Saturday, October 6, 2012

Singing the Psalms, Part 2 of 3

  • Any comments or thoughts from last week?

Recap and thoughts

  • Singing the Psalms is a very old practice, going back to the Hebrews, and it is one way to pray the psalms. It was done by the Hebrews for at least centuries before Christ, it is part of some of the earliest Christian liturgies[1], it is definitely part of the Christian churches through many times and places, and it was definitely a central aspect of worship for Jean Calvin and other founders of the Reformed churches.
  • There are many different ways to pray and sing the psalms. One division which I like comes from Russ Stutler, a missionary in Japan[2]:
    • Metrical: Where the psalm is written or can be adapted to a particular tune with a particular metrical arrangement such as 8.6.8.6 (common meter), then the psalm can be sung in a metrical arrangement. We discussed last week the 11.10.11.10.11.10 meter for Finlandia as a different example. Note the superscript mentioned above to Psalm 22, where the author indicates the (probably now unknown) tune “The Doe of the Morning” is the tune to be used for this particular psalm. There are a number of psalters available with arrangements in meter for singing psalms this way.
    • Plainsong: Rather than adapting the psalm to fit some music, we can essentially adapt music to fit the words of the psalm. In Plainsong, we chant multiple words on single tones, and move around in ways that add to the words. Plainsong is a common way of cantoring a psalm, and what we use most of the time. The suttler.cc site I’ve referenced in this section[^sutler] indicates that there are 9 basic tunes, and I note that the Guimont Psalter[3] which is often used in our services has 41 psalm tunes. Sutler.cc links to http://saintlaurenceosb.org/chants/index.html, which has some nice recordings of several psalms done in plainchant.
    • Anglican: This is a derivation of plainsong, and is designed to allow a choir to sing in four part (typically) harmony. As might be expected with a name “Anglican”, it was developed in England, around the time of the Reformation. I like the comment in wikipedia, which (to me) applies to both Anglican chant and plainsong It may be fairly described as “harmonized recitative”. It is said to have the twofold purpose of enhancing the words of the sacred text and serving as an aid for both the singer and listener[4] to attain a meditative state.[5]
    • Any of these forms can be done responsively (antiphonally). That can be done with the congregation singing a refrain, with different groups singing different verses, or a variety of other options.
  • I really like that last part from the Wikipedia article, and to me it applies to all of these. Paraphrased, the way we use psalms in corporate and personal worship should be to enhance and personalize the words of the sacred text and serving as an aide for both the singer and listener to pray about an internalize the meaning of those words for us.

Many Psalters

As discussed last week, there are many psalters. Two that my family owns are the red The Psalter: Psalms and Canticles for Singing[1] which came from a Presbyterian task force and the Guimont Psalms for the Revised Common Lectionary[3]. Tami and Angie have lots more :-).

  • Briefly discuss Revised Common Lectionary and the two psalters.

A good resource for the RCL is the pages from Vanderbilt Library, at http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/.

  • Review the psalm arrangements for last week, this week, and next two. (emphasized text indicates the ones where we’re doing at least part in that week’ FPC services.
    • RCL for this week (10/7/12) is Psalm 26 and Psalm 8 (Proper 22, year B)[6]
    • RCL for next week (10/14/12) is Psalm 22:1–15 and Psalm 90:12–17
    • RCL for following week (10/21/12) is Psalm 104:1–9,24,35c and Psalm 91:9–16
    • RCL for the last Sunday in October (10/28/12) is Psalm 34:1–8 and Psalm 126
  • Read the words for next week’s Psalm
    • Compare: NIV, NRSV, The Message, and the text for next week (from The Psalter for Christian Worship[7]).
    • How do the texts compare? Do these have different messages?
    • What do you hear in the Psalm?

The psalter from which this comes has two suggested tunes: Llangloffen (e.g Rejoice! Rejoice, Believers) and Passion Chorale (e.g. *O Sacred Head, Now Wounded). For what it’s worth, there are many other tunes to this same 7.7.7.6D metric, including Ellacombe (e.g. Hosanna, Loud Hosanna), Lancashire (e.g. The Day of Resurrection!), and Es Flog Ein Kleines Waldvoegelein (e.g. We All Are One in Mission). The current (blue) PCUSA hymnal has 33 different hymns that fit this metrical pattern, using 20 different tunes.

  • Compare reading the text to yourself with different tunes
    • Organ Llangloffan [8]
    • Organ Passion Chorale [9]
    • Sprightly Passion Chroale [10]
    • Ellacombe [11]

  • Do you get anything different from any of these tunes as the basis for the psalm?

  • Compare these to a rap version of the psalm[12]

  1. Hopson, Hal (ed) The Psalter: Psalms and Canticles for Singing Westminster/John Knox Press: Louisville, KY (1993) ISBN 978–0664237042. http://www.cokesbury.com/forms/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=436035  ↩

  2. http://www.stutler.cc/russ/sing_psalms.html  ↩

  3. Guimont, Michel Psalms for the Revised Common Lectionary GIA Publications: Chicago, IL (1998, 2002) ISBN 1–57999–165–3 (full score edition). http://www.giamusic.com/search_details.cfm?title_id=4817  ↩

  4. The word “listener” is important to me. In the singing (praying) of the psalms, we are listeners, not the audience. Where music is done for the simple beauty of it (and there’s nothing wrong with that), we can be an audience. When music is done as a part of worship, then my view is that we are active listeners to that music, as a way for us to worship God and find meaning in our lives.  ↩

  5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglican_chant  ↩

  6. http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/  ↩

  7. Morgan, Michael (ed) The Psalter for Christian Worship (1999) ISBN 978–1571530264. Available from http://store.pcusa.org/9781571530134  ↩

  8. Llangloffan (Traditional Welsh Tune) by John Cavicchio. Track 4 from A Mighty Fortress. Available from iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/a-mighty-fortress/id518038224. I believe the artist’s Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/FreeholdOrganist.  ↩

  9. Passion Chorale by Chris Hughes. Track 5 from Reflections, Vol. 2. Available from iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/reflections-vol.–2/id304212129. No artist page found.  ↩

  10. Reflections, Vol. 2 by Enoch Train. Track 9 from Enoch Train. Available from iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/enoch-train/id305664974. See artist page at http://enochtrain.xelent.com/music.html  ↩

  11. Ellacombe by David Phillips. Track 2 from Abide With Me. Available from iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/abide-with-me/id341656661. I belive the artist’s page is at http://www.music4us.com/phillips.htm.  ↩

  12. Psalm 22 by David (Christian Rap Artist). Track 3 from The Rapture Available from iTunes at http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-rapture/id324456390. The best link I could find to the artist’s page is http://www.reverbnation.com/ChristianRapArtistDavid and his MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/davidofchrist777  ↩

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