A new edition of the Anglo-Genevan Psalter will be available this coming January for trial use. More information is available at the BookOfPraise.ca on how you might order one. I definitely hope to get one and sing it personally.
Most people who want to learn to sing the Psalms would do well to begin with a metrical psalter that links the psalm verses to well known hymn tunes. One of the best modern English versions for that purpose is our own Ailbe Psalter. A simple chanting version of the Psalter can be found in “Reading the Psalms with Luther” that sets the ESV to a form of Lutheran chant.
For those wanting to go a bit deeper, the Genevan Psalms present themselves as a unique variant. From Geneva to Budapest to the Netherlands, wherever the Reformed faith went on the continent of Europe, the Genevan Psalms went too. Each country simply kept the tunes and translated the Psalms into a verse harmonious with their mother tongue. Today if you learn the Genevan Psalms in English you may travel to a Reformed Church in Hungary and know what Psalm they are singing simply by your ability to recognize the tune! For that reason the Genevan Psalms formed a unique bond of brotherhood among widely dispersed churches and it was rather like the ability of the ubiquitous Heidelberg Catechism in that regard.
The older version of the Anglo-Genevan Psalter (or at least 3 sample verses per Psalm) are available for your use or review at the website GenevanPsalter.com. Listen there to Michael Owens’ a capella rendition of the Genevan Psalms there and you’ll notice some even have what seems to we moderns to be a chant like quality. Fortunately, Genevan Tunes are less threatening to learn for most people because at least the notations resemble standard sheet music. But with Michael Owens’ mp3’s no musical learning is immediately necessary. One wishing to learn the Genevan Psalms can simply listen and imitate.
The Anglo-Genevan Psalter like other Continental Reformed music books (from Holland and Hungary at least) contains all the Psalms plus a number of other “hymns” composed of additional scripture set to verse as well as a number of extra-biblical material for variety. Other hymn settings for the Apostle’s Creed, Ten Commandments, the Nunc Dimitis, etc. are also found there. Perhaps the composition contains a hidden message – we should sing 2 Psalms for every “hymn”! (Most congregations would do well to sing one Psalter portion weekly though!)
As an example of the available hymns, in Advent (or whenever appropriate actually!) the tune for Psalm 42 is employed to sing a metrical version of Isaiah 40:1-5 which in English is translated “Comfort, Comfort Ye My People”. Many traditional hymnals include this “hymn” but its origin as a Reformed hymn is only denoted by the tune name in small print beneath the text! The complete text and Organ setting is available freely here: Comfort, Comfort Ye My People.
For a generation seeking a revival of “folk music”, the Genevan Psalms certainly qualify and are well worth learning. For the latest YouTube videos of Genevan Psalms as well as a cornucopia of valuable material related to the Genevan Psalter, look no farther than Dr. David Koyzis’ Genevan Psalter website.
No matter whether you read, sing, or chant the Psalter (or all three!), be sure to avail yourself of the blessings to be found in God’s Hymnal! Don’t consider your time with the Psalms complete, though, until you have spent at least some time becoming familiar with the Genevan Psalms. While they may seem strange at first, their otherworldliness will grow on you as you invest yourself in them!
