How do you do the psalms of the Easter Vigil?
  • liampmcdonough
    Posts: 282
    Can you post your leaflets, or state how you go about choosing various tones and ways of psalm singing for the Vigil? I am curious what people's ideas are on this. Do you sing most in responsorial fashion? In directum? Anglican chant? My preference would be to sing them entirely in directum. Since neither our choir nor congregation regularly sing the Office yet, and we utilize the Gradual at Mass, there is little practice in psalm singing; therefore, we have to use sparing and simple tones.

    Here are the psalms and tones I think we will do this year.
  • MatthewRoth
    Posts: 1,937
    Given that, traditionally, the texts to be sung are mode VIII tracts, singing them in directum in mode VIII seems to be the best solution.
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  • trentonjconn
    Posts: 537
    Not sure if the link will work, but we do them as can be found at the pdf at the end of this discussion:

    https://forum.musicasacra.com/forum/discussion/16776/psalm-toned-latin-canticles-for-easter-vigil-of#Item_6
  • GambaGamba
    Posts: 539
    I like to do a mixture: a responsorial psalm, one of the tracts/canticles with its authentic melody, a motet on the text of the tract (e.g Palestrina Sicut cervus), etc. Exact mix depending on capacity of choir(s) in a given year and what else they have had to learn for Holy Week. But I can’t imagine singing the Song of Miriam to anything other than that wildly jubilant Gregorian melody.
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  • PaxTecum
    Posts: 302
    Gamba - THIS is the way !! Exactly how I do it too.
  • ServiamScores
    Posts: 2,721
    I have been instructed in the past that the psalms are supposed to be subdued as this occurs prior to the return of the Gloria. I had set the text "I will sing to the Lord, He has covered Himself in glory" too festively. (Ironically, I had another priest at a different parish say that he was relieved to finally hear a setting where the music reflected the text!... so make of that what you will... regardless, I will defer to the desires of my pastor (subdued) who is liturgically very-well informed.) So we will be doing simple psalm tones / anglican chants this year.
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