- The Chabanel project sets the responsorial psalms from the lectionary. BFW contains music for the entrance, chants between the readings, offertory and communion. Responsorial psalms for use in between the readings would be part of this.

- Unlike Chabanel, the BFW responsorial psalms are seasonal rather than proper to a particular Sunday/ feast day. They do not correspond to the lectionary.

- Chabanel psalms are new compositions, for the most part modal but not always in free rhythm. The BFW responsorial psalms correspond to the Graduale Simplex and are set to formulaic patterns from the brief responses of the Divine Office. This, and the fact that they are seasonal, might make the BFW psalms a little easier for congregations to learn.

Robert and Jeff - thank you for your explanations. It's all making more sense!

Robert replied

Unlike Chabanel, the BFW responsorial psalms are seasonal rather than proper to a particular Sunday/ feast day. They do not correspond to the lectionary.

Chabanel psalms are new compositions, for the most part modal but not always in free rhythm. The BFW responsorial psalms correspond to the Graduale Simplex and are set to formulaic patterns from the brief responses of the Divine Office. This, and the fact that they are seasonal, might make the BFW psalms a little easier for congregations to learn.

Dave, Robert is correct when he says, “The BFW responsorial psalms correspond to the Graduale Simplex and are set to formulaic patterns from the brief responses of the Divine Office. This . . . might make the BFW psalms a little easier for congregations to learn.”

But he makes the same generalizing overstatement about the seasonal nature of the Simple Gradual that the U.S. Bishops make in their insertions into the GIRM at §§48, 61, and 87.

There are 98 responsorial psalms in the Simple Gradual, 53 of which are responsorial psalms in the rather confined way we have experienced them since the reform of the Lectionary, and 44 of which are alleluia psalms, a genre that escapes the attention of any church musicians.

I say “confined way” because we are too used to singing “antiphon/verses/antiphon,” etc., when, as Robert notes, the brief response style of the Liturgy of the Hours is verse/antiphon/verse, etc.

Alleluia psalms are responsorial psalms in which the response IS “Alleluia.” They are “proper” to the Easter season, but they may sung in any season except Lent. Throughout the Lectionary one sees the notation “R/. ‘blah, blah, blah’ OR R/. ‘Alleluia.’ ” (This repertoire includes more than just the Hallel psalms of the Psalter.)

Some of the responsorial/alleluia psalms of the Simple Gradual ARE seasonal: Advent Season I and Advent Season II, Easter Season I and Easter Season II, and Ordinary Time I through IX, except VI and VII. Ash Wednesday’s responsorials can be used all during Lent (and the responsorials of First, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Lent are somewhat seasonal).

However, some of the responsorial/alleluia psalms of the Simple Gradual ARE proper: Christmas, Holy Family, Epiphany, Baptism of the Lord, Passion Sunday, Chrism Mass, Holy Thursday: Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, Good Friday, The Easter Vigil, Easter Sunday, The Ascension of the Lord, Pentecost Sunday, Trinity Sunday, Body and Blood of Christ, Sacred Heart, Christ the King, Presentation of the Lord, Birth of John the Baptist, Peter and Paul, Transfiguration of the Lord, Assumption of Mary, Birth of Mary, Triumph of the Cross, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, All Saints, and Immaculate Conception of Mary.

And some of the responsorial/alleluia psalms of the Simple Gradual are communal, from the Commons of the Dedication of a Church, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of Apostles, of Martyrs, of Holy Men, of Doctors of the Church, and of Holy Women.

The ritual Mass for Marriage and the Mass in Any Need have their own responsorials.
The Mass for the Dead has a rich treasury of responsorials.

Mary Mother of God, Joseph, the Annunciation of the Lord, and the Birth of Mary are borrowed.
The Second Sunday of Lent borrows from the Transfiguration of the Lord.

As Paul Ford so eloquently has said, there is more beauty in words and music that was conceived by the Church than has been delivered to us by OCP/GIA and so forth.

When the rubrics of a church are "Is it in the paper Missal?" we are living in the land of Fahrenheit 451...they didn't burn the books, they just failed to print them.

Just to add the above, all the guest composers on the Chabanel Psalms site use the NAB translation, and most include an optional organ accompaniment.

I believe the BFW uses the Divine Office translation (Grail) and does not include organ accompaniments. (someone please correct me if I am wrong)

Thank you, Dr. Ford! Very informative.

Hopefully I won't take this conversation off-track, but I would like to ask: (1) what is an "ecumenical" translation of the Psalms? (2) Is there an online source for the 2007 restoration?

In Christ,

JMO

Jeff asked:

Hopefully I won't take this conversation off-track, but I would like to ask: (1) what is an "ecumenical" translation of the Psalms? (2) Is there an online source for the 2007 restoration?

Pace Francis’s remark, the Bible is common to all the churches and ecclesial communities. Therefore, it assists the work of the Holy Spirit in the work of reuniting all Christians when biblical scholars from all of these bodies collaborate to produce a translation of the Bible that all may call their own.

The NRSV is such a collaborative effort (see here).

I read about the 2007 restoration of the NRSV here.

I find the feminist gender politics of the NRSV to be extremely off-putting.

Daniel, I am generally content with the horizontally inclusive language of the NRSV. The NRSV rule was to "mak[e] it clear where the original texts intend to include all humans, male and female, and where they intend to refer only to the male or female gender."

I know it's a bit off the topic, but related and important, because it's about the text. This inclusive language is becoming too much, and seems to cause more problems, because people are getting more fussy about little things and miss the whole picture. The hymn "Faith of our Fathers' now have 2nd verse, 'Faith of our Mothers"? And in our parish a sister, who always sits behind me, changes prayer "His Church' to "God's Church" and says it very loudly during mass, and it's really distracting (and annoying ).
M y point is that people who complains will always find something to complain about. Changing some words in translation of the Bible to make some people happy isn't really going to help them, I don't think. This is a superficial cover, just being 'politically 'correct,' and distracting from the main focus on the problems in our church. It's like I'm giving a bandaid to my kid who needs a surgery. They have a bigger problem. People need to be better educated to understand God's love and catholic faith by our priests, starting from the sacred liturgy.