October 2008

Psalms : Singing Psalms (David McConnell)

David McConnell looks at some official documents

Psalms and canticles have been the foundation of the song of the Christian Church since the earliest centuries. Our Christian ancestors took the Book of Psalms from ancient Jewish tradition. It became the very heart of their prayers and praises. No single book of sacred poetry so vividly expresses the whole of the human condition and the diversity of our relationship with God. From the depths of despair and anguish to the heights of joy and elation, human love, anger, grief, hope, trust, thanks and praise are voiced before our Creator and Redeemer.

The above commentary in the RSCM Celebration Service Psallam is a good starting point to any discussion about the use of the psalms in parish worship today. The regrettable decline in use of the psalter in many Church of Ireland parishes has led the Liturgical Advisory Committee to consider how to reverse this trend. The forthcoming publication of Singing Psalms, containing simple chants and refrains, is an attempt to encourage assemblies to use the psalms in song.

A psalm is almost invariably included at every Roman Catholic Eucharist, they are a core part of both the Monastic and Anglican Office (Morning and Evening Prayer) and their use is strongly encouraged in the Church of Ireland Eucharist. It may not be widely understood that the selections from the psalter appointed in the three-year lectionary have been skilfully chosen to correspond to and reflect on the scripture reading (usually Old Testament) which precedes them. This lectionary is now used worldwide, so on any particular Sunday in Ireland (for example) it is likely that the same psalm and other readings from scripture are used at Anglican and Roman Catholic worship and perhaps of other faith traditions.

It is worth exploring the official instructions that exist as regards singing the psalms.

Roman Catholic worship

The General Introduction to the Roman Missal provides precise instructions as to how to celebrate the Mass. Sections 19 to 21 refer to the psalms and also are relevant to Anglican liturgy.

“The responsorial psalm, also called the gradual, has great liturgical and pastoral significance because it is an integral part of the liturgy of the word. Accordingly, the people must be continually instructed on the way to perceive the word of God speaking in the psalms and to turn these psalms into the prayer of the Church. ..… A brief remark may be helpful about the choice of the psalm and response as well as their correspondence to the readings.

“As a rule the responsorial psalm should be sung. There are two established ways of singing the psalm after the first reading: responsorially and directly. In responsorial singing, which, as far as possible, is to be given preference, the psalmist or cantor of the psalm sings the psalm verse and the whole congregation joins in by singing the response. In direct singing of the psalm there is no intervening response by the community; either the psalmist or cantor of the psalm sings the psalm alone as the community listens or else all sing it together.

“The singing of the psalm, or even of the response alone, is a great help toward understanding and meditating on the psalm's spiritual meaning.”

Anglican worship

Possibly the closest to an official Anglican instruction is to be found in Music for Common Worship - Music for Sunday Services, published by the RSCM. Four methods of singing the psalms are referred to: Simple plainsong, Anglican chant, 'Cantor chants' and Simple chants. Examples of these four methods, with and without refrains, are given.

Here are some extracts from this useful publication:

“Refrains need to be used with purpose: it is little help if a congregation is offered no more than the text of the refrain and remains unaware of the main thrust of the psalm.

“It is common these days to refer to the psalm after the first reading at the Eucharist as 'the responsorial psalm'. It is responsorial because it is sung in response to the first reading, not because it has a refrain or response for the people to sing. The whole psalm is therefore the response, and where possible it is good for all to share in the whole text.

“The refrain can be used in several ways. It can be sung at the beginning and end of the psalm only, allowing a focus for the psalm text but not interrupting the main text. Or it can be sung repetitively through the psalm -either after every two verses, or every four verses, or where the natural breaks in the psalm text occur. At the beginning of the psalm it is a good idea for a cantor or choral group to sing the refrain before it is repeated by everyone; thereafter it is best just to sing the refrain once with everyone.

“Ideally the psalms and canticles are songs 'owned' and sung by all God's people. If everyone is to sing the psalm text with confidence they need to be familiar with the text, with the rhythm of the text, and with the chant. That may well define a successive process of familiarisation over several weeks; hearing the psalm read as a spoken text, reciting the psalm together as a spoken text, hearing the psalm sung by a single voice or small group which has prepared it, and finally singing the psalm together. Developing this confidence in psalm singing is very important: psalms sung tentatively and badly are demoralising for the singers and painful for the listener.

“Even quite experienced choral groups sing unfamiliar psalms with greater flow, cohesion and confidence when they sing in unison. In the early stages it is good to sing psalms in unison (and even unaccompanied) until the flow is established; then move on to singing in harmonies.”

In places where psalms are no longer or only occasionally used, it may initially prove difficult to reintroduce them. In the past, anglican chant was widely used in Church of Ireland worship but this no longer is the case. As this method is deeply embedded in our worship memory, it is a pity that more work has not been done by musicians to show that, adopting a creative approach, anglican chant may still be the most appropriate medium, even where there is no choir and numbers are small.

The flexibility now permitted in Church of Ireland worship and a wish to make services immediately accessible to those who come to church, appear to have persuaded many clergy to dispense with anything that seems difficult to sing or is in any way obscure or not quickly understood. Our bishops should take every opportunity to urge clergy and musicians to avoid any dumbing down of the liturgy but rather, to heed official directions and recommendations and work together to identify ways of singing the psalms that are attractive and meaningful to their communities, using the wealth of existing material and the forthcoming publication.

David McConnell is organist in the Church of Ireland and Roman Catholic churches in Rathgar, Dublin 6. He is a member of the Dublin & Glendalough Diocesan Church Music Committee.

davidmcconnell@eircom.net.

<<Previous | Next >>