Mikhail Girgis El Batanouny ( ''Mikhail Georgios Phrembatanon''; also titled ''Mu'allim'', which is Arabic for "teacher"; 14 September 1873 – 18 April 1957) was an Egyptian expert in

Coptic music Coptic music is the music sung and played in the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Coptic Catholic Church. It has some roots in ancient Egyptian music and many elements of ancient Egyptian music continue to survive in Coptic liturgical music, with add ...

, and knowledgeable in church rites, in addition to being skilled in the languages of Coptic and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

. He was also the distinguished leader of cantors in the Great Cathedral, and was appointed to be the first instructor of hymns in the Coptic Orthodox Clerical College by Archdeacon Habib Girgis. When the

Institute of Coptic Studies The Institute of Coptic Studies is a postgraduate academic institute affiliated with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. It was founded in Cairo, Egypt, in 1954, and its Grand President is Pope Tawadros II, the Pope of Alexandria and Patr ...

was established, Cantor Mikhail was appointed to be its first teacher of hymns. The hymns from Cantor Mikhail were the source of the vocal notes recorded by Ernest Newlandsmith, a musician and composer from England, with the help of Ragheb Moftah. In addition, Cantor Mikhail conducted the first audio recording of Coptic music. In light of this great achievement, Moftah commented, "He was the only way of passing down Coptic hymns in its original form to us." And for all of these reasons, and many others, Cantor Mikhail el-Batanouni is considered to be the master of Coptic hymnology throughout Egypt. Hence, he is frequently referred to as "Cantor Mikhail the Great". At the end of his journey, on 18 April 1957, Cantor Mikhail the Great departed, at the age of 83, after serving the

Coptic Orthodox Church The Coptic Orthodox Church (), also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt. The head of the church and the See of Alexandria is the pope of Alexandria on the Holy Apo ...

for approximately 70 years. His musical studies were preserved by Moftah in the

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, and cantors still chant them in their churches to this day.

References

''A Recent History of Coptic Hymns''
by Deacon Albair Gamal, Heritage of the Coptic Orthodox Church

References

See also