Koiakh Psalmody

[The Liturgist]

During the Nativity Fast, or Advent, the Coptic Orthodox Church has a particularly beautiful set of hymns and services known as the Khiakh Psalmody (also spelled Koiakh). @dzheremi , would you be able to brief us on this Psalmody, what Sundays it will be served on (like, does it just happen on Sundays in the actual month of Koiakh or is it on the Sundays of the Nativity Fast?), and how it differs from the normal Psalmody? I thought I might separately link some videos of the Psalmody each day it is being served from a good cathedral, perhaps St. Mark’s in Los Angeles, that does it in a mix of Coptic and English, if that sounds good?

 

[dzheremi]

Unfortunately, I'm not feeling entirely well (I've somehow managed to mess up my right shoulder some days ago, so it is very tight and this makes it difficult to maintain my hands in the proper position for typing long posts), and my internet connection is being unstable today, so I will have to be brief about this for now. I would recommend any of the several articles that broach this subject and related topics at the online version of the Coptic Encyclopedia (an expanded repository of encyclopedic articles having to do with Coptic topics, based upon the original printed 8-volume version of the Coptic Encyclopedia, ed. Aziz Suriyal Atiya), which is available online via the Claremont Colleges Digital Library. For example, the article "Coptic Melodies: Structure and Significance" by Magdalena Kuhn, which clarifies certain aspects of the melodies themselves, as well as when they are used, i.e., the Kiahk melodies are used during Advent. Another good resource would be copticheritage.org, which is the website of the Heritage of the Coptic Orthodox Church choir, who have done over the past 23 years a vast number of recordings covering in fairly exhaustive detail the various rites of the Church, including the Kiahk psalmody. Certain articles found on that website, such as "The Kiahk Sunday Vespers Praise" contain a lot of historical details on the recent (well, 15th century and onwards) history of the rite that may be of interest to you, given your love of all things pertaining to the rites of various churches.