Conference Morsel: Psalm Singing

(An excerpt from the interest session “Reclaiming the Ancient Hymnal: the Art, Devotion and Practice of Psalm-Singing,” presented by Howard Helvey during the 2015 ACDA National Conference.)

 

       I suspect that many of us find ourselves here: at those intersections between our professional training and chosen vocation, and with those subjects about we become passionate as we grow into our truest selves.  As a classically-trained musician who happens to have been for many years deeply engaged with sacred music, I entered into the realm of studying the psalms out of an ongoing love and respect of that poetry.  I have found them compelling, curious, and at times unpleasant.  However, during the last seventeen years at Calvary Episcopal Church in Cincinnati, the weekly opportunity to sing the psalms (in a variety of methods) has continued to be a special privilege.  And, in the last three-and-a-half years, I have relished the challenge and satisfaction of crafting new music and melodies to carry a portion of the psalm texts. 

       It is often said that it is through the arts, including (of course) music and poetry, that humanity is able to most naturally embrace the intangible…the spiritual…the sacred.  And it probably bears remembering that for many people, the brief weekly gathering for worship is their only regular exposure to poetry and song.  The psalms can live in artful expression, and, far from being frozen in time, they can continue to speak to and through us today in our varieties of situations…pleasant, transitioning, and surprising.  The way we sing them evolves, and hopefully, with the potency of our greatest ancestors, we will help voice the message of the psalms during our own time and into the future.

 

(Make plans now to attend your 2016 ACDA Divisional Conference!)