By Robin G. Jordan
The Psalter. In The Art of Public Worship (1919), in his
discussion of the rendering of the psalms at Mattins and Evensong, Percy Dearmer
recommends the antiphonal recitation of the psalms and the unison singing of
the Glorias in parish churches. He
also recommends sitting for the psalms:
“The Psalter forms a large portion of Mattins and Evensong, and is at present one of the main difficulties in the popularizing of services. But the psalms only seem long because people think they have to stand for them, and because chanting makes them long and prevents most people understanding them. Much as I prefer plainsong to Anglican chanting, I fear it will be even less popular. I believe the chanting of the psalms (outside community chapels where plainsong can be — or ought to be — heard at its best) is only satisfactory and helpful when performed by a highly-trained choir in that magnificent vehicle for sound, a great cathedral. Even then, the congregation can enjoy the music, and follow the words, far better if they sit. I wish also that English parish churches would revert to the old-fashioned custom, which has been so wisely retained in most American churches, of reading the psalms, and only singing the Glorias. But this reading should not be a duet between the minister and the congregation; it should be done, verse by verse, alternately by each half of the congregation, from side to side. If you try this, all sitting, you will find that the Psalter takes on a new character, that few parts of the service are more loved: every one enters into the meditative power of the exercise, and few then feel that the psalms are too long.”
The Glorias to
which he refers were not just the Gloria
Patri but the Gloria in excelsis.
The rubrics of the 1789 and 1892 American Prayer Book permit the singing or
recitation of the Gloria in excelsis
as an alternative to the Gloria Patri
at Morning Prayer. In The Oxford American
Prayer Book Commentary (1950) Massey H. Shepherd Jr., in his discussion of the Gloria
in excelsis at Evening Prayer, offers a glimpse into the origin of the
practice in the American Prayer Book:
“Bishop William White explained in a letter to Bishop Thomas C. Brownell, dated February 8, 1822, that it ‘was introduced under the notion, that singing it would add to the beauty of the service.’ The Gloria in excelsis is Greek hymn used in the Daily Offices of the Eastern Church since the fourth century. It is known as the ‘greater or major doxology’—to distinguish it from the Gloria Patri—and is sung at the conclusion of the psalmody of Lauds.”
A number of Western Churches incorporated the Gloria in excelsis into their morning
offices. In Rome the morning office was sung immediately before the Mass and
the Gloria in excelsis migrated from
the morning office to the beginning of the Mass. Pope Symmachus would in the
fifth century restrict its use to certain festive days at Masses celebrated by
the Pope. This would, with the spread of the Roman Rite, be the practice of
Western Christianity until the eleventh or twelfth century when its use became
common on Sundays and feast days, except in penitential seasons.
The 1928 Prayer Book drops the Gloria in excelsis from Morning Prayer but retains it in Evening
Prayer. This was an unfortunate development. The rationale for this change is
unclear unless it was to restrict its use on Sunday mornings to the service of
the Holy Communion. As one can see from the widespread restoration of the Gloria excelsis to the daily offices and
the revival of the ancient Gallican practice of singing a variable hymn of
praise in place of a fixed canticle in the service of Holy Communion in the
more recent Anglican service books, it was premature. The American Prayer Book,
it should be noted, pioneered the revival of the ancient Gallican practice with
the rubric permitting the substitution of a “proper hymn” for the Gloria in excelsis.
When a small church celebrates Holy Communion only once a
month, singing the Gloria in excelsis
at the end of the Psalms at Morning Prayer not only enables the congregation to
conclude the Psalms with a Trinitarian song of praise but also to confidently
sing the Gloria in excelsis after the
Post-Communion Prayer at Holy Communion. Singing the Gloria in excelsis or some other hymn of praise at that particular
juncture in the Holy Communion service is preferable to reciting the Gloria in excelsis. Archbishop Cranmer
moved the Gloria in excelsis to that
position in imitation of the hallel
psalm Jesus and his disciples sung
after the Last Supper before they went out into the night. Here again those
planning a small church’s worship can choose from a number of bright and
vigorous metrical settings of the Gloria
in excelsis if a prose setting is too challenging for the congregation.
The Psalms at Lauds were from the ancient times concluded
with four songs of praise—the three laudate
psalms, Psalms 148, 149, and 150, and the Benedicite,
from which the office derives its name “lauds,” or praise. In the Lutheran Mattins, which, like
Anglican Morning Prayer, is based upon the morning offices of the Medieval
Breviary, the Psalms are concluded with the Benedicite
and a hymn of praise. The singing of the Gloria
in excelsis at the end of the Psalms at Morning Prayer in the 1789 and 1892
Prayer Books was perfectly appropriate. One is prompted to suspect the
compilers of the 1928 revision of having tendencies not too different from
those of Pope Symmachus.
The 1928 rubric states:
“Then shall follow a Portion of the PSALMS, according to the Use of this Church. And at the end of every Psalm, and likewise at the end of the Venite, Benedictus es, Benedictus, Jubilate, may be, and at the end of the whole Portion, or Selection from the Psalter, shall be, sung or said the Gloria Patri….”
Note that the singing or recitation of the Gloria Patri at
the end of every psalm and at the end of the Venite; Benedictus es, Domin;, Benedictus Dominus Deus;
and Jubilate Deo is permissive. It is not
obligatory. Only the singing or recitation of this doxology “at the end of the
whole Portion or Selection from the Psalter” is obligatory.
In The Oxford American
Prayer Book Commentary (1950) Massey H. Shepherd Jr., in his discussion of the Gloria
Patri at Morning Prayer, provides this explanation:
“In the Eastern Church is is customary to sing it at the conclusion of each group of Psalms selected for the Office; in the Western Church it was usually sung after every Psalm. The Proposed Book of 1786 enjoined the Eastern custom, but since 1789 the American Prayer Book has allowed either the Eastern or the Western tradition of use of the Gloria.”
By permitting both the Eastern and the Western practice the
compilers of the first American Prayer Book took a major step toward addressing
the increasing objections since the sixteenth century to the repetitiveness of
the Gloria Patri in the Book of
Common Prayer.
In The New American
Prayer Book: Its History and Contents (1929) E. Clowes Chorley identifies
two outstanding characteristics of the 1928 Prayer Book when compared with the
two previous American Prayer Books. They are its greater flexibility and its
numerous provisions for shortening the regular services, particular the
services of Morning and Evening Prayer.
To take full advantage of these characteristics, it is
important to carefully read the rubrics and to avoid the tendency to recite
every text simply because it is printed in the rite or service. Recognizing
this unfortunate proclivity in users of the Prayer Book the compilers of more
recent Anglican service books have adopted the stratagem of placing optional
material in a section after the rite or service rather than in the rite or
service itself. Only those texts that are always included as a part of the rite
or service are printed in the rite or service. This is not the case in the 1928
Prayer Book. When insufficient attention is given to its rubrics, the result is
often a rite or service that is unnecessarily long and tedious.
Antiphonal recitation of the psalms in the services of
Morning and Evening Prayer is widely-agreed to be the best method and
responsive reading, the least desirable method. Antiphonal singing or
recitation is also the traditional method.
The Introduction to Celebrating
Common Prayer -Pocket Version
draws attention to an important principle in the singing or recitation of the
Psalter: The character of each Psalm determines the best way to go about sing
or reciting the Psalm. It suggests, “some psalms, such as the more personal and
penitential psalms are perhaps best spoke by a single voice.” It further
suggests, “other psalms may be recited together….” It notes, “the asterisk at the half-way point
indicates that a short pause is appropriate. “
In the early monastic offices of the Syrian Orthodox Church
of Antioch, one of the oldest branches of Christianity, one monk chanted a
Psalm while the other monks mediated on the words, seated on the ground. When
the Psalm was concluded, all stood and the abbot intoned a Psalm Prayer to
which the monks responded “Amen.” The monks then sat down again and the cantor
began the next Psalm.
The Gloria Patri
should be omitted except after the final psalm and should be omitted after the
canticles. The custom of reading the psalms and then singing the Gloria Patri has merit and would
conclude the psalmody on a note of praise. The Gulbransen Digital Hymnal DH-100
CP’s Master Index contains at least three tunes for prose versions of the Gloria Patri – GREATOREX, MEINEKE, and
BETHEL PARK—and several tunes for metrical settings. Thomas Ken’s doxology,
“Praise God from whom all blessings flow” is one of them and can be sung to
Kenneth Owen’s wonderful tune FAIRFIELD
or to Thomas Tallis’ EIGHTH TUNE (also known as TALLIS’ CANON), as well
as to OLD HUNDRETH. All three tunes are in the Gulbransen Digital Hymnal DH-100
CP’s Master Index. When this particular
doxology is sung to Tallis’ EIGHTH TUNE, it can be sung as a round. In the
season of Easter Thomas Ken’s doxology can be sung with alleluias to LASST UNS
ERFREUEN (“Ye watchers and ye holy ones;” “All creatures of our God and King”),
also in the Gulbransen Digital Hymnal DH-100 CP’s Master Index. (All of the aforementioned tunes are also in the Gulbransen Digital Hymnal DH-200's Master Index.)
A metrical setting of the Gloria Patri that has been
published in Anglican collections of metrical psalms and hymns along with the
Thomas Ken doxology since the seventeenth century is “To Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost the God whom we adore” from the Tate and Brady New Version. The meter is CM (86.86). Among the tunes to which this
doxology may be sung are ARLINGTON (Arne), LAND OF REST, MARTYRDOM, ST. MAGNUS
(Clarke), TURNER (Maxim), and WINCHESTER NEW. LAND OF REST may be sung as a
round or canon, normally at a distance of one or two measures and a space of
one octave. TURNER (Maxim) is a fuguing tune.
The section “Concerning the Services of the Church” contains
the proviso that “the Minister, in his discretion, subject to the direction of
the Ordinary. may use other devotions taken from this Book or set forth by
lawful authority within this Church, or from Holy Scripture….” This proviso may be interpreted to permit the
use of the Gloria in excelsis after
the Psalms at Morning Prayer and the use of alternative canticles taken from
Scripture after each Lesson at Morning and Evening Prayer. It would be
particular appropriate to sing the Gloria
in excelsis or a metrical version of the greater doxology after the Psalms
in a service of festal Matins on a major festival of the Church Year such as
Christmas, Easter, Whitsunday, and Trinity Sunday.
Teaching the antiphonal recitation method to the
congregation is not difficult. This can be done before or after a service. The
members of the congregation are asked to take their usual seats on the two
sides of the center aisle. A short psalm such as Psalm 150 is picked and then
those seated on the right side are asked to read aloud the first half of each
verse and those on the left side to read aloud the second half of each verse.
The entire congregation is asked to join together in singing the Gloria Patri at the conclusion of the
psalm. The setting of the Gloria Patri
that the congregation will be using can be taught to the congregation at the
same time as the antiphonal recitation method is taught to the congregation. It
is best to teach the Gloria Patri
setting first. The psalm should be read a couple of times in this way and the Gloria Patri repeated after each reading
until the congregation is comfortable with the antiphonal recitation method and
the Gloria Patri setting.
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