I gave the Chabanal psalms a first try this Saturday, with mixed results. On the plus side, the pointing of Ps. 148 was pleasant to sing, the only verse I might have done differently being "creeping things and wing-èd fowl." On the caveat side, the underlay of the refrain "let aa-aall praiai-aise the name of the Lord" utterly defeated the pastor and congregation, who are quite used to repeating the Guimont responses without a cantorial assist; perhaps the changing accompaniments would be too much for them. The harmonizations are also varied for every verse, which might discourage choirs even though (unlike Guimont) the voicing remains within reasonable ranges.
The layout is a bit funny to one of my background; may I make a few suggestions? 1. The hyphenization "princ-es" is surely wrong. 2. Both bolding and underlining is visual overkill. 3. Slurs seem unnecessary in accompt. and their protrusion into right margin is unsightly. 4. The changing size of the numerals before each verse is distracting. 5. The ABCDEFG harmonizations for the refrain page are startling; clearer to have a default and label the rest optional. 6. It would be nice if "Psalm 148:1-2 &c" appeared somewhere on the page.
On the whole, it's nice to have one more option available, even if this is one I couldn't sightread with over-much confidence.
Just FYI, I need to completely redo the Wedding Psalms, Funeral Psalms, and Seasonal Psalms. The ones you find there currently (the ones written by me) ... well, let's just say I'm not very proud of them.
Why do I not remove them? It is my policy not to remove anything. Every time I remove things, people write to us from all over the world looking for the things I remove.
I would encourage you to experiment with the YEAR A, B, C, and ABC Psalms and see what you think.
God bless!
P.S.
Now that Years A, B, C, and ABC have been published, I hope to find the time to revise the Weddings, Funerals, and Seasonal Psalms, as well as the Holy Days like Nativity St. John the Baptist.
To participate in the discussions on Catholic church music, sign in or register as a forum member, The forum is a project of the Church Music Association of America.