On Simplified Anglican

INTRODUCTION: PRACTICE & BACKGROUND  Although psalm chant is a bit of an acquired taste today, it has sustained the Church’s worship longer than any other form of music. , meaning songs, are meant to be sung. We should also remember that the Psalms were meant to be sung corporately. Additionally, the forms of chant that arose in the ancient and medieval period were probably closer to how they would have originally been sung, perhaps connected to the practice of the synagogue.

The singing of the Psalms in enjoys a particularly rich heritage within our Anglican tradition. , Full Anglican Chant, and here, Simplified Anglican Chant, are all beautiful, effective, and tried and true ways of worshipping through the Psalms of David.

Created by Robert Knox Kennedy in the 20th century, Simplified Anglican Chant (consisting of 8 notes and 4 bars of music) maintains the characteristics of Full Anglican Chant in a form more easily conducive to congregational participation. SAC is meant to be sung in unison by the congregation with a and/or keyboard participating in the harmonies.

Practically speaking, the power and genius of SAC is its ability to allow Christians to simply and beautifully sing the actual words of the Psalms, without alteration necessary. SAC is highly adaptable and it’s easier than you think.

MECHANICS: ON READING & PRESENTING SIMPLIFIED ANGLICAN CHANT

 1. The music printed above each chant is printed there for initial learning of the memorable and relatively simple four-measure chant, and afterward only for reference. Once the melody (or for the choir and keyboardist, the basic harmonies as well) has been learned, there is less need to focus on the printed music. With the melody in hand, the congregation can now move their focus on singing and worshipping with the given Psalm text.

2. The text of each Psalm is pointed to reflect the layout of the printed music above. Therefore, there are single ( | ) and bolded double bar lines ( ║ ) indicating when the chant music comes to an end and the worshippers are to start again at the beginning of the chant. The psalms are intoned on a single note which changes at the last accented syllable or word before the asterisk. The reciting note changes after the asterisk and the remainder of the verse is intoned until the last accented syllable.

3. Good chanting, at its foundation, is the of speech (as one would recite a poem out loud) sung on a given pitch. Think of it as somewhere between speaking and singing.

4. Sing through commas, so as to maintain the musical line. Breathe at periods, exclamation marks, as well as semi-colons in order to successfully navigate or properly express long lines of text. And finally, a rehearsed choir or /song leader will go a long way toward effectively modeling and leading this long-tried and beautiful way of singing the Psalms within our rich Anglican heritage.

5. If there are an odd number of verses in the Psalm, singers are to begin at the half-way part of the chant upon arriving at the final odd-numbered verse.

Adapted from Mark K. Williams, Minister of Music, Christ Church Anglican, Savannah, GA. “Psalms in Worship.” See Simplified Anglican Chant attachment.

Also adapted from Virginia Theological Seminary, “Simplified Anglican Chant.”

EXAMPLE: PSALM 98

PSALM 98 – Cantate Domino – From the New Coverdale – (2019)

© 2000 by James R. Hart. Used with permission.

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