Psalm suggestions?

[mcb]

Hello folks, can I ask for suggestions for good musical settings of these Psalms (and canticle)?

[bible]Ps 121[/bible]
[bible]Ps 130[/bible]
[bible]Phil 2:6-11[/bible]

I'm putting together a draft order of music for a solemn celebration of Evening Prayer, and I'd be grateful if anyone has ideas for effective musical versions. I'm not really sure what musical form(s) to go for - one idea that occurred to me was to have one chanted antiphonally, one sung responsorially and one sung straight through by all, just by way of illustrating the various ways in which we traditionally sing the Psalms. But it would depend on being able to identify suitably worthy settings. I'm not looking for choir-only settings - we're talking Prayer of the Church rather than Choral Vespers.

The event is likely to have a large and willing congregation, so it would be possible to launch something unfamiliar on them if it was easy to pick up.

Maybe the right answer is to go for three antiphonal chants to simple tones - this might make for a more coherent whole than the assortment I've suggested above. Anyway, it would aid my thinking greatly if anyone's able to suggest good settings to consider before reaching a decision.

For Ps 130 I know a couple of versions in relatively contemporary versions - one by Scott Soper, published in one of the OCP collections of Psalms. We've used it at funerals as a choir-led responsorial psalm - sung a capella it's quite sparse and haunting, and probably nothing like the composer imagined (since it's provided with a keyboard part and guitar chords). The other I know is in Acclaim the King, and if memory serves is by Chris O'Hara. Nice in a bluesy kind of way, but not appropriate for the occasion I'm preparing for.

Don't think I know any versions of the other two at all. Anyone able to help with any of the three?

Thanks!
Martin.

[excathedra]

For Psalm 121, try David Ogden's stunning I Lift Up My Eyes. It's in Psalm Songs 3, page 65. The optional (but lovely) instrumental parts are printed in the book too.

For Psalm 130, there is my own From The Depths, in Psalm Songs 2, page 38. There are optional string quartet parts in the book, and they do add a good deal to the piece.

Alan

[Gwyn]

For Psalm 121, try David Ogden's stunning I Lift Up My Eyes.

You took the words out of my mouth.

[pirate]

Both psalms are also in the Wild Goose collection Psalms of patience, protest and praise; as metrical settings, so not exact words in psalter, but either would provide contrast to antiphon/chant.

[presbyter]

Just a quickie - and I have not attempted to look up which Vespers this is going to be - BUT - don't forget we number the Psalms according to the Septuagint and not the Hebrew ..... so, for example, Psalm 130 is our Psalm 129 ..... which Psalms are we talking about?

[mcb]

...which Psalms are we talking about?

Hello Presbyter,

I mean "Psalm 129(130)" and "Psalm 120(121)". Clicking on the links in my post takes you to the texts anyway.

In spite of the very helpful suggestions of some delightful song settings, I'm veering towards the idea that simple chants will work much better for Evening Prayer. With song settings I think you'd lose a sense of the overall coherence of the act of singing from the Psalter (and just end up with three nice but separate prayers).

M.

[sidvicius]

My head starts to do odd things when people put words like "solemn" alongside "celebration", but if what has already been suggested does not hit the mark, maybe you could try "Our help is the name of the Lord" by Huub Oosterhuis (Celebration Hymnal no 578 I think). It has both the responsorial and antiphonal feel that I think you may be looking for, plus a chant-like quality without being exactly plainchant. But it takes a little getting used to. You can find it on the CD "Turn Your Heart to Me" (Music From Amsterdam) which I recommend to all.

Isn't one musical version of the Philippians canticle in the front of Laudate? "Christ was Humbler Yet"? I have sung it in a call-&-response manner (led by a cantor). Quite effective, I forget the composer.

[Dot]

Ray d'Inverno wrote a beautiful setting of "I lift up m eyes to the mountains", not published, for choir and cantor with piano, though it requires the lungs of an ox. I wish more people could share it.

[excathedra]

In spite of the very helpful suggestions of some delightful song settings, I'm veering towards the idea that simple chants will work much better for Evening Prayer. With song settings I think you'd lose a sense of the overall coherence of the act of singing from the Psalter (and just end up with three nice but separate prayers).

Despite my suggestions, I have to agree with this. Also, song settings can be too long and out-of-scale in the context of Morning or Evening Prayer.

Alan

[Gwyn]

In spite of the very helpful suggestions of some delightful song settings, I'm veering towards the idea [of] simple chants

I was thinking along those lines too, they have that certain something that you can't quite bottle.

[Gwyn]

Dot said,

Ray d'Inverno wrote a beautiful setting of "I lift up my eyes to the mountains", for choir and cantor with piano, though it requires the lungs of an ox.

Hee Hee Hee. The imagery is unsettling.

[presbyter]

mcb - don't be embarrassed by telling us all what this celebration is for - the Liturgy Office produced prayers for this ages ago and we have boxes full of them for distribution around the diocese when it happens....

.... I've even produced two short "thought for the day" - type television programmes for this event which are "in the can" for broadcasting at the appropriate moment..... and my Ordiinary is contracted to the BBC for doing the commentaries from a vantage point high in the basilica.

[mcb]

mcb - don't be embarrassed.

It's not embarrassment; it's called tact.

M.

[Merseysider]

And I researched a BBC prog for the same reason (if I'm on the right track) because the one in the can was out of date.

[musicus]

Ray d'Inverno wrote a beautiful setting of "I lift up m eyes to the mountains", not published, for choir and cantor with piano, though it requires the lungs of an ox.

Re-reading this, I caught myself thinking of Mendelssohn: "Oh for the lungs, for the lungs of an ox..."

Musicus