(CE:2320b-2321a)
WATUS, Coptic chanting term, one of the two leading melody types in the music of the Coptic church. This melody type (lahn watus)
receives its name from the opening words of the Thursday THEOTOKIA, which begins, "Pibatos . . ." ("The bush that Moses saw in the desert").
If the day is one of the last four days of the week, that is, Wednesday to Saturday, the theotokia of the day, its PSALI (and similarly the feast psali), the LOBSH, the DIFNAR, and the TARH are sung to a lahn watus.
The Third HOS (Ode), the two psali following it, the TUBHAT, and the DOXOLOGIES are, however, sung every day of the week to a lahn watus. Similarly the aspasmos watus is to be sung in the anaphora each day.
[See also: Music: Description of the Corpus and Musical Practice.]
EMILE MAHER ISHAQ
