Abstract
We attempted to study the hitherto unexplained phenomenon of the sung “a”, for one note, at the end of an “A” melody. We encountered this issue during singing the word “Alleluia” in the Coptic musical culture. We found that the transmission from “A” to “a” serves as an intermediary step before continuing to the “L”. It may also be an adopted habit by some singers, rather than a consistently inherited musical design with a clear pattern. However, further research is encouraged to decipher this phenomenon.
Highlights
Background and ObjectiveSinging, irrespective of its origin, is based on the use of the vowel sounds in all the different languages
The Coptic language remains alive in the Coptic Orthodox Church, since most liturgical hymns, chants and praises are composed on lyrics written in the Coptic language [2]
The letter Alpha ‘A—A’ is a special vowel which is frequently used in Coptic singing with several variations
Summary
Background and ObjectiveSinging, irrespective of its origin, is based on the use of the vowel sounds in all the different languages. The Coptic language remains alive in the Coptic Orthodox Church, since most liturgical hymns, chants and praises are composed on lyrics written in the Coptic language [2]. The Coptic vowels (which amount to eight in number whether individual or combined letters) are rich, covering a broad spectrum of phonetic expression sounds. These specific sounds give the melodies a special dimension when experienced singers/chanters move smoothly from one vowel to the other. The letter Alpha ‘A—A’ is a special vowel which is frequently used in Coptic singing with several variations. The vowel ‘A’ of ‘Alleluia’ may be melismatically chanted at varying lengths in many other hymns
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