose of vocalises is to induce a deep meditative state.
- 25.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 2)
In Coptic hymns, traditional rules govern these kinds of ornaments. They take a special form and are thus not free, unbounded embellishments without structure. They are sung in a special musical structure in a metric and compelling rhythm.
- 26.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 812)
PSALMODIA, "singing to the harp" or "psalm-singing," an ecclesiastical term used in two senses: a special choral service, and the choirbook containing the hymns therefor. The service of Psalmodia is part of the little synaxis, which consists of the recital of the Psalms of the canonical hours and the singing of hymns in preparation for the great synaxis, that is, the Divine Liturgy.
- 27.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 812)
The Psalmodia is usually sung antiphonally, but the responsorial style—wherein the chant is performed alternately by the soloist and the congregation—is sometimes used.
- 28.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 812)
Originally the Psalmodia consisted only of the recitation of Psalms, but various hymns were later incorporated into the service. The order of singing the psalms and hymns is the same throughout the year, with there being certain modifications for Lent and the major feasts
- 29.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 80)
performed immediately before the Evening Offering of Incense, at the conclusion of the Prayers of the Midnight Hour, and between the Office of Morning Prayer and the Morning Offering of Incense.
- 30.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 812)
Although technically speaking, the Psalmodia is a daily service, only in the monasteries is it performed every day. Elsewhere it is sung only when the Divine Liturgy is to be celebrated.
- 30.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 80)
In the monasteries, Psalmodia is performed daily, but in the city churches, it has become customary to perform it only on Sunday eve, that is, Saturday night.
- 31.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 80)
The texts and order of the prayers, the hymns, and the lections are to be found in the book, al-Absalmudiyyah al-Sanawiyyah. Also, a special book, al-Absalmudiyyah al-Kiyahkiyyah, contains the hymns to be sung for Advent, that is, during the month of Kiyahk.
- 32.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 812)
Kitab al-Absalmudiyyat al-Muqaddasat al-Sanawiyyah, Psalmodia for the whole year, in Coptic and Arabic, with a phonetic transcription of the Coptic text in Latin letters (with tape cassette records), Vol. 1, ed. by Emile Maher Ishaq. Cairo, 1978.
- 33.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 316)
LOBSH, Arabic term (from Coptic lobs (lobsh), crown, consummation) used for the title of the final stanza in certain hymns. A lobsh serves as a conclusion for THEOTOKIA except on Sunday.
- 34.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 316)
The lobsh of the theotokia of Saturday has two sections known as the first and second SHARAH. The many lobsh of the theotokia for Monday and Tuesday are sung to an ADAM melody. Those for Wednesday through Saturday are sung to a WATUS melody.
- 35.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 316)
A Lobsh Adam (sometimes called psali) follows the first and second odes (see HOS), but the second psali, which follows the third ode, is properly a Lobsh Watus.
- 36.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 80)
and Psalm 150
- 36.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 80)
Psalm 149
- 36.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 80)
Hos Four, Psalm 148
- 36.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 80)
They are Hos One, Song of Moses (Ex. 15:1-21
- 36.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 80)
Hos Three, the Song of the Three Holy Children
- 36.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 80)
Hos Two, Psalm 136
- 37.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 80)
They are strophic, with their strophes following the versification given in the Coptic biblical text. Unrhymed, they are sung to a definite rhythmic pattern, in duple meter.
- 38.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 316)
In Al-Absalmudiyyah al-Muqaddasah al-Kiyahkiyyah (1911), additional sections, each called a lobsh, are written after each lobsh of the odes and theotokia, and are concluded by a TARH. Those additional lobsh sections given after the original lobsh of each theotokia are in fact selections of the various explanations, interpretations, or paraphrases given in detail in the manuscripts published by De Lacy O'Leary. Their use is optional.
- 39.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 83)
The Psalis (Coptic: 'ali, Psali; Arabic: ABSALIYYAH, or madih, pl. mada’ih, “praise, laudation”) are metrical hymns that accompany either a Theotokia or hos.
- 40.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 83)
Every Psali has from twenty-six to forty-six strophes, each of which is a rhymed quatrain; the rhyming schemes may vary. The strophes are often arranged in acrostic order according to the Coptic or Greek alphabet by the first letter of each strophe. Some are even in double acrostic, and others in reverse acrostic. Such patterns serve as mnemonic devices, enabling the singers to perform the hymns in their entirety with no omissions.
- 41.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 83)
Usually the refrain is made by repeating only the fourth line of the strophe, but sometimes both the third and fourth lines are repeated.
- 42.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 83)
except for a few paraphrases reserved for Kiyahk, these are the only pieces of Coptic music whose authors are identified in the texts. The writer’s name may be found embedded in a strophe, with a plea for mercy and pardon from sin, and with mention of him as “the poor servant” or “a poor sinner.”
- 43.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 83)
Muyser and YASSA ‘ABD AL-MASIH have published detailed editions of certain Psalis, using manuscripts dating from the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries. Their articles serve to demonstrate the high level of technique in handling Coptic rhymes and rhythms attained by Psali authors.
- 44.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 594)
the litany of intercessions in the midnight psalmody consisting of a listing of saints (Arabic, majma‘ al-qiddisin) and a series of prayers, each beginning with twbh mp[c (tobh amebshays), meaning "Pray to the Lord." The Tobhat in the midnight psalmody for the whole year consist of seventy-four verses or prayers, but for the month of Kiyahk they consist of eighty-three verses or prayers.
- 45.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 594)
The Tobhat, like the Doxologies, are sung to a melody type called WATUS, which varies according to the season.
- 46.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 161)
The Adam melody (LAHN) receives its name from the first word of the first verse of the Theotokia for Monday, "Adam again being sad."
- 47.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 699)
This melody type (lahn watus) receives its name from the opening words of the Thursday THEOTOKIA, which begins, "Pibatos . . ." ("The bush that Moses saw in the desert").
- 48.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 78)
Although they are distinct from each other in verse structure, length, and mood, their music differs little in contemporary practice, and both may be heard in the same service.
- 49.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 161)
If the day is one of the first three of the week, that is, Sunday to Tuesday, the Theotokia of the day and its psali (and similarly the psali of the feast), the LOBSH, the DIFNAR, and the Tarh are sung to the melody of Adam.
- 50.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 699)
If the day is one of the last four days of the week, that is, Wednesday to Saturday, the theotokia of the day, its PSALI (and similarly the feast psali), the LOBSH, the DIFNAR, and the TARH are sung to a lahn watus.
- 51.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 78)
Hymns labeled Adam are to be sung Sunday through Tuesday, and also on certain specified days, while hymns labeled Batos are reserved for Wednesday through Saturday, for the evening service, and for Holy Week.
- 52.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 161)
The second HOS (ode) and its Lobsh are, however, sung daily to the Lahn Adam. Similarly the Adam doxology is sung after the office of the morning prayer in all the days of the week. The Adam ASPASMOS is also sung in the Anaphora each day.
- 53.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 699)
The Third HOS (Ode), the two psali following it, the TUBHAT, and the DOXOLOGIES are, however, sung every day of the week to a lahn watus. Similarly the aspasmos watus is to be sung in the anaphora each day.
- 54.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 161)
The other type is called WATUS. Coptic names have passed into the choir books of the Ethiopic church as well.
- 55.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 78)
in the fourteenth century, IBN KABAR named some twenty-six alhan, most of which are still known today.
- 56.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 1)
In the early days of Coptic Christianity, there was no Coptic musical notation. As a result, we know very little about the structure of early Coptic melodies.
- 57.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 88)
All the manuscripts discovered and books compiled to date record only texts and rubrics.
- 57.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 88)
From the beginnings of the church, the music has passed from one person to another, from one generation to the next, by oral teaching and rote learning.
- 58.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 88)
Marian Robertson has compared transcriptions of the same piece of music written decades apart by different scholars. These studies indicate that the simpler melodies may have remained intact for centuries. Other comparisons of recordings made years apart at the Institute of Coptic Studies also show that the basic melodies have remained unchanged, and that even the embellishments, though varying slightly, occur in the same places throughout the melody in question.
- 59.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 88)
This is especially true for those compositions sung by the choir. In the case of solo performers, variation and improvisation are to be found, particularly in the embellishments and melismata, as may be expected.
- 60.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 1)
His name was Abuna Takla (Abūnā Taklā), a gifted young deacon who lived in the second half of the 19th century. Abuna Takla was encouraged by Pope CYRIL IV (1854-1861) to collect old Coptic chants. He traveled the length and breadth of Egypt from north to south, from isolated villages to small towns, in search of old Coptic melodies.
- 61.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 1)
Abuna Takla’s first priority was to find the earliest records of Church chants, but he also collected old folk songs.
- 61.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 1)
Abuna Takla’s quest enabled him to compose liturgical melodies himself. Moftah noted that these melodies are still the basis of contemporary Coptic traditional liturgical music.
- 62.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 1)
the professional musician and cantor Mikhail Girgis al-Batanouny (1873-1957)
- 62.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 685)
MIKHA’IL JIRJIS, MU‘ALLIM (1873-1957), master chanter of the Cathedral of Saint Mark in Cairo
- 62.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 685)
He graduated in 1893 and was appointed teacher of church music there.
- 62.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 685)
He was a blind man
- 63.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 685)
When the Higher Institute for Coptic Studies was founded in 1954, he collaborated with Raghib Muftah, head of the department of Coptic music at the Institute.
- 63.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 685)
From his early youth he showed an outstanding aptitude to learn the tunes in which only two chanters specialized before him: Mu‘allim Armaniyus and Mu‘allim Salib.
- 64.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 1)
As an oral tradition, some 600 Coptic traditional liturgical melodies have survived from the middle of the 19th century to the present day, and have been recorded on audio tapes.
- 65.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 1)
The first audio recordings, 11 wax cylinders of Coptic music, are deposited in the Phonogramm-Archiv in Berlin. They were recorded in 1931 by Alfred Berner, a German specialist in Arabic music, and were performed by the professional musician and cantor Mikhail Girgis al-Batanouny (1873-1957).
- 66.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 1)
Between 1935 and 1957, Moftah put great effort into building up a collection of known Coptic traditional chants. These chants were also mostly performed by al-Batanouny. Today, this later collection has been well preserved and is available for use thanks to its recording on audio tapes and later in digital forms.
- 67.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 1)
The entire Moftah collection is housed in the United States in the Music Division of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. It has also been saved in digital files at the German Center of Music in Hannover
- 68.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 1)
The structure and significance of traditional Coptic liturgical melodies can be studied from the melodies of this record, unfortunately collected and created by one single chanter, the deacon Abuna Takla, and mostly performed by one professional musician, al-Batanouny.
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