Customer Reviews

Psalms: A New Translation: Singing Version

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This book contains the same translation of the Psalms that is used in the official English version of the Catholic Liturgy of Hours. It has all 150 Psalms, complete and unedited. (The Liturgy of Hours omits several imprecatory Psalms, and some imprecatory parts of Psalms that were retained. Compare Ps. 109 from this book and Ps. 110 from Sunday, Evening Prayer II for an especially bad example.) It is a useful companion to the Liturgy of Hours.

This is the original Grail Psalter, and not the recently published "inclusive-language" edition.

I am Episcopal and recently discovered this translation of the Psalms in a monthly liturgical magazine - Magnificat. Because I liked the translation I ordered this book. A unique feature of this book is the chant music included at the end. Each psalm has a suggested chant melody, one that fits its structure and mood. Find the music at the back and you can chant the psalm.
The only drawback is that the music is printed so small as to be almost unreadable. I got around this by making an enlarged copy of each page, and that works well for me.

Do not be fooled by the title, "A New Translation". This is the Grail translation that is used by priests and religious throughout the English speaking world. It was done in 1963. There is no playing down of masculine imagery or cutting off of masculine pronouns. The introduction is very helpful in understanding the way in which each psalm is divided. A must own for those who pray the Divine Office.

This psalter is the backbone of the Catholic Liturgy of the Hours and has been my prayer book for 30 years. Unlike many "singing versions" of the psalms, this one preserves the parallelism and (to some degree) the meter of the original Hebrew. It is a starkly simple and brutally honest rendering of the emotive language found in the original psalms; there is nothing sentimental in this translation, but every emotion and mood is dealt with frankly, as is fitting in a prayer book. The syntax is natural and clear, without the awkward, hyperconscious crafting that is in so many bad hymns that are based on the psalms. The tones in the back are suggestions only, and there are a number of other options available for chanting this psalter, either privately or communally; some of the tones are haunting and sublime.

In short, this is a bare but beautiful translation; I don't know if you could do better in contemporary English.

A well presented book of psalms, & as the title implies, with little experience, can be chanted to the gelineau tones in the back pages. The accented text helps greatly in the correct singing, and the recommended tones assist in keeping with the theme of the psalm. I like anglican chant, though this method once learnt, can be simple and effective. It must be remmembered of course that this is from the grail version of psalms, and to a degree sacrifices doctrinal accurracy for singability, but nonetheless I recommend this book fo it's unique approach to singing the psalms.

This is the version of the Psalter that is used at New Melleray Abbey (Cistercian of the Strict Observance, i.e., Trappist) near Dubuque IA. I became acquainted with it when I was there on retreat. Retreatants did not sing along with the monks, so my primary concerns did not emerge until I was home with my own copy:

1) This psalter is comfortable for reading along while the psalms are chanted but not for singing them yourself, despite the subtitle. The musical information is on pages 253-256, completely separate from the psalms themselves, which requires the solitary user of the psalter to learn the Psalm Tones first and then use them in conjunction with the appropriate Psalms. This may be the only way to do this and yet produce a reasonably priced tome. But it does make it more difficult to use. In a group, of course, a single member who is familiar with the appropriate Psalm Tones can easily teach the tones as the group chants along, becoming familiar with the text and tones together.

2) The Psalm Tones are provided in small print that is "fuzzy" and barely legible.

3) The type face throughout the psalter is somewhat difficult on the eye.

4) One needs to be aware that the numbering of the Psalms is from the Septuagint, not from the Masoretic text and, so, is different from the numbering of the Psalms in your English-language Bible.

5) As has been mentioned, this translation is not appropriate for worship that strictly exchews gendered language in reference to the divine.

I am happy to have my copy of this Psalter and just holding it in my hands brings back to my ear the memory of the monks chanting the hours at New Melleray Abbey, vigils through compline. But anyone who wants to use it to chant the psalms themselves needs to be aware of these drawbacks.

This book of psalms is a great addition to any prayer time. Music is also easy and understandable!It's definitely worth it...

I dearly love this version of the Psalter. Even if you don't follow the chant lines (they're there if you want to use them, but you don't have to of course), the accent marks make it easy to to place the emphasis on the proper words and enjoy the pace of the chant. A truly wonderful addition to your private or communal prayers.