The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has a rich musical tradition, deeply rooted in its religious practices and cultural heritage. Central to this tradition is the concept of "Mezmur," which refers to spiritual songs of the faith. These songs, often written or inspired by Saint Yared, play a crucial role in worship and religious expression within the church.
Singing and chanting in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church are usually rendered in the Classical Ethiopian Language of Ge'ez. The Clergy and parishioners strive to understand and practice the teachings of the faith in English, bridging the Ancient Order and modern language.
The Origin of Ethiopian Orthodox Church Music: St. Yared
St. Yared was responsible for teaching the Zema (melody) of the chanting heard in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which is still used today. We commemorate St. Saint Yared was a kinsman of Abba Gideon a priest of ‘Aksum, which city held the first church that was built in the country of Ethiopia, and in [this church] was first preached the Faith of our Lord Christ, and it was consecrated (i.e. dedicated) in the name of Our Holy Lady, the Virgin Mary, the God-bearer.
When this Abba Gideon began to teach the blessed Yared the Psalms of David, he was unable to keep him with him for many days at a time, and then when he beat him, and made him to suffer pain, he fled into the desert and took up his abode under a tree. And he saw a worm (caterpillar) which was climbing up the tree, and when it had climbed up half way it fell down upon the ground; and this it did many times, because of the difficulty of climbing the tree.
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And when Saint Yared saw the perseverance of the worm, he repented in his soul and returned to his teacher and said unto him, “Forgive me, O father, and dispose of me as thou wishest.” And his teacher, a spiritual man, received him, and having asked God with tears He opened the thoughts of Yared’s understanding, and he learned in one day the Books of the Old and the New Testaments; and then he was made a Deacon.
Now in those days there was no singing of hymns and spiritual songs in a loud voice to well-defined tunes, but men murmured them in a low voice. And God, wishing to raise up to Himself a memorial, sent unto him three birds from the Garden of Eden, and they held converse with Yared in the speech of man, and they caught him up, and took him to the heavenly Jerusalem, and there he learned the songs of the Four and Twenty Priests of heaven.
And when they heard the sound of his voice, the king, and the queen, and the bishop, and the priests, and the king’s nobles, ran to the church, and they spent the day in listening to him. And he arranged hymns for each season of the year, for summer and winter, and spring and autumn, and for festivals and Sabbaths, and for the days of the Angels, the Prophets, the Martyrs and the Righteous, in three modes, that is to say, the first mode to be used on ordinary days, the second mode to be used on fast days and days of mourning, and the third mode to be used on the great festivals.
Ethiopia - Musical Life of St. Yared
The Significance of Understanding in Mezmur
Psalm is a melody of praise. The way of which Christians expresses their praise hinge on our comprehension of God’s words; Singing ought to be with understanding. The word understanding is profound judgment and thus we sing wisely and but not be misled by heresies and worldliness as its value more, rather than music.
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The Psalmist advises us in this particular, and so doth the Apostle Saint Paul in his epistle to the Corinthians. He said, “What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding.
The Orthodox Message in Hymns
For the past 1,300 years, Church scholars and laities have been praising God with the song of Saint Jared. His Melodies including Geez, Ezl, and Arara’i hymns, learned in the angelic world, signify the unity of the Trinity. Whilst Geez is likened to the Father, means glory and praise to Him. The Ezel is the symbolization of Son of God and his suffering and salavtion.
The rites, traditions, and instruments of Saint Jared’s hymn, which the Holy Church preserves for us to give thanks to God, have a perfectly orthodox message. Therefore, Orthodox Incarnation hymns must follow the pattern of Saint Jared’s hymn, which was regularly sung by the Fathers of our Holy Church. This is because a song is orthodox if it is inspired by the message, the melody, the instrument, and the way we sing.
As the prophet David said, “Sing with understanding” We need to identify the orthodox hymns, and especially the songs of repentance that praise our God, commemorate the feasts and ceremonies, and intercede in times of trouble. Orthodox hymns should be sung as same our Fore religious fathers sung in melody of Saint Jared, rhythm, and ritual. The Ethiopian Orthodox Incarnation Church has taught of the utilization of hymns in written and unwritten law, as it is the basis of Saint Jared’s hymns. It is the style of singing and melody.
Historical Context of Ethiopian Orthodox Mezmur
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Ethiopian Orthodox Mezmur have a long history in Ethiopia although their origins are not clear. It is estimated that the introduction of Christianity took place in Ethiopia around 300 A.D. Despite it’s the Ethiopia Orthodox Mezmur old history and undiscovered information this topic is given a little focus and is kept inaccessible to the vast majority except for those who are part of the church community.
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Ethiopia is one of the first countries that accepted Christianity in the earlier times. Even before this it is said that Ethiopia believed in Monotheism and the existence of one God for a long period of time.Right after the introduction of Christianity to Ethiopia, it soon captivated the souls of many, and it dominated people’s way of life in both religious and secular life.
The Church School System
The church school system is the major one which originated in 4th century by the time of Aksumite kingdom. But before that the Ethiopian churches were highly influenced by the Egyptian culture since the bishops come from there. After the spread of Christianity to the southern region of the country in the 6th century the church school system dominated the whole country under churches and monasteries.
The church school culture and its teaching systems reached its peak level by the 13th century and stayed in that way until the end of the 16th century. But in the 17th century, there were multiple attacks on the Ethiopian Orthodox Churches and the society as a whole by foreign external forces like Yodit Gudit from Egypt, Gragn Ahmed and so on. During this time the widespread of church school were prohibited and was forced to retract back to the hidden monasteries and churches.
The school teaches different things one of them being the spiritual songs. Also known for St. Yared Ethiopia Orthodox Mezmur songs the styles and techniques are said to be unlike any other in the world. It has its own unique ways of melody, tunes and notations. Starting from there St. Yared’s songs have been practiced and established in people’s way of life.
St. Yared: The Father of Ethiopian Orthodox Mezmur
But all this being said, who is St. Yared? And how do his songs come to existence? St. Yared was born from his father Yisak and his mother Kristina on April 5, 501 A.D in Aksum descending from a family whose bloodline is in the church scholars. At the age of six a priest was assigned to him as a teacher to guide him with his traditional education. But St. Yared was not that much clever on his education and was poor on accepting new knowledge. So, he was sent back home to his parents.
During this time St.Yared’s father Mr. Yisak passed away and his mother was forced to raise him on her own. So, she asked help from her brother Aba Gedeon who was a well-known priest by the time in the church of Aksum Zion. Aba Gedeon adapted St.Yared and takes care of his with his educations as promised to his mother. He taught the bible both the old testament as well as the New Testament. Though unlike the other students it took St. Yared a lot of time to learn. Especially in the book of David, it took him a lot that he couldn’t even finish with the other students.
Inspirations of St. Yared
Due to this, the other students used to make fun of him. Feeling that he was not successful with his education, St. Yared left school and went to Medebay, a nearby town where his other uncle lived in. But on his way to there a heavy rainfalls and St. Yared was forced to take a rest and hide in the shades of a big tree. But while he was there a big thing happened that changed his life forever. He saw an ant trying to climb up the tree. But the ant could not make it and fall back for several times. However, after the seventh trail the ant make it and reached to its final destination.
Seeing this St. Yared thought that he should not give up and try again and again until he reaches for what he was aiming. So, changing his thoughts he decided to go back to his school and continue with his education. It is also claimed that he was taken to the Heavens and supernaturally taught about the mysteries of the arts of music by three Holy Spirits. This was how it is known that Ge’ez, Ezl and Araray. These three are said to be the three categories in which all other musical notes lye under.
St. Yared used to sing in front of a big audience including the king and the queen. Impressed by his voice and performance as he sang with drums and sistra, Emperor Gebre Meskel asked St. Yared what he wanted that he can do for him. Guaranteeing that the king would not refuse his request St. Yared asked the king that he wanted to live in sacred place alone and dedicate his life to the spiritual world and to the love of music. Then after he left Aksum, his own village and went to live in the Semen Mountains where it is believed that he lived there until his disappears.
Aside from the music life, St. Yared also contributed to the educational and literature system of the country. He states that in the educational system people must not only be taught but also be departed from idleness and the system must maintain the pace of a young individual. Where as in the literature part his writings of Mezgebe Degua holds the oldest written literatures in Geez. Additionally, St. Yared is also called the founder of Qine by the Geez scholars which are a highly elaborative and multilayered form of Geez poetry.
Compositions of St. Yared
As we go down deep to his ways of Ethiopia Orthodox Mezmur songs and musical techniques it comprises of different compositions that are spiritually uplifting and gives the sense of Holiness. Moreover, he separately defines the types of Ethiopia Orthodox Mezmur songs that are sung for different events as well as in the different times of the day and seasons.
- Dagua: Translating to the books of music it comprises of Ethiopia Orthodox Mezmur songs for praise and sorrow. It is divided into three parts of Yohannis, Astemiro, and Fasika.
- Miiraf: Studied by heart during times of fasting like Wednesday and Friday.
- Zimare: Well known and used for communal worshiping, holding songs of praises and prayers.
- Mewasiit: Consists of songs sung on special occasions by mass, relating to the Lord, St. Mariam, saints, and so on.
Liturgical Music in Ethiopian Orthodox Mezmur
Of the fourteen compositions of Anaphora St. Yared gave us twelve of them are the basic ones that are used regularly. The Anaphora’s are namely our Lord Jesus Christ, our Lady Mary, St. John Chrysostom, St. DIoscorus, St. John the evangelist, St. Gregory the Armenian, the 318 Orthodox, St. Athanasius, St. Basil, St. Gregory Nazianzen, St. Epiphanius, St. Cyril and James Sarug.
These are all written by St. Yared but some others which are slightly different from these ones but almost the same as Degua were written by Abba Gorgorios of Gastch who was the spiritual son of St. Yared. These were called “seatat” which are hourly Ethiopia Orthodox Mezmur songs that have a slightly different musical form. show these performances were practiced in a way to praise God.
Qine in Ethiopia Orthodox Mezmur
As mentioned earlier above Qine is a powerful way of literature with the words or sentences having multilayered meanings. St. Yared also used this in his Ethiopia Orthodox Mezmur songs to praise God. Though St.Yared found qine various poets like Iskindir, Dekik Estifanos Twenty, Hawira, and Menkera mastered it in different ways. Its poetic, mystery, and linguistic excellences making it famous many Ethiopians learned qine including Emperor Haile Selassie I.
Sources and Characteristics of Ethiopia Orthodox Mezmur
The holy bible, book of monks and scholars as well as literary works are said to be the sources of St. Yared Ethiopia Orthodox Mezmur songs. the major biblical source. Generally talking St. Yared Ethiopia Orthodox Mezmur songs comprises of smooth sounds, gentle movement of the body from side to side front and back, rhythmic and slow march of dancing, and minimalistic percussion.
The setting of the St. Yared’s Ethiopia Orthodox Mezmur songs performance represents that of the quinemahlet or canticarum which is the outermost part of the church, mekdes, or sanctuary which is the innermost part of the church and the tabot or adobe which is the sacred part of the church.
The performance goes throughout the show as a smooth flowing current of the ocean. With the movement of the front and back as well as side to side. It is performed by two groups of people standing in front of each other holding sistrum in their hands that will enhance their movement and gives it a rhythmic movement with a beat. These two groups of people are dressed in graceful cultural clothes which are both elegant and colorful. They also have a white turban around their head giving them more grace.
Doing this they stand in front of each other forming a y shape creating a space for the one who is playing the drum in the middle. The drummers beat the drum in various beats standing, seating, jumping or circling around adding a beauty to the play of the musical performance. This being accompanied by the movement of the other group one standing while the other seating or one going front as the other moving backward gives the performance flowing like the ocean as I mentioned above.
The Three Basic Melodies
Other than the musical performance St. Yared Ethiopia Orthodox Mezmur songs have three basic melodies.
- Geez: The simplest and plain type that is used on a regular base on a day to day activities.
- Ezel: A slow and glorifying heavy sounding style usually associated with fasting seasons or funerals.
- Araray: The most complex type of melody with a free and higher spirit mode, used for special festivals and ceremonies.
The symbolism being the heart of the Orthodox religion as well as St. Yared’s music the three melodies also have a meaning. The Geez symbolizes the father, Ezl symbolizing the son while the Araray is for the holy spirit.
Table of Melodies and Symbolism
| Melody | Description | Symbolism |
|---|---|---|
| Geez | Simplest, plain, used daily | The Father |
| Ezel | Slow, glorifying, heavy, used in fasting or funerals | The Son |
| Araray | Complex, free spirit, used in festivals and ceremonies | The Holy Spirit |
Instruments in Ethiopian Orthodox Mezmur
St. Yared Ethiopia Orthodox Mezmur songs basically contains three different musical instruments.
- Tsinatsil: A type of sistrum made out of three or four metal rods which are horizontally attached to a u-shaped frame or a bow while they are still moveable. So as the bow is jiggled and tilted from side to side the metal rods makes a noise. And when this is done under a constant time frame interval it gives a rhythmic beat that cherishes the songs.
- Mekuamia: A long stick that supplements the movement of the hand. It is swung front, back then side to side symbolizing the four different corners of the world and spreading the message that the praise to the Lord shall be heard from all corners of the world.
- Kebero: A large cylindrical drum with two heads on both ends of the drum. It is made out of a hollowed out wooden logs that are covered with animal hides on the open parts.
Other than the St. Yared techniques the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Ethiopia Orthodox Mezmur songs are well known for the use of “Begena”. It is a very big string-based musical instrument that is played while it is standing on the floor. The players play it with their fingers by striking the strings and forming a vibration that created the sound. The sounds are very loud and deep which touches the heart when played giving the feeling that there is a connection with the upper holiness.
Ensemble and Dance in Ethiopia Orthodox Mezmur
The St. Yared’s musical performance is presented by the debteras which form two groups each having their own leaders named the “qegngeta” meaning leader of the right and “grageta” meaning leader of the left. And the whole group is led by the master named “merigeta” meaning leader of the choir.
St. Yared Ethiopia Orthodox Mezmur songs have five distinct chants and modes of performances.
- Qum zema: Performed by the human voice alone.
- Zemame: Accompanying the Ethiopia Orthodox Mezmur song with the swinging of the staff players and swaying of the body.
- Tsinatsil:
- Merged being the first it is a slow and even rhythmic,
- Neus-mereged meaning minor with a faster beat and
- Aby-merged the major with the fastest beat. The latter is even accompanied by rhythmic clapping.
- Tsfat Chebchebo: Involved with a faster beating of the drum while jumping and circling around.
- Wereb: Involves a slow forward and backward movement with a perfect beat.
