Other Ways of Singing the Psalms

By Alison Cadden

One of the recent concerns of the Liturgical Advisory Committee (of which I have been a member since 2004) is that the ancient art of psalm-singing — as distinct from saying the psalm — is in decline within the Church of Ireland. There is nothing wrong in saying the psalm, but to do so is to lose something of the original Jewish tradition.

Churches where anglican chant is the norm continue to adopt this traditional (and much-loved) practice, but often congregations can feel excluded from what can become a choral domain (and perhaps justifiably so: when the psalm is sung in my own parish I prefer to listen to the choir and allow the text to speak to me, before joining in with the Gloria Patri). There are many commendable metrical versions of psalms alongside contemporary settings, but the disadvantage of these - apart from not being to everyone's taste -is that the text is not from the Book of Common Prayer.

It is with this in mind, and a desire to bring back vibrancy and demonstrate variety in psalm-singing, that Judy Martin (Director of Music, Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin) and I have been engaged for some time in writing responsorial psalm settings: that is, music which allows the congregation to participate in a repeating refrain, with the intervening verses being sung by cantor, choir, or where possible, the congregation also.

To date we have three models, which Judy and I had the pleasure of demonstrating at a workshop in Dublin last February, as part of the annual Living Worship course organised by the Dublin and Glendalough Church Music Committee. Using the willing students as a ready-made choir, Judy outlined both responsorial psalmody using anglican chant between the Refrains, and also plainchant. For my part I taught what is, by its eponymous title, felt to be the easiest of the models: simple chant. In this case the refrain is sung before and after the verses, where each line is sung to one note (or chord) until the end (underlined word or phrase), when the chord changes. For example, where there is a pair of verses between the refrain, there will be eight chords altogether (two chords × four lines). This is (potentially!) easier than anglican chant, with either four or six chords per quarter.

An example of simple chant is shown above. Psalm 47 is set for The Ascension Day in Years A, B and C of the lectionary in the Book of Common Prayer (the Revised Common Lectionary) so can be used by anyone who wishes to experiment with this model. To assist further in practice, a psalms sampler has been commissioned by the LAC to cover Eastertide (the period from Easter Day to Pentecost) along with a CD which features the nine psalms of the relevant Sundays, sung by SATB quartet and accompanied on organ. This was sent to every parish in the Church of Ireland in time for Palm Sunday, to allow organists and directors of choirs time to digest the material.

As with any experiment, feedback is very important, so I would be grateful for any comments you may wish to make, either direct to me (t@talktalk.net) or via David McConnell at (davidmcconnell@eircom.net) whose support and encouragement in this venture I greatly appreciate.

Alison Cadden is a music teacher in the Portadown area. She is a member of the Liturgical Advisory Committee and was a member of the Church Hymnal Music subcommittee.

5. God has gone up with a merry noise,
    the Lord with the sound of the trumpet.

1. Clap your hands together, all you peoples;
    O sing to God with shouts of joy.

2. For the Lord Most High is to be feared;
   he is the great King over all the earth.

3. He subdued the peoples under us
    and the nations under our feet.

4. He has chosen our heritage for us,
    the pride of Jacob, whom he loves.

6. O sing praises to God, sing praises;
    sing praises to our King, sing praises.

7. For God is the King of all the earth;
    sing praises with all your skill.

8. God reigns over the nations;
    God has taken his seat upon his holy throne.

9. The nobles of the peoples are gathered together
    with the people of the God of Abra-ham.

10. For the powers of the earth belong to God
    and he is very highly ex-alted.