I ended up writing in mode VI this week. Since there is no musical precedent for an English Responorial Psalm in the Mass, I don’t feel obliged to stick with a mode based on tradition from the Gradual. That’s a nice freedom to have.
You can see my work here, at Chabanel Psalms.
That said, it was a challenge to find something singable that would capture the rhythm of speech and a hopeful countenance, which I think this text requires. The way the antiphon reads is a bit clumsy, a bit stilted. Had I been asked, I would have suggested turning it around a bit and starting with “to the upright,” and completing the sentence with “the just man is a light in darkness.”
Now mode VI was tricky for the verses. Some Office tones, like I mentioned last week, lend themselves more easily to English. The good thing about English is that you can argue where the stresses are in a sentence or phrase. If you change the stress, you change the emphasis or meaning ever so slightly. I don’t think this can be overcome, and I choose to look at it as a more positive aspect of English.
If I have done harm to the text and made it read (sing) like one of those lectors….who pauses….after…..EVERY…..word, do let me know. My goal is to keep the English flowing, with nicely positioned vowels and clean consonants. Give it a try.
In most parishes, the Responsorial Psalm ends up being a deeply regretful period of confusion, and it is not helped by all the accompaniment apparatus that creates such a dramatic departure from the spoken word. So this approach is fantastic in every way. It's great that you are now posting these week after week. I can't remember ever singing one that was anything but dignified, solemn, and ritually effective. Also – and this ends up being important – the congregation can immediately picked up the tune without feeling like they have learn a 7 second pop song.
One problem I have is that the lectionary we use in England is different from the US one and although it is due for replacement we don't yet know when. (The US psalm translations are in fact better.) So the Chabanel psalms have to be re-arranged before they can be used. Last Sunday I replaced the RP with the Gradual "Quis sicut Dominus" from the Chants Abreges and it went down well. For the Alleluia I am using the one from the GR for the 2nd Sunday per annum (so that the congregation have time to get used to it) with the proper verse in psalm tone. I am sure this complies with GIRM 62.
A query. GIRM 64 says the Sequence is sung before the Alleluia. The GR places it after, which of course is historically and musically correct. Can one do either?