Ragheb Moftah collection of Coptic Orthodox liturgical chants and hymns, 1926-1997 (bulk 1926-1936).

Open to research.

Not all materials in this collection may be readily accessible; please request accessibility information well in advance of your visit

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/perform.contact

The collection consists of transcriptions (14 volumes) of Coptic chant by Ernest Newlandsmith and Margit Toth; audio tapes of Coptic chants recorded by Moftah between 1940 and 1985 (with the bulk recorded in 1965 and 1975-1985); correspondence (most importantly, letters from Ernest Newlandsmith to Ragheb Moftah concerning their collaboration). Also included are writings that consist of articles by Moftah, his autobiography, and notes concerning Coptic chant. The collection also contains articles written by Marian Robertson Wilson concerning the Newlandsmith transcriptions of Coptic chant, clippings, tickets, receipts, photographs, a few legal papers, and four videotapes that include a biographical interview of Dr. Moftah conducted by Raymond Stock for a Library of Congress oral history project as part of its World Heritage series (1996-1997); videotapes of Ragheb Moftah's 100th birthday party (December 21, 1998) and his funeral (June 19, 2002), and an interview with Margit Toth and Dr. Martha Roy (March 13, 2002) conducted by Laurence Moftah. Finally, in 1996 Marian Robertson Wilson was commissioned by the Music Division to create a guide to Moftah's audiotapes, which consists of transcriptions, transliterations and translations into English of the texts sung on the tapes. Wilson also devised a new order for the pieces on the tapes, putting them in a more logical order, as used in the context of the liturgy.

Ragheb Moftah Collection of Coptic Orthodox Liturgical Chants and Hymns, Music Division, Library of Congress.

Certain restrictions to use or copying of materials may apply.

Video tapes, Sound recordings transferred to Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress Washington DC 20540.

Ragheb Moftah was born Dec. 21, 1898, in Egypt. He was a musicologist, scholar, and a pioneer of the preservation of the Coptic liturgical music heritage. Moftah and Ernest Newlandsmith collaborated together from 1927 to 1936, the latter transcribing from live Coptic music performances some 16 folios of music notation. In 1945, Moftah established a center to teach Coptic chant melodies. By 1954, Moftah was among the founders of the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies, and established its Music Division. From 1954 until his death in 2001, Dr. Moftah recorded the entire corpus of Coptic Orthodox Liturgical chants and hymns in the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies (HICS). He was also responsible for training cantors at the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies (HICS), as well as students at the Coptic Clerical College. Each summer he ran a camp in Alexandria for additional instruction, which was all by rote memorization. In 1970, Moftah commissioned Margit Toth to transcribe the music notation of the Coptic Orthodox Liturgy of St. Basil which was published in 1998. Moftah collected and recorded the orally transmitted chants that were transcribed by Toth from authoritative cantors; the work contains a full text of the Liturgy in Coptic and Arabic, together with an English translation. Moftah died June 16, 2001.

Finding aid available in the Library of Congress Performing Arts Reading Room and at

http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu004008