Revised Grail Psalter from GIA
  • benedictgal
    Posts: 798
    I just received my copy of the Revised Grail Psalter from GIA. It's a rather mixed bag for me.

    Don't get me wrong. I love the text. However, I was expecting GIA to arrange the psalms according to the liturgical year, like they did with their previous spiral-bound bbook. Instead, the Revised Grail Psalter had all of the psalms in their entirety. Furthermore, the "Singing Version" did not have any musical notes. Now, I can't read music, but, when I have had to cantor, I usually prepare with someone who can play the notes on a keyboard to help me.

    The book is also quite small. I was expecting something that I could prop up on the ambo, but, the book is more or less the size of a paperback novel.

    Has anyone else gotten a copy of the Revised Grail Psalter? Thoughts?
  • newmanbenewmanbe
    Posts: 76
    I have not; I haven’t even ordered it, but I won’t let that stop me!

    I had the sense that this books were meant for private (i.e. non-liturgical) devotion. What would you put it on the ambo for? The lesson psalm is a cherry picking and the Liturgy of the Hour’s psalter is not always straight through either. (I suspect my confusion would clear up if you pointed me to this spiral-bound edition. It was a lectionary, but with only the psalms?)

    The psalm tones that are intended to be used with this psalter, called the Conception Abbey Psalm Tones, are available for purchase online for 75¢ a sheet. They are all interchangeable, but with six-part formulas per mode, it seems a little ambitious. The Grail Psalter arranges the psalms in strophes from one to six lines, which can make singing it awkward depending on the tone, but I am not convinced that the having such a long melodic formula is an ideal solution.

    My 2¢.
  • SkirpRSkirpR
    Posts: 854
    That is pretty much how they come. The original Grail Psalter came like this too. It is basically like getting a part of the Bible. Singing-version only refers to the fact that stressed syllables are accented. Unless you're using tones like Gelineau tones (I guess they've recast them), it only comes in as minor help - and you could probably figure out where to put the accents yourself if pointing them to Gregorian or neo-Gregorian tones.

    As far as I know none of the major publishers has announced that they're redoing all of their in-house Responsorial Psalms with the Revised Grail. While their use in sung psalms at Mass is permitted, it will not be required until the Lectionary is revised. That's likely a far ways off, besides most of the publishers have had their hands full dealing with the non-optional implementation of the new Missal translation.

    I have in mind to do a project where I basically create my own edition of the Liturgy of the Hours, with the most recent antiphons from either the Antiphonale Romanum II or for ferial days, the Ordo Cantus Officii, and then including pointed Grail Psalms for authentic Gregorian tones. Sort of a step-up from the Mundelein Psalter with it's chanted antiphons and simpler tones. Again it would be mostly for me, and kind of one of those hobby-projects you never really expect to complete. Unless there were other people interested in this?

    I've been debating whether I should point the current Grail version first - just to be consistent - or if I should just jump right to the Revised...

    --Rich
  • francis
    Posts: 10,726
    Benedictgal

    I felt the same way. What the heck?!

    Setting them for use in the Mass would be a good move, and in large print with chant notation.

    Are you saying this should be my next project? Yeow!

    Look at the Sarum Psalter...it's all been done already to the authentic tones.
  • SkirpRSkirpR
    Posts: 854
    I understand everybody's frustration, but I'm surprised why anybody would think the publishers would do this. They're required to print what's in the Lectionary (still NAB Psalms) in their Missalettes -- why would they make a resource that contradicts those.

    I don't disagree with you all that that would be useful, just don't think its absence should come as a surprise.

    Worth mentioning, on the RGP website at GIA, you can print the psalms out based on use in the Sunday Lectionary.
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