Aurelio Porfiri
In the previous article we discussed the way that a Responsorial psalm should be performed. Some of these ways, as we have pointed out, are not the best, some others are good but require efforts and skills. Of course we take for granted that the person who is dedicating himself or herself to Church music has to be skilled, but unfortunately it is not so nowadays in most parishes. So, we need to deal with a situation of great difficulty in our musical landscape of the Church. This is why it is important to understand the importance that Church music has in the liturgy, and the importance that the liturgy should have in our lives.
After Vatican II, several musicians have attempted to find ways to make the most of the Responsorial Psalm, some of these attempts were pointless and others much more valuable. One of the most interesting, in my opinion, is the attempt by Nicola Vitone (1913-1974), a priest from south Italy with strong training in music composition. He was active as teacher and composer, giving much attention to the liturgical reforms coming from Vatican II. He published in 1968, few years after the Council, a little booklet called Guida al Salmo Responsoriale (A Guide to the Responsorial Psalm, Edizioni Carrara), a booklet where he attempted to guide those who have to compose new Responsorial Psalms, giving them a method. In his foreword, Father Vitone said that “the restitution of the ‘Responsorial Psalm’ to its authentic form is one of the most important tasks of liturgical renewal. This Psalm is not conceivable without singing. Here the rite is basically the solemn proclamation of the Word of God: lyrical proclamation, indeed, from the Psalmist, to whom the congregation answers with a short refrain that echoes – essentially – the message that the soloist has proposed for the meditation of the faithful.” Father Vitone would be very surprised to see that his wishes for the Psalm to be always sung, as it is rightly so, go largely unheard from liturgists and from those in charge of the music in many churches around the world. Father Vitone also mentioned something that is important in the same foreword: the improvisatory character of the music applied to the Psalm. What he wants to imply is that every performer may have a different inflection or give a certain embellishment to the recitative. Indeed improvisation was probably an important part of the way sacred music was performed in the past, even if today we don’t have singers so skilled who probably can do this properly.
He gives an example of his method, presenting the 6 notes of an hexachord (that means indeed 6 notes, it is, we may say, a scale of six notes). Here the ones presented are from Do to La. Then, he suggests, because most of the verses of Psalms are basically divided in two main parts, he can arrange the melodic phrases in two: one that goes from the first tone of the scale to the dominant (the fifth) and the other one returning to the tonic after a short melodic pattern. So, with this material, the composer can prepare the refrain for the congregation, the verses for the soloist and the organ accompaniment and preludes, interludes and postludes.
The refrain for the congregation is prepared with the same melodic pattern that we saw before, but using a metric structure that according to Father Vitone is more adept for the singing of a congregation. He pointed out how important it is to respect the accent in phrases. The refrains can be of two kinds, short or long. If they are short (i.e. “The Lord reigns!”) it is possible to use only the first part of the melodic pattern that was devised, the first phrase. If the refrain is long (“The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want”) so it is possible to use the entire melodic formula.
When talking about the part of the soloist, Father Vitone explained that here we have something between the cantillation and some melodic cadenzas and introduction. Here, of course, the application of the texts, of various forms and shapes, have to be very flexible, very careful in adapting to the different necessities of a text. Indeed the cantillation, the recitative on a given note, may be elaborated in a way that is well mixed with the melodic inserts, so to make the Psalm more interesting also from a musical point of view. Father moreover is careful to explain that at the center of the singer’s attention there is the exaltation of the text, so with the use of good punctuation (that musically we call flexa), it is important to give more variety to the declamation of the text. Furthermore, he introduces some more melodic possibilities as cadenzas, so that there is more variety and flexibility.
To the organist is given the task of supporting the singing of the congregation and the singing of the soloist, but also to introduce the psalm with a prelude, that announce the melody that will soon be sung by everyone, and maybe also playing a postlude while the soloist returns to the place where he is coming from. In the booklet the author shows some examples of very well crafted accompaniments, sort preludes and interludes, that are a good example of what can be done by a good composer.
Certainly the work by Father Nicola Vitone is worthy of consideration, but it also has to be critically evaluated so as to ascertain its strong points and weak points. As I have said, this little booklet was published after Vatican II, in the years when there was enthusiasm and the churches and Basilicas were still employing professional musicians. So, the suggestions made by Father Vitone, would certainly be successful at the hands of well prepared musicians and not at the hands of volunteers with very little musical training. At the hands of good musicians, this can be a good solution especially for churches with a musical program that is somehow modest.
Moreover, as I have said previously and also as the author mentions, it is necessary to avoid a mechanical application of the same melody to all the Psalms, because it really diminishes the great diversity that exists in the Psalms. They are all different. So, one of the biggest problems I may experience with this method is to apply the same melodic pattern to many different texts. Yes, I know that this was also done in the case of the Gregorian chants. But returning to what I have said before, we are talking of works done by very skilled musicians and singers, very knowledgeable of the Scripture and of setting sacred texts to music; this cannot be said in the kind of condition we are now. So the danger of being monotonous is certainly there.
As I have already mentioned, you need good musicians, good organists, able to be flexible and adapt to different texts and different musical and liturgical environments. Unfortunately, today we seldom have organists at all, and some of them are not really organists, but pianists. This is for example my experience in Asia, where I lived for quite some years. I have heard many “organists” playing in churches, but honestly 90% of them were certainly pianists playing the organ. How do I know? Very easy. They use only one register during the Mass and never use the pedal of the organ. And unfortunately there is no tradition of organ-playing in Asia. Even the real organists, with formal training, whom I met, were very far from accomplished in the sense that were able to be flexible, improvise, being in the moment. They were just performers, maybe even good ones, but without any knowledge about the real skills that made a real organist. Of course, I am sure that there are some organists whom I did not meet and who are not well described by what I have said, but I am just talking from my limited experience.
As I have said previously, the method for the Responsorial Psalm that I have just summarily described, can be a good solution for parishes, churches with limited resources. You would need at least a good Church musician who may be able play the organ. It is not difficult to build a decent musical program with limited resources, if there is a strong will from the leadership.
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