What did the Psalms sound like in antiquity? We know that they were sung, not spoken. We know that 2,000 years ago they were performed in the Temple in Jerusalem by professional musicians from the tribe of Levi. Their choir comprised a minimum of twelve singers, but was usually larger. There was an orchestra with harps, flutes, trumpets, horns and percussion. The performance was responsorial or antiphonal, based on the binary structure of the Psalm texts. Performances were led by a conductor, and instructions for the conductor were embedded in the headings (“superscriptions”) of many of the Psalms. For example, Psalm 45 (King James Version) begins with these words, “For the leader; on shoshannim. Of the Korahites. A maskil. A love song.” To the best of our knowledge that could mean, “[instructions] for the conductor: [to be sung] on the shoshanim [mode], [performed] by the Korah clan, a skillful song, for wedding ceremonies.” Fifteen of the Psalms (120-134) begin with the heading, “A song of ascents (or steps)” (words which are omitted from the King James Version). According to the Mishnah, these Psalms were performed on the fifteen steps or risers in front of the Temple. “And countless Levites with harps, lyres, cymbals and trumpets and other musical instruments were there …, corresponding to the fifteen Songs of Ascents in the Psalms. It was upon these steps that the Levites stood with their musical instruments and sang their songs.”
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