Third Meeting with Coptic Music: Kiahk Month Hymns

Virgin Mary Church - Ardel Golf, Cairo (December 28, 1993)


Introduction about Kiahk Month (Dr.Nabila Erian)

The Coptic Church knows six musical tunes: Annual, Kiahky, Fasting, Palm Sunday, Joyful & Sad.. (Sanawy, Kiahky, Seyamy, Sha3aniny, Farayhy, Hazayny).. Apparently these tunes did merge or seperate from others in previous times.. The Kiahky tune is characterised by it's special color & order which is different from all the others..

Many historians have divided the Church's hymns into eight tunes (Echoi) each of which has it's own influence on people: Joy, Sadness,... But the Kiahky tune doesn't relate to any psycological status.. We also could guess that it should have been named the Nativity Tune as Christmas is on it's end (Kiahk 29th)..BUT it was called Kiahky!! which is the fourth month of the Coptic Calendar.. It is also the season of Nile Inundation in the Ancient Egyptian's Calendar.. That attracts our attention to the relationship between this month and it's seasonal position We could guess that, one day, it had some relation with aglicultural seasons, the Ancient Citizen's habits & traditions.. when he received Christianity, he wrote his new belief's meanings on the music he was acquainted with..

The Kiahky Prayers have a special seperate Psalmodia called the Kiahky Psalmodia.. The Kiahky songs (Psalias) are not very old.. Their composers usualy signed their names whether in the Psalias titles, in the last verse or write the first character in each verse consequently to form their name's characters.. Most of them are in Arabic.. We can find names like HH Pope Morcos VIII who was pope until the begining of the 19 th century..

Kiahky Hymns need long years of study as they are numerous.. We would be satisfied with some of the Musical aspects through Dr.Hossam's explanation..


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Shenouda Mamdouh
cop@idsc.gov.eg

Copyright © 1996, Shenouda Mamdouh, Last Updated - 7/3/96