Doxology

   Christian formula of divine praise. The are many examples in both the Old and New Testaments. The most familiar ones for musical contexts include the "greater doxology," which is the Gloria of the Roman Catholic mass, and the "lesser doxology" adapted from St. Matthew’s Gospel 28: 19 that concludes the chanting of every psalm and the Deus in adjutorium in the divine office.

   In the Byzantine tradition, which does not use the terms "greater" and "lesser," a doxology is heard many times in the divine liturgy (mass): at the beginning, after the hymn Ho Monogenēs Huios, the litany, the Cheroubikon, the anaphora, and the Lord’s Prayer. In Protestant churches, the doxology may refer to a self-contained hymn that offers divine praise such as "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." Single hymn verses, usually the last of a set, often invoking the Trinity, may also be doxological. See also TE DEUM. DRUM. Drums play in the sacred musics of Hinduism, Buddhism, the Chinese religions, shamanism, many African religions, and the religions of American Indians. They generally do not play in the most traditional sacred musics of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, although they have appeared in Christian gospel music, praise choruses, and other types based on popular idioms of the 20th century, and in Muslim lands drums have escorted prominent personages on their pilgrimages to Mecca (atabl al-hajj, "pilgrim’s drum"), and have accompanied sacred dance in Sufism.

   The Hindu god Siva is often identified in iconography with the {}damaru, a drum shaped like an hour-glass which he plays to accompany his dancing. In music, drumming is an essential component of traditional Karnatic and Hindustani music, almost all of which has religious connotations if not strictly liturgical, since the drum articulates tempo and the talā , the fundamental rhythmic pattern of the song. A barrel drum held horizontally and played with both hands, the mrdangam, produces a variety of sounds by combining different hand strokes (full hand, half hand, forefinger, etc.) with qualities of damping with the other hand. Another important drum is the Hindustani {}tablā, which has a small wooden barrel drum on the right side and a small kettledrum on the left.

   "Sounding the drum of the Dharma" is an expression for the proclamation of Buddhist teaching. In Buddhist ritual, drums may date from the time of the Buddha himself (died c. 480 B. C.) and drum notation dates from the mid-eighth century A. D. The type of drum played varies widely with the particular sect or caste of the player. The music played ranges from auspicious beat patterns to five-fold offerings of praise to the accompaniment of singing, dancing, and meditation.

   In Tibet, Bon ceremonies require the drum (mga). In China, drums participate in the system of pa yin ("eight sounds"), by which the materials the drums are made of coordinate with seasons of the year and points of the compass. In practice they play in the orchestra for Confucian ceremonial music (ya-yüeh). In Indonesia, frame drums may accompany poems praising Muhammad, especially the Burda and the Mawlīd. In the shamanism of Inner Mongolia and North Asia, the drum is considered to be a living spirit that aids the shaman in motivating other spirits or in transporting him on spiritual journeys to the other worlds. It may even be the object of life-cycle rituals, such as birth and death ceremonies.

   Africa owns a vast diversity of religious drumming. In some tribes, drumming and sacred rituals may be so closely wedded that they share the same word, or in others, drumming may have no role in worship whatsoever. Drums may stay on the periphery of ritual, or take center stage as spirits as in shamanist traditions. They come in every size and shape. The well-known "talking drums" of the Ewe and Yoruba may transmit prayers and messages to the spirit world. Drums may also symbolize concepts of sacral leadership in some traditions, and as such may not even be played. On the other hand, there is a great deal of music for drums alone, often used to summon the spirits.

   Ritual drumming of American Indians parallels that of Asian shamans in many respects and accompanies almost all sacred song. A simple frame drum beaten with one stick is often used. The peyote songs of the Native American Church, however, employ a drum containing water, which allows tuning and creates a characteristic reverberation caused by the water flowing inside.

   See also Dhikr; Instruments, Use of; Tibetan Chant.