Advent Sunday sees the introduction of the new lectionary for Mass, including the introduction of the Abbey Psalter in place of the Grail psalter which we have used for many years, now. In fact, the Abbey Psalter is based upon the Grail psalter, but with the benefit of newer biblical scholarship.
Much of the new psalter is very familiar, but there have been some significant changes. There are changes to some of the responses in responsorial settings of the psalm, and to verses, including to the length of some of the verses. Existing musical settings can be tweaked, subject to copyright permissions, for many of the Abbey Psalter texts, but not for all.
Our Diocesan Director of Music, Steven Maxson, is to hold a series of short sessions around the Diocese during October, to introduce the new psalter to parish musicians, and anyone else who might find this to be of interest. As well as outlining some of the changes and the reasons behind some of these changes, there will also be an opportunity to try out some of the new settings available from a number of different sources, including our own Diocesan settings.
As is the case at the moment, there will be a complete set of Responsorial Psalms for Sundays and Solemnities produced and made freely available online for any parishes in the Diocese who wish to use them. The first tranche of these psalms is currently going through the process of gaining permission for these to be shared, once checks to ensure the integrity of the text have been completed.
Sessions have been arranged in various locations around the Diocese, each venue designed to be Sessions will take place on:
Tuesday, 15 October, 7.00pm, St Anthony’s Church, 667 Beverley Rd, Hull HU6 7JL
Sunday, 20 October, 4.30pm, St Margaret Clitherow Church, Holly Tree Lane, Haxby, York, YO32 3YJ
Tuesday, 22 October, 6.00pm, St Clare’s Church, Low Lane, Middlesbrough, TS5 8EB
Sessions are open to anyone, and there is no charge, although donations to support the work of each host church and to defray their costs will be warmly received on the day.
Information is also available on the Music Ministry page on the Diocesan Website, and this will be regularly updated over time. On the Diocesan Music YouTube channel (youtube.com/@MusicDiocese), there is a short video (below) introducing the changes to the psalter, and other videos will be added over time.
Please book your session by following this link, or via the QR code on the image, above.