Section 2: Music in Religious Expression

Chanting, singing, playing musical instruments, and even dancing are essential parts of religious expression throughout the Middle East and Central Asia. Over the centuries, devotees have produced some of the world’s great chant traditions—for example those of the Syrian, Armenian, and Coptic churches; the several systems of cantillating Jewish holy texts; and the recitation of the Qur’ān. In many practices, singing metrical hymns or improvising devotional songs is an aspect of the religious experience...