The West Syrian Liturgy has come down to the present in three major traditions: that of Za‘faran, that of Sadad and that of Edessa. Today, the liturgy of the Edessene tradition flourishes in its purest form almost exclusively in only one place: the church of St George in Hayy al-Suryan in Aleppo. This rich Edessene tradition has preserved a number of tunes which are no longer found in the other West Syrian schools of chant and is of greatest interest to anyone concerned with the liturgical traditions of Middle Eastern churches. As early as 1930, a Church Synod held at the monastery of Mar Mattai recognized the need to preserve the various musical traditions of the Syrian Orthodox Church in musical notation in order to prevent their being lost to the vicissitudes of time and memory, and this book represents the culmination of many years of recording and effort, undertaken in both the Middle East and the US, aimed at preserving the complete Beth Gazo of Edessa in musical annotation. Reprinted as a Preface to the Beth Gazo is Bishop Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim’s important and lengthy essay, ‘Al-Musiqa al-Suryaniyya,’ (Suryani Music), which is a treasure chest of useful information on the Syriac liturgy and its history.