New Psalm settings (non-acapella)

[Wayne]

Thoughts on this effort? :

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mysoulamonglions/my-soul-among-lions-psalms-1-10

(scroll to bottom for samples--Psalms 2, 3, & 4)

Aside from the use of instruments, what think ye?

A bridge perhaps to more historic practice?

 

[Rev. Todd Ruddell]

I appreciate the acknowledgement of the Psalter, and hope it will incite some curiosity among the uninitiated, if the Lord so blesses. However, the translations seem very loose, and in some cases only with great generosity could they even be called a paraphrase.

Also, I would grieve if the Psalter was reduced to a "worship chorus" perception and use. It is precisely because of the majesty of the Psalter, (being the inspired Word of God) and the music to which it was set, that the Stalwarts of the past, mentioned by one of the performers in the introduction, were trained by it, the Lord blessing, and encouraged in their courageous acts. The Psalms when used with majesty and reverence, bowing our knees and minds to God the Author, and learning not only about ourselves, but of Him, His love for righteousness, care of His people, judgment of the wicked, just anger against sin, etc., make for the kind of reformation we seek. However, as with the rest of the Scripture, the Psalter can be misused, and turned into insipid chorus entertainment. I pray that this project does not go in that direction. We are, after all, singing the inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God.

 

[Logan]

Yes, glad they are wanting to sing psalms but agree that the translation is almost on "The Message" level.

I wonder if they are aware that there are modern psalters (RPCI, FCS, and RPCNA specifically). Perhaps it is the music specifically they want to update and then the translation follows the music? Even so, the few bits I heard, while they might be nice for listening to, didn't seem like a congregation could easily sing.

 

[johnny]

Sounds like Bluegrass Arrangements with a mild two part harmony.
Not a bridge that I would be walking on but some may find it edifying.

My wife and I were involved heavily with the Barbershop Society,
Even flew to America to compete, all our friends are A cappella singers.
We are quite comfortable and "in our element" singing unaccompanied.

The SATB tunes with the Scottish Metrical lyrics sounds great barbershopped.
But you need to make the arrangements in a "Polecat" style which means,
to keep them reasonably primitive with not too many bells and whistles.

The advantage of Barbershop over SATB is that the predominant melody lies in the Male range
and is not carried by the soprano's (unless of course you raise the key)
Most people sing the Soprano an octave down anyway, so no one notices the difference,

 

[Wayne]

Good, thoughtful comments thus far. Thank you. I find myself in agreement.

Echoing my question, I laughed at John's reply, "Not a bridge that I would be walking on..."

 

[Jake]

I wonder if they are aware that there are modern psalters (RPCI, FCS, and RPCNA specifically).

That was my first question, too Logan. They start with this: "The beginnings of a modern psalter. First installment in a crazy ambitious plan to set all 150 Psalms to music." That makes them seem oblivious to all of the modern, complete editions of the psalter that exist, which I wouldn't call "crazy ambitious." I guess it does take a lot of work to balance singability, modern English, and faithfulness to translation because no does it perfectly, but it doesn't seem like those are all their goals.

 

[Wayne]

I wonder if they are aware that there are modern psalters (RPCI, FCS, and RPCNA specifically).

Apparently they do. Per their Facebook page:

we were given a copy of "The Book of Psalms for Worship" by a friend a few years ago. I didn't know about the recent updates, though. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

 

[Jeri Tanner]

I have been dreading seeing projects like this starting to pop up and gain traction in the churches. People will then be satisfied: "Why yes, we sing the Psalms at our church!" When they are only singing loosely translated psalms to unsingable and possibly inappropriate melodies and styles.

 

[MW]

unsingable

Yes. Good point!

They offer to come and put a show on at the church. So basically the medieval choir is back in business. This is what the metrications were originally designed to overcome.