Book 5 - Psalms 107 to 119

One more book to go and the data for analysis will be 'out there' for the wisdom of someone to examine it in more detail and see the clues if there are any to the tone of each psalm as depicted by the music. I hope to ask some more questions of the data in due course. I have divided Book 5 into 3 sections -- 107 to 119, then the psalms of ascents and the response 120-136. Then the remainder.

What sort of music is this? Is it just recitative? It depends. Some psalms are natural hymns. Some are natural arias, sometimes with refrain. One has to look at each in turn. I have generated the music (in XML, PDF and other forms) for the entire Bible, but I certainly have not heard every part of it. In this section of the psalms, I have set in English translation all the series from 110 to 117. I used them or parts of them as conclusions to each part of an oratorio I wrote some time ago. All this was experimental and it certainly taught me about the content of the psalms I set.

It was 12 years ago that I published my first book on the psalms. It is called Seeing the Psalter. At the time, I had only begun to hear the music. In retrospect, I think that writing without the music was a necessary mistake. One has to start somewhere, and the Hebrew Bible is neither a slam dunk nor a speed read. Nor is it a formula for salvation. It is rather a literary record of a people. And every type of genre is available in the library that chronicles this record. The Psalter is a microcosm of the Hebrew Bible. If the whole is meant to teach us how to govern ourselves, the psalms particularly are for the formation of a people of mercy, a task that needs accomplishing in every generation.

If you are setting the music and are fluent in Hebrew, you will know the rhythms intuitively. If you are setting lyrics to music in your own tongue, you will equally know the rhythms of your language and the musical form may suggest itself to you. The shape and tone of the Hebrew melodies will provide an equivalent shape for the new lyrics - and will often surprise you. There is a book to be written perhaps called Hearing the Psalter.

A - I haven't set this one, but I dimly recall in the days of my diagramming that I wrote it out as a hymn with refrain.
PSALM	Syllables	d	e	f#	g	A	B	C
107	721	.00	23.44	12.48	17.34	23.58	23.16	.00	Give thanks to Yahweh for it is good, for his kindness is forever,
tenor is e - this psalm repeats parts of psalms 57 and 60 - both of which have B as the tenor.
108	242	.00	21.49	21.07	14.46	16.53	20.66	5.79	A song. A psalm of David.
e - some of this looks like solo and some like a nasty chorus
109	572	1.22	21.85	19.23	13.46	20.80	17.83	5.59	For the leader, of David a psalm. God of my praise do not be silent.
f# -- It looks as if I set the whole psalm -- some of it lends itself to chorale treatment.
110	145	1.38	20.69	22.07	13.10	16.55	19.31	6.90	Of David a psalm, an oracle of Yahweh to my Lord. Sit at my right hand, till I set your enemies as your footstool.
A - the first acrostic to celebrate psalm 110 - setting in part here
111	183	.00	13.11	14.21	23.50	24.04	17.49	7.65	Hallelu Yah. I will thank Yahweh with a whole heart, Before the council of the upright, and assembly.
B - the second acrostic for psalm 110 - setting in part with 111 above
112	179	.00	12.85	19.55	19.55	16.76	22.35	8.94	Hallelu Yah. A happy person fears Yahweh. By his commandments he has much delight.
e - This psalm lends itself to chorale treatment. I have used the last verse of 110 to tie all these psalms together.
113	136	.00	27.21	23.53	9.56	24.26	14.71	.74	Hallelu Yah. Praise servants of Yahweh. Praise the name of Yahweh.
A - this psalm is still sung to tonus peregrinus in church tradition. The tune of the 'wandering' 'mode' is very close to this deciphering of the accents.
114	128	.00	14.06	10.16	17.19	35.94	22.66	.00	When Israel came out from Egypt, the house of Jacob from an exotic people,
g - 115 is sung attacca from 114 -- so no one gets the wrong idea about who did what
115	313	1.28	15.34	12.14	23.96	22.68	19.81	4.79	Not to us Yahweh not to us, but to your name give glory, over your kindness, over your truth.
A - This is a solo aria with refrain
116	302	.66	20.53	14.24	16.23	22.85	18.21	7.28	I love, for Yahweh heard, the voice of my supplication.
e - the shortest chapter in Tanach
117	34	.00	26.47	17.65	11.76	20.59	5.88	17.65	Praise Yahweh, all nations. Commend him, all the clans.
e - A and B are close. The psalm holds part of the origin of the Sanctus and Benedictus. I have used the Hebrew melodies in the precursors to set a Missa Brevis and several Canticles. The Hosanna is one of my favorites. I think it would be fun to sing.
118	431	.46	22.27	16.71	14.62	21.58	21.58	2.78	Give thanks to Yahweh for it is good, for his kindness is forever.
This psalm is 22 short poems. The tenor of each poem is different from the tenor of the whole. No part of the psalm uses the reciting note d (galgal).
PSALM	Syllables	d	e	f#	g	A	B	C
119	2837	.00	24.53	17.66	15.83	22.88	18.12	.99
1	113	.00	21.24	38.94	12.39	23.01	4.42	.00	All joy for the complete of the way, who walk in the instruction of Yahweh.
2	120	.00	28.33	18.33	13.33	28.33	11.67	.00	But how will a youth clear his path, to keep it according to your word?
3	129	.00	23.26	18.60	17.83	20.93	17.83	1.55	Grow your servant. I will live and keep your word.
4	124	.00	27.42	17.74	14.52	31.45	8.87	.00	Dust-cleaved is my being. give me life according to your word.
5	130	.00	21.54	16.15	30.77	15.38	16.15	.00	Help me learn Yahweh the way of your statutes and I will observe with foot firmly planted.
6	141	.00	38.30	23.40	14.18	3.55	20.57	.00	Well come to me is your mercy, Yahweh, your salvation as your promise.
7	123	.00	26.83	9.76	18.70	16.26	22.76	5.69	You remember a word to your servant, on which you give me hope.
8	128	.00	23.44	22.66	13.28	22.66	17.97	.00	Chosen share, mine you are, Yahweh. I have promised to keep your word.
9	126	.00	26.19	13.49	7.94	27.78	19.84	4.76	Too well you have dealt with your servant, Yahweh, through your word.
10	149	.00	20.81	7.38	12.75	28.86	30.20	.00	Your hands have made me and established me. Give me understanding and I will teach your commandments.
11	131	.00	24.43	12.21	14.50	27.48	21.37	.00	Faints my being for your salvation. Of your word I have hoped.
12	129	.00	19.38	13.18	27.13	20.93	17.83	1.55	LORD (Yahweh) forever your word, stands firm in heaven.
13	129	.00	27.91	20.16	13.18	16.28	18.60	3.88	My - how I love your instruction. All the day long it is my pondering.
14	127	.00	29.13	22.05	7.09	22.05	19.69	.00	Nigh a lamp to my feet is your word, and light to my pathway.
15	133	.00	22.56	22.56	6.02	30.08	18.80	.00	Schismatics I hate, and your instruction I have loved.
16	125	.00	21.60	17.60	14.40	26.40	17.60	2.40	Insure your servant for good. Do not let the presumptuous oppress me.
17	130	.00	20.00	18.46	21.54	28.46	11.54	.00	Plentiful of wonders are your testimonies, therefore my being will observe them.
18	120	.00	20.83	25.83	10.83	22.50	20.00	.00	So righteous you are, Yahweh, and upright are your judgments.
19	127	.00	18.90	17.32	21.26	25.98	16.54	.00	Queried I with a whole heart, answer me Yahweh. Your statutes I will observe.
20	132	.00	25.76	15.15	15.15	26.52	17.42	.00	Regard my poverty and rescue me, for your instruction I do not forget.
21	130	.00	20.77	11.54	26.92	24.62	16.15	.00	Sultans persecute me for nothing, but from your word my heart stands in dread.
22	141	.00	29.79	10.64	14.18	15.60	27.66	2.13	To your presence let my shout of joy come near, Yahweh. According to your word, give me understanding.