I liked the idea of a set of antiphon melodies as well as a verse formula. I am now wondering how they might work at Mass (with the responsorial psalm).

Adam, notation question: why prefer a dotted punctum for reciting, instead of a white one, as might be more usual? Just askin'

Interesting!
Far more interesting than some others, such as those in the Mundelein Psalter that have become ubiquitous in recent years. Especially commendable is the slightly more developed formula for antiphons and responsories. This is, compared to what most people are doing, a stroke of genius. (Best of all, though, is composing or improvising a very simple chant-like melody in the appropriate mode.)

Still, the idea behind all of them is (take your choice, or choose both) that 1) we just have to give people something easier, more 'accessible', than the Gregorian tones (even though we know and assume that for most people, being what most people are, these easier ones will become standard replacements of the Gregorian tones), 2) the Gregorian tones were conceived of for Latin, and singing them to English is impossible - and, even if the Anglicans manage it quite well and it isn't impossible, that doesn't count and it's still, ipso facto, impossible, plus 3) who needs the Gregorian tones anyway?

Still, I would gladly choose these Clayton tones as preferred replacements of the Gregorian tones - if I had to, which I don't, and won't.

It's interesting, I think, that at a local Episcopal school of high repute, the entire student body of about 700 students (K-12) sing the Coverdale psalter to the Gregorian tones at chapel every day. Of course, what these students are doing is impossible - but they don't know that.

...white notes for ison...

I sort of agree with Andrew. If the white note is reserved for the ison (which is fine) then the traditional way of indicating the reciting tone is to show three or four repeated notes sort of grouped together. Either that, or make the reciting tone a white note and put the black ison in parenthesis. The dotted note is really kind of bizarre - especially since the dot, itself, has the more or less universal meaning of temporally elongating the note (syllable) it follows.

Thanks for the notation advice. I will adjust and report back.


in re:

Still, the idea behind all of them is (take your choice, or choose both) that 1) we just have to give people something easier, more 'accessible', than the Gregorian tones (even though we know and assume that for most people, being what most people are, these easier ones will become standard replacements of the Gregorian tones, 2) the Gregorian tones were conceived of for Latin, and singing them to English is impossible - and, even if the Anglicans manage it quite well and it isn't impossible, that doesn't count and it's still, ipso facto, impossible, plus 3) who needs the Gregorian tones anyway?

So, these are not meant to replace Gregorian tones for public liturgies with professionals in charge. The purpose of this work is for home and small-group lay recitation of the hours. We wanted something that was as authentic as possible, while being easy as possible, and that could be picked up more or less immediately without work.

UPDATED.

https://github.com/adammichaelwood/pontifex-vernacular/blob/master/psalm-tones/tones.pdf

I'm thinking now that for these tones you need one sign for "recite on this note" an another sign for "slip in any additional syllables on this note". Maybe using a tristropha as MJO suggests, for the first, and a white punctum à la the Liber, for the second.

My experience with these is that such is not needed at all. That might not be clear, though, if you haven't seen the pointing and had someone explain it. I'll be writing brief instructions and doing some pointing samples shortly.

These are wonderful. Though I do have to admit that the thing I am most happy about with these is that Mode III recites on Ti rather than Do.

I think these would work very well for Responsorial Psalms, where the proper Respond changes every week. The people would only have to deal with new words to a familiar formula rather than a completely new Respond each week.

Also, I very much look forward to seeing what the pointing is like for these. (I'd love to try using them.)

(Edited to fix a slight error in nomenclature - an error that not only annoys MJO, but also, usually, me. Mea culpa.)

Thank you, very elegant.

I must get this in... yet again -

Responsorial chants, such as the responsorial psalm and the Alleluya with its verse, have responsories, not antiphons. The very fact that there is a responsory sung by all in answer to a cantor's verses is precisely what and why these chants are 'responsorial'.
In the case of the Alleluya and Verse, the alleluya itself is the responsory.

Antiphons occur in antiphonal chants, in which the antiphon is sung by two groups after each group alternates singing verses 'antiphonally'.

Remember -
1) Responsorial chants have responsories (sometimes called 'responds').
2) Antiphonal chants have antiphons.

Liturgical dice!

Steve, I tend to split neumes awkwardly, such as the full stop & final stop in the epistle, so obviously I need more practice, but I completely agree.

Perhaps the Tonus Peregrinus antiphon tone could approximate the contour of its antiphons rather than the psalm-verse tone? (I don’t have a handy example, sorry.)

Peregrinus antiphons tend to have an ambitus of Do to Te, starting on Do and with the final on Sol. Sort of beginning like a mode I, and ending like a mode VIII or mode IVd.

c.f. Ant. Deus autem noster, antiphon for Ps. 113 in EF Vespers, Pg. 556 in the Liber Brevior.

c.f. Ant. Nos qui vivimus, antiphon for Ps.113B in OF Vespers, Week II, Pg. 467 in Antiphonale Romanum II.

So, aside from capricious mode selection, how does one versify the texts of the Psalms, as given in Christian Prayer: the Liturgy of the Hours? They were clearly not intending sung Psalmody when they formatted the book. Do you sing each line as half a tone, or every two lines?

The Grail Psalms used in the LOTH book were published with tones by Gelineau. IIRC, each tone has six segments, and often the psalm texts are laid out in six-line groups.

The new Revised Grail Psalter (which is legal for use now in the US) has a similar companion set of tones from Conception Abbey.