Religious music

thumb|'s Man Singing Hymn (1884) A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word hymn derives from Greek (hymnos), which means "a song of praise". A writer of hymns is known as a hymnist. The singing or composition of hymns is called hymnody. Collections of hymns are known as hymnals or hymn books. Hymns may or may not include instrumental accompaniment. Polyhymnia is the Greek goddess of hymns.

thumb|300px|Classical Athens|Attic [[relief (4th century BCE) depicting an aulos player and his family standing before Dionysos and a female consort, with theatrical masks displayed above]] The dithyramb (; , dithyrambos) was an ancient Greek hymn sung and danced in honor of Dionysus, the god of wine and fertility; the term was also used as an epithet of the god. Plato, in The Laws, while discussing various kinds of music mentions "the birth of Dionysos, called, I think, the dithyramb." Plato also remarks in the Republic that dithyrambs are the clearest example of poetry in which the poet is t

music genre

A hazzan (; , ) or chazzan (, plural ; ; ) is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who leads the congregation in songful Jewish prayer. In English, a hazzan is often referred to as a cantor, a term also used in Christianity.

music and melodies of the Jewish people

music practiced during worship processes in various religions

Hymnology (from Greek ὕμνος hymnos, "song of praise" and -λογία -logia, "study of") is the scholarly study of religious song, or the hymn, in its many aspects, with particular focus on choral and congregational song. It may be more or less clearly distinguished from hymnody, the creation and practice of such song. Hymnologists, such as Erik Routley, may study the history and origins of hymns and of traditions of sung worship, the biographies of the women and men who have written hymns that have passed into choral or congregational use, the interrelationships between text and tune, the historic

music genre

Zemirot or Z'miros ( zǝmîrôt, singular: zimrah but often called by the masculine zemer) are Jewish hymns, usually sung in the Hebrew or Aramaic languages, but sometimes also in Yiddish or Ladino during Shabbat and to some extent the Jewish holidays. As a result of centuries of custom, albeit with some communal variations, each of the has become associated with one of the three obligatory meals of Shabbat: the Friday evening meal, the Saturday day meal, and the third Sabbath meal that typically starts just before sundown on Saturday afternoon. In some editions of the Jewish prayerbook (siddur),

annual music festival

A precentor is a person who helps facilitate worship. The details vary depending on the religion, denomination, and era in question. The Latin derivation is præcentor, from cantor, meaning "the one who sings before" (or alternatively, "first singer").

music genre

music genre

A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds.

music genre

religious singing