Fasting tune
The fasting tune, called al-ṣiyāmī, is one of six main melody types identified in Coptic music and is associated with fasting periods.[^1]
Also known as: al-ṣiyāmī
In brief
The fasting tune, called al-ṣiyāmī, is a named seasonal melody type in Coptic Orthodox chant, assigned to fasting periods. Magdalena Kuhn lists it among six principal types, separately from the Kiyahk melody of Advent and the sorrowful melody of Holy Week, within a tradition transmitted chiefly through oral teaching.
Name and use
The fasting tune, designated al-ṣiyāmī, is one of the six main types of melody identified in Magdalena Kuhn’s account of Coptic music. It is assigned to fasting periods within a classification of melodies for ordinary days and special occasions.1
In Coptic chant, the term [[Lahn|lahn]] (plural alhan) denotes a recognizable, named melody or melody type and is used in liturgical books and manuscripts to specify the music for a given text.3
The Arabic term lahn translates a Coptic term adopted from the Greek ekhos, and its English renderings include “air,” “tone,” “melody,” and “mode.”5
Such names can be descriptive: Marian Robertson gives Lahn al-Farah, “of joy,” and Lahn al-Huzn, “of sorrow,” as examples.39
Robertson also suggests possible affinities between lahn, the Byzantine echos, and the Arabic maqam, while explicitly noting that these relationships remain to be elucidated.40
Place among seasonal melodies
Kuhn lists the fasting melody separately from the Kiyahk melody used during Advent and al-ḥazainī, used in the week before Easter.1
The remaining types in Kuhn’s classification are al-sanawī, the daily melody (Adam and Batos); al-faraiḥī, for feasts, weddings, and baptisms; and al-sha‘anīnī, for Palm Sunday and feasts of the Cross.4
In this musical tradition, different hymns can be sung to familiar melodies that serve as aids to memory. This provides the broader context for the use of named melody types such as the fasting tune.2
Advent as a distinct fasting season
Advent itself is a fast in preparation for Christ’s coming, lasting six weeks from 16 Hatur to 29 Kiyahk in the account given by Archbishop Basilios.6
Its Kiyahk psalmodia is nevertheless characterized by joyful singing in expectation of Christ’s coming and is popularly called “seven-and-four,” referring to its seven Theotokia and four hos, or odes.7
The themes of the Kiyahk psalmodia are the incarnation of the Logos, the Son of God, and praise of the Theotokos, the Mother of God.8
Archbishop Basilios further explains Advent as both a commemoration of the Nativity, Christ’s first coming, and an anticipation of His Second Coming in power and majesty, citing Matthew 24:42 and John 14:2.41
The seasonal arrangement also has a practical dimension: because assembling a congregation every night for a month is difficult, the custom developed of singing the consecutive series of seven Theotokia on Saturday night, interspersed with odes and psalis.9
In this arrangement, the odes and psalis are inserted before the Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday Theotokia; each Theotokia has its own preceding psali or psalis and concludes with its lobsh and tarh.42
The intercessions and doxologies follow the third ode and its psali, before the Friday Theotokia.43
Emile Maher Ishaq also records the practice of singing Arabic mada’ih, or songs of praise, after each part of the Kiyahk psalmodia.44
Musical structure and recognition
Kuhn’s general account of Coptic melody, which supplies the classification containing the fasting tune, describes the intervals between successive notes as normally small.10
She also states that the placement of a chant in a high, middle, or low vocal register has no symbolic meaning, but should suit the human voice and can be adapted to the individual singer.11
In her analysis, a melodic formula does not possess a special character in isolation; its significance comes from its position within the melody, and both that position and the overall melodic structure are important for recognizing a chant.12
The wider tradition permits the same text to be sung to different alhan, while a single lahn can also occur in short (qasir), abridged (mukhtasar), and long (tawil) forms.13
Seasonal and weekly melody designations
Alongside the seasonal classification, the terminology of Coptic hymnody includes the two frequently named melody types Adam and Batos, the latter also called Watus in Arabic.14
Adam takes its name from the opening word of the Monday Theotokia, while Batos takes its name from the opening of the Thursday Theotokia concerning the bush seen by Moses.15
For the daily Theotokia, its psali, the feast psali, the lobsh, the difnar, and the tarh, the Adam designation applies on Sunday through Tuesday.16
The corresponding Watus designation applies to these items from Wednesday through Saturday.17
The broader musical survey also associates Batos with the evening service and Holy Week, while noting that Adam is used on certain specially designated days in addition to its ordinary weekly assignment.45
These weekly assignments have exceptions: the second hos and its lobsh are sung daily to Adam, as are the Adam doxology after morning prayer and the Adam aspasmos in the anaphora.18
The third hos, its two following psalis, the tubhat, and the doxologies are sung every day to Watus, and the Watus aspasmos likewise belongs to the anaphora each day.19
Seasonal variation also occurs within this terminology: the account of the tubhat, the intercessions of the midnight psalmody, explicitly describes their Watus melody type, like that of the doxologies, as varying according to the season.20
These intercessions comprise a listing of saints and prayers beginning “Pray to the Lord” [tobh amebshays], with seventy-four verses or prayers in the annual midnight psalmody and eighty-three during Kiyahk.46
The same term is used for intercessions after the Gospel and tarh in the canonical hours of Holy Week; the Tartib al-Bi‘ah prescribes them at each hour, especially in monasteries, except the first and third hours of the night, when the people are not fasting and cannot perform prostrations.47
The broader musical survey distinguishes Adam and Batos by verse structure, length, and mood, while observing that their music differs little in contemporary practice and that both can occur in the same service.21
Hymnody and liturgical context
Psalis and melodic instructions
Psalis are metrical hymns accompanying a Theotokia or hos, and most are designated Psali Adam or Psali Batos according to the day of the week.22
Arabic names for a psali include absaliyyah and madih, the latter meaning “praise” or “laudation,” with the plural mada’ih.48
Some psalis instead name a particular familiar psali or hymn whose melody is to be used, illustrating the specificity that a melodic instruction can have within the hymn books.23
The musical description of psalis characterizes their melodies as rhythmic and syllabic, with little melisma or improvisation, a range usually covering four or at most five tones, and a quasi-parlando manner of delivery.24
Their texts employ additional aids to memory: psalis contain twenty-six to forty-six strophes of rhymed quatrains, often arranged as alphabetic acrostics, with double and reverse acrostics also used to help singers perform the whole hymn without omissions.25
A further characteristic is the refrain, usually made by repeating the fourth line of a strophe, though sometimes both the third and fourth lines are repeated; the musical survey identifies this as a source of their popularity and contrasts it with the rarity of refrains in the hos, Theotokia, and ritual pieces of the liturgies and canonical hours.49
Except for a few paraphrases reserved for Kiyahk, the survey describes psalis as the only pieces of Coptic music whose authors are identified within their texts, often through a plea for mercy and forgiveness in which the writer calls himself a poor servant or sinner.50
In the paraphrases, an author’s name may instead be encoded in an acrostic formed from the initial letters of successive strophes or of a sequence of hymns.51
Detailed editions by Muyser and Yassa ‘Abd al-Masih, based on manuscripts dating from the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries, demonstrate the psali authors’ technical skill in Coptic rhyme and rhythm.52
Psalmodia and Lenten adaptations
Psalmodia denotes both a choral service and the choirbook containing its hymns; the service belongs to the preparation for the Divine Liturgy and is usually sung antiphonally, though alternation between a soloist and the congregation also occurs.26
Historically, the service consisted only of the recitation of psalms, with other hymns incorporated later.53
Its order of psalms and hymns remains the same through the year, subject to certain modifications for Lent and the major feasts.27
The musical survey places Psalmodia immediately before the Evening Offering of Incense, at the conclusion of the Midnight Hour prayers, and between Morning Prayer and the Morning Offering of Incense.54
It describes daily performance in monasteries and a customary Saturday-night celebration in city churches, while Ishaq’s account more generally states that outside monasteries Psalmodia is sung when the Divine Liturgy is to be celebrated.55
The four hos supply a biblical foundation for this service: the first is the Song of Moses in Exodus 15:1–21, the second Psalm 136 with an Alleluia refrain, the third the Song of the Three Holy Children, and the fourth Psalms 148–150.56
Their unrhymed strophes follow the versification of the Coptic biblical text and are sung to a definite rhythmic pattern in duple meter.57
The annual texts and order are contained in al-Absalmudiyyah al-Sanawiyyah, while al-Absalmudiyyah al-Kiyahkiyyah contains the hymns for the month of Kiyahk.28
One documented optional Lenten practice concerns the tafasir, metrical compositions developing the themes of a Theotokia: the manuscript Tartib al-Bi‘ah permits their use on Saturday evenings during Lent and throughout the year, as well as during Kiyahk.29
A tafsir has the same number of sections as the Theotokia it interprets, each intended to follow the corresponding section of that Theotokia, although some surviving examples may have remained private compositions rather than entering church use.58
Ishaq describes these paraphrases as popular hymnody approved but not officially authorized by the church, with users free to choose among them.59
In his fourteenth-century Misbah al-Zulmah, Ibn Kabar preferred the older and shorter paraphrases; discoveries at Dayr Anba Maqar suggest that a complete series once existed for all seven Theotokia, rather than only the Saturday and Sunday texts.60
Some tafasir collected in De Lacy O’Leary’s The Coptic Theotokia (1923) also appear under the title lobsh in the 1911 Kiyahk psalmodia, illustrating an overlap in the terminology of the hymnbooks.61
The mu‘aqqab is specifically sung with the other tafasir at the Saturday Theotokia before the evening offering of incense in Kiyahk and optionally during Lent.30
Its name means “the repeated,” reflecting a construction in which each four-line stanza begins by repeating the last line of the preceding stanza.31
The first three lines of each stanza rhyme, while its fourth line supplies the first line and rhyme for the next stanza; the composition has nine sections, like the Saturday Theotokia, with successive sections beginning in alphabetical order.62
The Saturday Theotokia’s nine sections, called sharat, each have three tafasir designated rumi or Greek, mu‘aqqab, and Bohairic, preserved in relatively older manuscripts.63
History and oral transmission
The wider vocabulary of named alhan is documented in the fourteenth century, when Ibn Kabar named some twenty-six of them, most of which the musical survey reports as still known.32
That survey distinguishes melodies designated sanawiyyah, sung throughout the year, from others reserved for a single occasion.33
In the account of oral tradition by Ragheb Moftah and Martha Roy, the manuscripts and books known to the authors preserve texts and rubrics rather than a notation specifically designed for Coptic music, and musical transmission takes place through oral teaching and rote learning across generations.34
They nevertheless note the discovery in Egypt of manuscripts bearing ancient Greek musical notation, distinguishing that evidence from a notation devised specifically for Coptic music.64
They also report Hans Hickmann’s interpretation that singers regarded the music as a sacred trust and deliberately avoided transcription lest it fall into the wrong hands.65
The cantor’s responsibilities include directing the choir and congregation and teaching hymns to deacons and other members of the congregation; the office may be held by a deacon or a layman and requires knowledge of hymnology, psalmody, responsories, and ritual.35
Marian Robertson’s comparisons of transcriptions made decades apart suggested 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 recurring in the same places.36
The same account notes greater variation and improvisation among solo performers, particularly in embellishments and melismata, than in compositions sung by the choir.37
A later example of comparative research is Nabil Kamal Butros’s 1976 master’s thesis, “Coptic Music and Its Relation to Pharaonic Music,” which transcribed and analyzed one hymn as performed by several choirs; Butros taught violin at Helwan University’s Faculty of Music Education and belonged to the Arabic Classical Music Ensemble.66
The survey acknowledges that Western notation was not designed for Coptic music, but presents comparison among scholars’ transcriptions as a means of studying the tradition’s complexity and variety.67
These observations concern the transmission of the Coptic musical repertory generally, whereas Kuhn’s specific description of al-ṣiyāmī identifies its liturgical assignment as “during fasting periods.”38
Fasting in the wider liturgical calendar
Archbishop Basilios describes fasting as occupying approximately two-thirds of the Coptic year, or a minimum of 250 days, and grounds its Christian observance in the teaching of Jesus and the practice of the apostles.68
His account distinguishes abstention from meat and animal products, including eggs, milk, butter, and cheese, from the additional exclusion of fish during the fasts of Jonah, the Virgin Mary, and Lent.69
He also records more demanding monastic and ascetic practices, including year-round fasting and taking only one meal after sunset.70
The Fast of the Apostles begins on the Monday following Pentecost and ends on 5 Abib, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, so that its duration varies with the date of Pentecost.71
By contrast, the fifty days following the Resurrection are described as a period of rejoicing in which fasting is inappropriate, with Matthew 9:15 providing the image of wedding guests who do not mourn while the bridegroom is with them.72
A different category is the Eucharistic fast, which Aziz S. Atiya distinguishes from dietary fasting as complete abstinence from food and drink from the preceding evening until Communion.73
These descriptions establish the breadth of Coptic fasting practice, but Kuhn’s seasonal list gives only the general assignment of al-ṣiyāmī and does not provide separate musical instructions for each of these fasts.74
Questions
Frequently asked questions
- What is the Coptic fasting tune called?
- It is designated al-ṣiyāmī and is one of the six main melody types in Magdalena Kuhn’s classification of Coptic music.
- Is the fasting tune the same as the Advent or Holy Week melody?
- Kuhn lists them separately: al-ṣiyāmī for fasting periods, Kiyahk for Advent, and al-ḥazainī for the week before Easter.
- How do Adam and Watus relate to seasonal tunes?
- Adam and Watus are widely used melody designations with weekly assignments and exceptions. Seasonal variation also occurs within this terminology, notably in the Watus melodies of the intercessions and doxologies.
- How is the fasting tune transmitted?
- It belongs to a repertory transmitted chiefly through oral teaching and rote learning, with cantors teaching hymns and directing singers; the supplied sources do not give a separate transmission history for al-ṣiyāmī.
- Do the sources identify the tune for every Coptic fast?
- No. Kuhn assigns al-ṣiyāmī generally to fasting periods but does not give a fast-by-fast set of musical instructions.
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.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.
- 3.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 184)
a term used in Coptic liturgical books and manuscripts to specify the music to be sung to a given text. 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
- 4.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 3)
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
- 5.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 184)
Arabic translation of Coptic /,oc, adopted from Greek ekhos ... Sometimes translated into English as "air," "tone," "melody," or "mode,"
- 6.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 162)
In the Coptic church this period lasts six weeks starting on 16 Hatur and ending on 29 Kiyahk. It is a period of fasting in preparation for the celebration of Christ's coming.
- 7.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 162)
the "seven-and-four" psalmodia (sab‘ah wa-arb‘ah), so called because it includes seven Theotokia and four hos and is characterized by joyful singing in expectation of the coming of Christ
- 8.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 222)
the Kiyahkan psalmodia, which revolves around the themes of the incarnation of the Logos, the Son of God, and the praise of the Theotokos (mother of God)
- 9.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 91)
As it is not easy to assemble a congregation every night for a month, the custom has arisen of using the whole consecutive series of Theotokias on Saturday night, breaking the monotony by inserting the odes and psali
- 10.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 3)
The intervals (the distance from one note to the next) are normally small.
- 11.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 3)
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.
- 12.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 3)
A formula itself does not have a special character; it is a formula’s position in the melody which imbues it with significance. Both the position of a formula in Coptic melody and the structure of that melody are very important for recognizing a chant.
- 13.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 78)
The same text may be sung to different alhan ... Furthermore, the same lahn may have three forms: short (qasir), abridged (mukhtasar), and long (tawil).
- 14.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 78)
The two melody types most frequently named are Adam and Batos (Arabic: ADAM and WATUS).
- 15.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 78)
Adam is the first word of the Theotokia for Monday ... and Batos is the first word of the Theotokia for Thursday
- 16.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 161)
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.
- 17.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 699)
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.
- 18.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.
- 19.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.
- 20.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.
- 21.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.
- 22.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 83)
The Psalis ... are metrical hymns that accompany either a Theotokia or hos. ... 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.
- 23.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 83)
However, certain ones specify the title of another familiar Psali or hymn to whose melody they may be sung.
- 24.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; they swing along in quasi-parlando style
- 25.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 ... 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.
- 26.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 812)
an ecclesiastical term used in two senses: a special choral service, and the choirbook containing the hymns therefor. ... in preparation for the great synaxis, that is, the Divine Liturgy. 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.
- 27.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 812)
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
- 28.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.
- 29.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 398)
This is a metrical Coptic composition inspired by a THEOTOKION ... the manuscript of Tartib al-Bi‘ah (The Order of the Church) says that they are to be sung not only on the eve of Sundays (Saturday evening) of the month of Kiyahk but also optionally on the eve of Sundays of Lent and the whole year.
- 30.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 839)
A mu‘aqqab is sung together with the other tafasir at the Saturday theotokia in the PSALMODIA before the service of the evening offering of incense performed on Saturdays in the month of Kiyahk and optionally during Lent.
- 31.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 838)
Arabic term, meaning "the repeated," ... It is so called because each stanza begins by repeating the last line of the preceding stanza. Each stanza is composed of four lines.
- 32.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.
- 33.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.
- 34.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. There is no known notation now in existence designed specifically for Coptic music ... the music has passed from one person to another, from one generation to the next, by oral teaching and rote learning.
- 35.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 374)
leader and director of the chanting of the choir and the congregation ... He is usually a deacon but may also be a layman. He should have a thorough knowledge of hymnology, psalmody, and all forms of responsory, besides church ritual and traditions. His duties also include the teaching of hymns to other deacons and members of the congregation.
- 36.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
- 37.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
- 38.Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance — Magdalena Kuhn (p. 3)
al-ṣiyāmī during fasting periods
- 39.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 184)
known by a specific, often descriptive name, such as Lahn al-Farah (. . . of joy) and Lahn al-Huzn (. . . of sorrow).
- 40.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 184)
Lahn may have some affinities yet to be elucidated with the Byzantine echos and the Arabic maqam.
- 41.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 1 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 162)
the church not only commemorates the anniversary of the Nativity, that is, the first coming of the Savior, but also looks forward to His Second Coming, the day when the Lord comes in power and majesty (Mt. 24:42; Jn. 14:2).
- 42.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 91)
inserting the odes and psali (metrical hymns) before the Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday Theotokias. Each Theotokia is preceded by its psali, one or more for each day, and is ended with its LOBSH and TARH.
- 43.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 91)
The tubhat (singular TUBH) and DOXOLOGIES are sung after the third ode and its psali, before the Friday Theotokia.
- 44.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 91)
Arabic mada’ih (songs of praise) are now sung after each part of the Psalmodia during Kiyahk.
- 45.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.
- 46.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 594)
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.
- 47.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 594)
The intercessions recited after reading the Gospel and TARH in the canonical hours of Holy Week are also known as Tobhat. The Tartib al-Bi‘ah says that the Tobhat are to be recited in each canonical hour of Holy Week (especially in monasteries), except the first and third hours of the night, because the people are not then fasting and cannot perform prostrations.
- 48.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 83)
Arabic: ABSALIYYAH, or madih, pl. mada’ih, “praise, laudation”
- 49.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 83)
One feature which makes the Psalis very popular is the refrain, an element rarely found in the ritual pieces of the liturgies and canonical hours, or in the hos and Theotokia of the service of Psalmodia. Usually the refrain is made by repeating only the fourth line of the strophe, but sometimes both the third and fourth lines are repeated.
- 50.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.”
- 51.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 83)
In the paraphrases, the author’s name may be given in acrostic form as the first letter of each strophe of the hymn, or as the initial letter of each of a set of hymns arranged seriatim.
- 52.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.
- 53.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.
- 54.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.
- 55.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.
- 55.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 812)
only in the monasteries is it performed every day. Elsewhere it is sung only when the Divine Liturgy is to be celebrated.
- 56.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 80)
and Psalm 150
- 56.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 80)
Psalm 149
- 56.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 80)
Hos Four, Psalm 148
- 56.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 80)
with an Alleluia refrain in each strophe; Hos Three, the Song of the Three Holy Children
- 56.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 80)
Hos Two, Psalm 136
- 56.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 80)
They are Hos One, Song of Moses (Ex. 15:1-21
- 57.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.
- 58.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 398)
A tafsir paraphrase is divided into a number of sections equal to that of the theotokion. Each section of a tafsir is intended to be used liturgically immediately after the section of the theotokion that it interprets, although some are private compositions that perhaps never attained the dignity of recitation in church.
- 59.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 398)
the paraphrases form a body of popular hymnody that is approved, but not officially authorized, by the church. Their use is optional; those who use them are at liberty to select whichever they please.
- 60.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 398)
the discoveries at DAYR ANBA MAQAR suggest that at some period there was a full liturgical series of all the seven theotokias, each with its own tafsir.
- 60.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 398)
Abu al-Barakat IBN KABAR (fourteenth century), in his Misbah al-Zulmah (The Luminary of Church Services), expressed the opinion that the best of these paraphrases are the older and shorter ones.
- 61.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 398)
Some of the tafasir found in the manuscripts collected by De Lacy O'Leary in The Coptic Theotokia (1923) appear in the Kitab al-Absalmudiyyat al-Muqaddasat al-Kihyahkiyyah, for the month of Kiyahk 1911, under the title LOBSH
- 62.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 838)
A mu‘aqqab, like the Saturday theotokia, is composed of nine sections. An alphabetical order is followed in the beginning of each section.
- 62.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 5 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 838)
The first three lines rhyme, and the fourth line is repeated as the first verse of the following stanza and rhymes with the two succeeding lines
- 63.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 398)
In the Saturday theotokia are nine sections called SHARAT, followed by a LOBSH. Each of these nine sections has three tafasir called respectively rumi, or Greek; MU‘AQQAB (i.e., repeated); and Bohairic. These are found in the relatively older manuscripts
- 64.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 88)
There is no known notation now in existence designed specifically for Coptic music, though manuscripts bearing ancient Greek notation have been found in Egypt
- 65.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 88)
According to Hans Hickmann (see Musicologists, below), this music was held as a sacred trust by those who learned it, and indeed, was purposely not transcribed lest it fall into the wrong hands.
- 66.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 117)
In 1976, Nabil Kamal Butros, violin teacher in the Faculty of Music Education at Helwan University and a member of the Arabic Classical Music Ensemble, completed a master’s thesis, “Coptic Music and Its Relation to Pharaonic Music,” in which he made a comparative transcription and analysis of one hymn as sung by several different choirs.
- 67.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 6 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 117)
Although Western notation was not designed for transcribing Coptic music, it may be the form in which this ancient music from the Near East will at last be written. By comparing the various transcriptions of dedicated scholars, one may at least glimpse the complexity and variety of the Coptic musical tradition.
- 68.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 216)
Fasts are recommended by Jesus (Mt. 6:16; Mk. 2:20) and by the apostles (Acts 13:2, 14:23; 2 Cor. 11:27). The total fasting days in Coptic tradition cover approximately two-thirds of the year or a minimum of 250 days.
- 69.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 216)
In their fasts, the Copts avoid meat and all animal extracts including eggs, milk, butter, and cheese. Fish is also prohibited in the fasts of Jonah, Our Lady, and especially Lent.
- 70.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 216)
Coptic monks, ascetics, and solitaries often pushed fasting far beyond the canonical practices. They fasted the whole year, and frequently ate only one meal after sunset.
- 71.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 216)
It starts on the Monday that follows Pentecost and ends on 5 Abib, when the Coptic church celebrates the feast of the apostles Peter and Paul. Since Pentecost is a movable feast, this fast has no fixed duration
- 72.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 216)
The fifty days following the Resurrection are a period of rejoicing during which it is not proper to fast. "Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast" (Mt. 9:15).
- 73.The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 4 — Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 137)
The Copts rigorously observe complete abstinence from food or drink from the previous evening until Holy Communion is celebrated. This is not a regular fast in the sense of abstaining from certain categories of nutritious elements
- 74.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
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This article was drafted from the sources listed above with AI assistance and reviewed by an editor before publication.