there is a pause between lines of a verse for the reason there is punctuation in english because without punctuation it is really hard to tell where one thought ends and another begins the pause does the same thing it tells you where the breaks in thought are also just like in spoken speech a trained speaker will pause between two halves of a complete thought such as the natural pause between to be or not to be and that is the question without pauses like that it would be very difficult to understand what is going on in the syntax so while it is traditional the reason for doing it doesn't really have to do with tradition nearly as much as it has to do with basically making sense out of the thing if anyone complains or questions it you should try reading the psalm aloud with and without breaks to show the difference

I seem to recall Dom Saulnier likening the pause to the space between a question and an answer, something I've heard from other chant teachers.

The musical form indicates this as well, as the mediant cadence begs to be heard for a moment, to linger and to save a space for pondering, and yet intuitively we feel the thought and the music aren't finished. This space propels the text and the music to a conclusion.

mjballou,

Religious houses were required to be visited by the Bishop (I believe once a year). We have records of these yearly visitations.

This was an opportunity for religious to complain directly to the Bishop about things they hated about monastic life. The ones I looked at were from the early Renaissance period.

Some people complained about things like dogs in Church, and how much noise they made. (Evidently, a lot of people brought dogs inside the Church back then.)

Others complained vociferously about the length of pause at the mediant cadence.

Some claimed that this pause was long enough for the beginning of an AVE MARIA. Others said it was closer to three entire AVE MARIA's . . . . (!!!) One complaint was that you could say the entire PATER NOSTER at each mediant. In each case, this pause obviously bothered the person in question because it made their prayers last a lot longer, and they (evidently) didn't like that.

Some people (e.g. the Tallis Scholars) take these documents literally, and leave (in my opinion) an inordinate amount of time at the mediant cadence.

Other choirs literally mouth the beginning of the AVE MARIA in between each psalm verse to get the right spacing. (Again, in my view, WAY too much time.)

The response to criticism is usually, "But we're being authentic to what we know about how they performed these pieces."

My only response to that would be, "Be careful how seriously you take records of COMPLAINTS. Because people who are complaining tend to exaggerate."

Acoustics matter greatly, this is true.

Many thanks. Singing Mum - I did remember Dom Saulnier talking about it. The problem was after the 3-course lunch with wine, many things escaped my longterm memory. However, I remember the bit about the poetics of the psalms. Actually, asking the question helped jog my recollection.

My personal position (which is worth just what it cost) is that the timing is a combination of poetic structure and breathing. I don't teach it as counting or words because that would vary with your acoustics. That approach also smacks of putting masking tape on the stage, i.e., a mechanical strategy.

And to francis - Spiritum nolite exstinguere (1 Thess. 5:19).

A good starting version, assuming nothing particular about the acoustics of the situation, would be the length of the word "Ave". It's a good minimum anywhere, so that the singers and the congregation can have that little moment for reflection in the middle of the psalm verse.

I'm glad this came back up.

JMO, we're not allowed to bring dogs into church?

Thank you for this response, Charles […]. My personal view is:

‘Ave, ave (normal minimal reverb ambiance)’

Much too short.

‘Ave, ave Maria- a tad more’

Still too short.

‘Ave, Maria Gratia plena- 4-5 second delay’

Depemds on how you say (or think) it.

‘Ave Maria, gratia plena, Dominus tecum- St. Pat's/ Shrine of Imm.Conc.’

That seems to me the best of the above solutions.

‘Whole AM- all cathedrals, most monasteries in Europe!‘

I live in continental Europe and have done so this time round since 1989. Psalms are hardly sung any more in cathedrals; and I have never been in any abbey or other monastery where this gigantic pause was used. (Or is the Ave Maria supposed to be gabbled in Irish fashion?)

This is my difficulty: none of these recommendations gives any hint of how fast the Ave Maria is to be spoken or thought, or where it is to begin (the last syllable of the psalm half-verse is dotted, and I have recently heard it so sung at Bellaigue (traditional Benedictines in Burgundy; the effect is very pleasing, but the choir-master's answer to my urgent question was of the ‘Oh, I just feel it’ type).

Sancta Cæcilia, ora pro nobis.

pamino,
Of course, Prof. Mahrt was illustrating the use of the AM for those of us singing chant verses in alternatim with fauxbourdon verses. Both he and Jeffrey Morse confirmed this "method" was passed onto them from Dr. Mary Berry. And he did jest about a certain monastery chapel where you could go get a sandwich in the interim resonance!

http://www.chantcafe.com/2013/09/the-mediant-pause-and-grammatical.html

A common practice in England is to count to 2 or 3 after the mediant and then come in where the next count would be. Speed is determined by tempo, acoustic and local custom (or the compromise achieved by the end if there isn't one).

the traditional singing of the psalms for the office provides for a generous pause after the mediant cadence (i.e., in the middle of the verse).

I know this and I teach it and I enjoy it and so do my singers. What I don't have is an explanation for it.

Coming back after a very long time, I think the place to start is the note at the end of the verse, which is identically dotted. If semichorus M holds the last note as written, semichorus N will come in with neither pause nor gatecrashing, and the interval in the middle will adjust itself. We tested this at the last Tenebræ and it works.

What we all seem to be missing is that chanted psalmody is a meditation practice, akin to those in other traditions. Essential to all meditation practices is attention on our breath.

I like to do it this way:

(never rushing any syllable, lengthening or catching a quick breath at commas; using the subordinate mediation at semicolons)

Group/Cantor 1 - ]1st half, mediant cadence] - finish outbreath ; inbreath - [2nd half]
Group/Cantor 2 - inhale in a relaxed way and early, dovetail end of G/C 1, repeating same structure.

As in the Astanga yoga tradition, understanding is 5% theory, 95% practice.

The words of the psalm being sung may not be in the forefront of the intellect during singing, but they are much more indelibly etched in the memory as a result.

Once I was singing at St Peter's (long story), and at the rehearsal, since my group had some beginning chanters, he broke in at every mediant to loudly say, "Ave, ave!" It was effective and kind of fun.