Beautiful hymn! I first heard "Wa Habibi" sung when visiting the local Maronite parish during Holy Week. I remember thinking how beautiful and familiar it was. Later did I realize that it's the Lenten hymn, "God of Mercy and Compassion." The English lyrics were written in the nineteenth century by English Redemptorist priest, Fr. Edmund Vaughan, CSsR. The tune to which it is sung is, according to some sources, a traditional French melody. I am guessing that the hymn made its way to Arabic-speaking communities via the French.
The point is if the music for "Maronite Wa Habibi" comes from France, then the music for "Syriac - from the liturgical point of view - Wa Habibi" (in Arabic) and "Syriac Kadh Nopheq" (in Aramenan) comes from France via Maronitarum too. Is the music for "Malalayan Sleeba tholinmel thaangi" the ancient music for "Syriac Kadh Nopheq" or not? Can anybody in the forum with knwoledge of the Western Syriac Liturgical tradition tell us about the origical music of "Syriac Kadh Nopheq"?
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