Liturgy > Elements > Psalms

Psalmody

By psalmody, we mean the singing or chanting of the Psalms in public or private prayer. The Church, through its liturgy, makes use of the Psalms in many different ways. (Most of the terminology used in this article also applies to the manner in which hymns other than psalms are sung.)

Direct psalmody

When a psalm is simply sung from beginning to end, this is called direct psalmody. The singer may be a single individual, in which case the others present will generally listen, often remaining seated; or a choir, or all those present, may sing. The melodies used for direct psalmody are typically very simple psalm tones.

Examples of direct psalmody include the Six Psalms of Matins, which are chanted by a single reader in the simplest possible fashion; and Psalm 103, which is chanted or sung by all the faithful at the start of Vespers. (For this psalm, simple chanting is used on ordinary weekdays, and a more elaborate melody is used on the eves of Sundays and feastdays.) A very lengthy psalm may be divided into sections (stases or "sittings"), with hymns or prayers inserted between the sections.

In virtually all Christian contexts, the "small doxology" is sung at the end of every complete Psalm, or section of a psalm:

Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
now and ever and forever. Amen.

Those present stand for the doxology if they have been sitting to listen to the psalm.

Responsorial psalmody

Some of the Psalms incorporate simple refrains, such as "Alleluia!" (Hebrew for "Praise God!"), especially those psalms intended among the Isrealites for use in public liturgy, processions or pilgrimages. The Christian Church adopted and expanded this practice.

For example, in the early liturgy of the imperial capital of Constantinople, each day's liturgy often began with a procession which made its way from one assembly point to another before arriving at the church where the actual service would be held. During these processions, a reader or chanter would intone a psalm, and the people would sing a short refrain called a troparion after each verse. This troparion often encapsulated the meaning of the day's feast of commemoration.

To facilitate the singing, the reader would sing the troparion at the beginning; in some cases, the people would immediately sing it back. Then the reader would intone each verse of the chosen psalm, in order, and the people would repeat the troparion. Finally, the reader would chant the small doxology ("Glory.... now and ever..."); the people would sing the refrain once more, and the procession would pause while the clergy would intone a litany or other short prayer. The psalms and refrains would eventually become the antiphons which open the Divine Liturgy.

This is the first kind of responsorial psalmody - namely, the chanting of psalm verses, preceded and followed by a fixed refrain.

A different kind of responsorial psalmody developed in monastic life. The Church's monks, desiring to enhance the services with hymns written in honor of a particular saint or event in our Lord's life, would sing these hymns in alternation with psalm verses. Sometimes the monks would chant the verses, and a a single voice would take up the hymns; more commonly, a single monk would intone each psalm verse, and everyone would sing the hymn, with a different hymn following each psalm verse. This second kind of responsorial psalmody - the chanting of psalm verses, each followed by a short hymn - evolved into the stichera sung at the services of Vespers and Matins.

Both kinds of responsorial psalmody continued in use. For example, the prokeimena sung before Scripture readings are of the first kind: the prokeimenon is the refrain sung before and after the psalm verses intoned by the reader. The "stations" sung at the funeral service are of the second kind, with each verse of Psalm 118 followed by a hymn in memory of the departed.

(Another example of psalmody with a fixed refrain is the full form of the Communion Hymn at the Divine Liturgy. In its complete form, the Communion Hymn consists of the consecutive verses of a single psalm, with each verse followed by the refrain, "Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!")

Antiphonal psalmody

The growth of larger churchs and monasteries, and the gradual lengthening of the divine services over time, led to a different elaboration of psalmody. In these situations, the singers were often divided into two choirs - usually one on the left of the church, and one on the right. These two choirs would sing psalm verses or hymns in alternation, which allowed each singer to pause and meditate on what was being sung, and also provided time for tired voices to rest.

This was referred to an antiphonal psalmody, since it involved voices "sounding against one another" (anti-phonos). Centuries later, this sort of singing became popular in the churches of the Carpathian Mountains, where singing by the full congregation was performed in alternation between the two sides of the church. (In those days, when the women and children sat on the left side of the left, and the men on the right, this also led to striking contrast of tone and timbre. The cantor and people on the right side would sing the first verse of each hymn, and the left side would sing the second.) This style of singing, especially useful for longer psalms, is easily accomplished with two cantors, one on each side of the church, to lead the singing; or men and woman can alternate.

Antiphonal and responsorial singing can also be combined: for example, when singing psalms with stichera, the cantor on the right side can sing the first psalm verse, and the faithful on the right side can sing the corresponding sticheron; then the left side cantor sings the next verse, and the faithful on the left side of the church sing the next sticheron. This works very well on those occasions when a sticheron is repeated (sung twice, after two different psalm verses), since it gives everyone a chance to sing the sticheron or hymn, and also a chance to listen to it sung.

Note: in Byzantine liturgy, the word "antiphon" can mean two very different things, depending on context. What liturgists and commentators call "antiphonal singing" is what church musicians call "responsorial singing." (Think, for example, of the antiphons at the Divine Liturgy.) For this reason, it is important to pay attention to context when the words "antiphon" or "antiphonal" are used.

Continuous and thematic psalmody

A different aspect of liturgical psalmody is how the psalms are chosen, since the liturgy of the Byzantine Rite (like most Christian liturgy) uses two different methods.

In situations where the entire psalter will be sung, the psalms are often sung one after another in order - perhaps taking up at one service where the psalm-singing at the previous service left off. This continuous psalmody is characteristic of monastic worship, and (in the Byzantine Rite) is ordered around the divisions of the Psalter called kathismata. Continuous psalmody is sung at Vespers and Matins, and (during the Great Fast) at the Hours as well. It also forms a traditional part of the "wake" service, in which the entire Psalter is sung over the body of the deceased.

In the fixed parts of the services, and on feast-days, individual psalms are selected out of the Psalter based on their suitability to the service or the day. Some of this fixed or thematic psalmody arose in the daily monastic office, but most of is comes from the services as celebrated in the great cathedral churches of Eastern and Western Christendom. Since the faithful might come to services only once or twice a day, these services were especially adorned with psalms and hymns which best fit the theme of the service or that of the day, as well as with processions, incense and pageantry to lift the hearts and minds of the faithful to God.

Over the years, much of the psalm-singing in our services has been shortened and abbreviated, resulting in a real loss of familiarity with this important source of the Church's prayer. In general, when psalmody has been restored, it has been the thematic kind, leaving continuous psalmody (such as the kathismata at Matins) out, but occasionally retaining the sessional hymns which accompany it.

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