The Ministry of the
Psalmist
The psalmist, missing
for a long time from the Roman liturgy, has come back on the
liturgical scene with the restoration of the Responsorial Psalm.
Here is how the General Instruction of the roman Missal, article
67, presents it:
The chanter of the
psalms is to sing the psalm or other biblical song between
the readings. He should be trained in the art of singing psalms
and be able to speak clearly and distinctly.
This ministry of the
cantor, like the one of the lector, is the ministry of a Christophore,,
Christ-bearer. In the account of the last apparition of the
risen Lord (Luke 24:44-45), Jesus speaks to his disciples of
that which has been written about him in the psalms: there is
therefor a revelation of Jesus in the psalms. The cantor must
be transparent enough that the face of Jesus appears in each
psalm that is sung: face of glory in the psalms of the kingdom,
face of pain and sorrow in the lamentations, "Eucharist"
face in the psalms of thanksgiving, face of majesty and the
radiance in the royal psalms, face of contemplation in the psalms
of wisdom. What a wonderful vocation is that the the "Christ-bearer"
psalmist!
Performance of the
Psalm
The psalm may be presented
in the form of a poetic reading, in the form of chanting or
psalmody, or in the form of song properly recited.
Poetic Reading
We say "poetic
reading,"meaning a lyrical reading in the manner of a poem.
In reality, the psalter for Israel is "the book of song
and prayer of the post-Exilic community. In like manner, for
the Christian community it is the book of song and prayer. It
is important to perform the Responsorial Psalm with a certain
lyricism. A dull and monotonous reading takes the freshness
away from the beauty of the psalm and does not allow the face
of Jesus to shine through.
The organist might
eventually support this reading with a very discreet organ accompaniment,
which would serve as background music and as a musical link
to the repetition of the antiphon.
Chanting or Psalmody
Chanting is the most
common solution and it is incontestably suitable for many psalms
whose literary style is not well-defined. It requires a soloist
whose voice is beautiful enough to be accepted by everyone and
who is also sufficiently humble to be forgotten by everyone.
The role of soloist
is always formidable. First of all, the soloist must make himself
"be forgiven" in some way for presenting himself alone
in front of the gathered assembly, as if he were proposing to
sing better than anyone else. In order to gain this forgiveness,
the psychological factor is decisive. Clearly, a smiling and
amiable soloist whose voice is moderately beautiful is preferable
to the soloist with a superb voice but with a theatrical or
ill-tempered disposition.
Next, the soloist must
remember the importance of the Word of God, must emphasize the
voice of God and not that of the soloist, must serve the Word
of God and not first the music. The soloist should use the music
to offer the Word of God to the community, as if on a golden
platter.
Singing
Certain psalms, which
literary style classifies as hymns or psalms of the kingdom,
are presented like songs. It is proper then to apply to them
the principle: a song is only a song if it is sung.
To recite
Sing to the Lord
a new song,
sing to the Lord, all the earth,
sing it blessing his name . . .
or even to chant the
96th Psalm in a droning psalmody would be an error as weighty
as to recite "Silent night, holy night. All is calm, all
is bright." It is, however, such errors as these that are
committed so often on Sundays. A great challenge for creativity
lies before us!
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