 |  | Authentic French Psalmody |  |
Well-produced CD which captures the Christian psalmody of the French Reformation. One or two selections are probably overly elaborate and probably represent later transcriptions of the basic psalms. At any rate, beautiful!
October 30, 2008 | | How do I get sheet music for some of these songs? | |
I bought this album a few months ago and would like to get/buy the sheet music if possible. Can I buy the sheet music to certain songs so my little choir can sing it?
October 15, 2008| | | Of Historical Interest... | |
...but not very artful, these 19 settings of the Psalms in French translation were plainly intended fro congregational singing, and since the congregations were Calvinist, the settings are plain indeed, strictly strophic, note-for-note syllabic harmonizations, with just a few cadential melismata (decorations of a syllable with extended runs of notes). If you grew up Protestant, you will recognize the genre, and if you have sung New England shape-note music, you'll be surprised at the resemblance.
Seventeen of the Psalms were set by Claude Goudimel, who was slaughtered in the St. Batholomew Day Massacre in Paris in August, 1572, an act of religious cleansing that may have been instigated by the Queen Mother but that was plotted and executed by common Catholic Parisians, neighbor against neighbor. Goudimel's fault was that he had accepted the Calvinist Huguenot faith. Before we get too judgmental, however, it's best to remember that Jean Calvin himself supervised the torture and burning alive of scientist Michael Servetus, whose fault was that he was a unitarian. The St. Bartholomew Massacre was the worst act of inter-faith rioting in its era, with at least 5000 dead, but it pales in comparison to the centuries-earlier slaughter of the Cathars in Languedoc. One might want to remember such events in the current climate of religious extremism in the USA.
It's interesting to compare these Protestant hymns, with their mood of pious contrition, with the troped Gregorian chants of medieval Catholicism, with their affect of rapture and mystery. The former ring out the appeal of the individual for redemption, the latter acclaim the glory of God. Really, both offer some intense emotion despite their rudimentary musical structures. If I were searching for a personal faith to adhere to, I'm fairly sure which I'd choose.
September 5, 2008 | | A Grand Tradition Not Well Served | |
What, are the French murdering Protestants again? Claude Goudimel, who died during the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre, left a legacy of psalm settings that has echoed through music history. But hearing them presented as they are here, one would wonder why. The psalms are sung with one voice to a part, but the voices are unattractive, even repellant. I bought the disc trusting the three reviewers before me. Don't do it. Thank heaven the French have found interpreters of music from this period like Niquet and Visse, whose recordings can be heard with unalloyed pleasure.
May 9, 2008| | | Superb! The authentic worship of the Reformed Church. | |
Reformed churches should restore this tunes to regular use in the public worship of the Lord.
March 16, 2007More reviews at Amazon.com ...
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