Coptic Hymns in Library of Congress

TITL

As I recently discovered, the entire Coptic hymnology is recorded in the Library of Congress. I can't believe it.

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/html/coptic/coptic-home.html

The opening ceremony with Bishop Youssef and Bishop Michael:

http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=4759

My question is, who is Ragheb Moftah and why isn't Moallim Mikhail mentioned in any of this?

jydeacon

Ragheb Moftah is pretty much the person that orchestrated and put together the first HICS and allowed for mlm mikhail to record the hymns. And just fyi, the entire coptic hymnology is most definitely not recorded or available in this collection. This is just the majority or like 70-80%. There are certain tapes that have not been released to the public by the Moftah family.

TITL

This is very interesting:

The seventeenth-century German Jesuit, Athanasius Kircher, made the earliest-known attempt at transcribing a piece of Coptic music. It was not until the early nineteenth century, during Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt, that Villoteau transcribed an Alleluia; and, in the late nineteenth century, the French Jesuit priests, Fathers Blin and Badet, attempted to transcribe the Coptic liturgy. These early transcribers, along with other important figures associated with Copts and Coptic music, such as Edward William Lane, are the subjects of the biographies in this Gallery.
The most important work in the preservation of Coptic music was begun in the 1920s and 1930s by Ragheb Moftah and Ernest Newlandsmith. The biographies of Moftah’s friends and colleagues presented here – Newlandsmith, O.H.E. Khs-Burmester, Hans Hickman, John E. Gillespie, Ilona Borsai, Martha Roy, Margit Tóth, Marian Robertson-Wilson, and His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – highlight the principal figures in the history of preserving Coptic music.

Thanks jydeacon

joeg

A letter from Dr. Ragheb Moftah to Ernest Newlandsmith: http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200155689/default.html

An article on Ernest Newlandsmith's work by Marian Robertson (a very nice read, a tad complex, but containing one or two transcripts of hymns - which (to my surprise) I could follow completely. Their work was excellent!  :D): http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.natlib.ihas.200155646/default.html

Biography of Dr. Ragheb Moftah: http://mycoptic.blogspot.com/2008/10/ragheb-moftah-musical-resurrection.html

Shorter biography: http://www.coptic.org/music/watson.html

Biobraphy written by his niece: http://www.lacopts.org/sources/dr-ragheb-moftah

Interview with Dr. Moftah, Fr. Mettias Nasr and Albair Mikhail: http://www.copticheritage.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=PagEd&file=index&page_id=816

An explanation of the different collections, and why they were placed in the Library of Congress, amongst other places, written by Dr. Moftah's niece: http://www.copticassembly.org/showart.php?main_id=400

Brief history of Coptic hymns by Albair Mikhail: http://www.coptichymns.net/module-pagesetter-viewpub-tid-1-pid-137.html

And of course, the tapes that have been stored in the Library of Congress are available for download from www.coptichymns.net

Remnkemi

Don't forget the academic studies done on Coptic music.

The first major historical ethnomusicological study was done by John Gillispe in 1976. It's on the Library of Congress site.

Since then Research since 1976:
In the International Association of Coptic Studies (IACS) Congresses, 448 articles published in 8 congresses, 4 dealt with Coptic music. John Gillespie’s article is the first.
In the 9th congress, 162 articles were presented, 7 dealt with Coptic music. There were more articles in the 9th congress than the first 8 congresses. There is an increase in popularity of Coptic music.

2 PhD theses: Nabila Erian in 1986, Magdelena Kuhn in 2009.
2 MA theses: Veronika Hein in 2007, Carolyn Ramzy in 2007
1 unpublished PhD thesis abstract: Fouad Attia
21 articles in various academic journals, newspapers and internet publications.
6 books on Coptic music.

I'm sure there are more studies that I couldn't find. Relatively speaking, Coptic music is not studied very much by scholars or Copts.

George

mikesl

It would be wonderful if these studies can be posted online for others to benefit from and conduct further studies where others left off.

Remnkemi

[quote author=mikesl link=topic=10106.msg126255#msg126255 date=1294161494]
It would be wonderful if these studies can be posted online for others to benefit from and conduct further studies where others left off.


It would be wonderful. However, we have to respect copyright laws. The best I can do is give you references. Most of them can be found in most university libraries.
George

minatasgeel

[quote author=Remnkemi link=topic=10106.msg126286#msg126286 date=1294171621]
[quote author=mikesl link=topic=10106.msg126255#msg126255 date=1294161494]
It would be wonderful if these studies can be posted online for others to benefit from and conduct further studies where others left off.


It would be wonderful. However, we have to respect copyright laws. The best I can do is give you references. Most of them can be found in most university libraries.
George

well if they are freely downloaded online than we can post them here in an orderly manner and announce that the Library of Congress is the source.

Remnkemi

Mina, there are not freely downloaded. They are published in books. And copyright law says if it's published, no copying or distributing within 75 years of publication (over 75 years it becomes public domain), without the publisher's consent. You have to buy the book. And the Library of Congress doesn't hold the copyrights. The individual publishers do or the respective authors.