Psalms for Sunday Morning and Evening prayer - Meinrad tones
  • ghmus7
    Posts: 1,483
    Does anyone have a document or resource that has the psalmody for Sundays Morning and Evening Prayer, set to the Meinrad Tones? I am trying to make a booklet, and it would be a lot easier if this has been done, I am running into questions about the best way the doxology would be done - how many lines, in what tones, what tones are for what psalms etc. Any help would be greatly appreciated, I have written the Abbey.
  • igneusigneus
    Posts: 390
    "what tones are for what psalms"

    At least traditionally there is no fixed assignment of psalm tones to psalms. The psalm tone is chosen to fit the antiphon chanted with the psalm. As you probably won't use through-composed antiphons that would require specific psalm tones, you can freely choose. Or (if you are for any reason not willing to decide this yourself) you can look which tones would be used in Latin office (for reference see e.g. http://www.kleingraduale.nl/LiturgiaHorarum/ ) and for each psalm choose Meinrad psalm tone of the same mode.

    (With the other questions I can't help.)
  • fcbfcb
    Posts: 338
    I presume you know the Mundelein Psalter.
  • ghmus7
    Posts: 1,483
    Yes we use that but the rector wants to do the Meinrad tones, so i am trying figure that out. I am having a hard time seeing how to use them for the Sunday pslams:
    If you have the same number of verses as measures in the tone, or less, i is clear, but what do you do when there are more verses that the measures in the tone and hw do you do the doxology?
  • igneusigneus
    Posts: 390
    "If you have the same number of verses as measures in the tone ..."

    The Meinrad psalm tones aren't intended for whole psalms (each measure = one verse), but for small groups of verses: each measure of the tone is used for one part (most usually one half) of a verse and the tone is repeated several times in course of chanting a single psalm.
    The doxology should be handled as two verses.
  • Felipe Gasper
    Posts: 804
    @igneus At the Archabbey they did indeed use the same tone for entire psalms when I was there this past summer.
  • Caleferink
    Posts: 434
    I use Meinrad Psalm Tones all the time (perhaps because I grew up near St. Meinrad Archabbey and hence became most familiar and comfortable with them). Most stanzas are four lines/verses which fit nicely into the formula. There are sometimes stanzas of six lines, in which case a variant is provided. If there are two-, three-, or five-line stanzas, the rule is simply omit the second-to-last measure (in the case of two-line stanzas, you'd therefore only use the first and last measures). I have rarely if ever run across a stanza of more than six lines.
  • ghmus7
    Posts: 1,483
    The first two psalm in the Sunday MP have 8 and ten lines,
    But thanks for your help!
  • igneusigneus
    Posts: 390
    Long stanzas can be divided to smaller ones.
  • Caleferink
    Posts: 434
    @ghmus7 Are you referring to the Canticle of Daniel (Daniel 3)? If so I think that's a bit of different animal structurally and might be treated as such (at least that's how I've personally handled it). For example, in weeks I and III the cantor sings "Angels of the Lord," and all respond, "bless the Lord"; in weeks II and IV (and parts of the other two weeks) the cantor sings "Blessed are you..." and all reply, "praiseworthy and exalted/glorious above all forever." Again, that's just my way of handling that particular canticle; others may have better ways.
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