Church Music In The Coptic And Ethiopian Churches

Millions of Christians who live in Egypt and Ethiopia have inherited a rich tradition of worship practices. Each of these churches maintain a variety of ancient worship customs, including the use of music. In Egypt, the congregation participates in the music of worship. The most striking feature of Ethiopian worship is the contribution of the priests, who spend up to several decades mastering the music, poetry, and dance that are used in worship. The churches of the East can be divided into three groups: first, the Orthodox Churches of the four ancient patriarchs (Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem), together with the now independent churches still in communion with each other: Cyprus, Greece, Russia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Romania. Second are the Uniate Churches, in union with the church of Rome although following an Eastern rite. These owe their existence to Roman Catholic missionary work in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and are to be found in small num…