Lining Out the Psalms
My Viking-Scottish heart beats faster when I listen to the music linked to below. I'd never heard it before, until a recent e-mail on the student group e-mail list for seminary. There is a stirring, hauntingly beautiful quality to the singing that resembles, but is at the same time very different from - rougher, more earthy, more visceral - Gregorian chant. Gregorian chant is for proper Latin-schooled Europeans. This singing fits very well with the rough, common folk, the Viking descended settlers and their Gaelic neighbors who lived on the outer edges of Scotland.
Apparently this practice of "lining out" the Psalms started in the 17th century and slowly died out everywhere but in some Gaelic speaking churches in the Hebrides, and oddly enough, some white and black churches in the Carolinas. The links below give more of the history.
Thanks to Professor Clark, who finds and sends out some of the most interesting links to the student list.
Look here, here (see link at left on line singing) and here for some history and background.
This link has CD's for sale and a few audio samples.
One participant on the list says the CD's are available for download from iTunes for a whole lot less than it would cost to buy them from Scotland.
NOTE: the links above to gaelicpsalmsinging.com are down as I post this. But keep trying; it's worth it!
Apparently this practice of "lining out" the Psalms started in the 17th century and slowly died out everywhere but in some Gaelic speaking churches in the Hebrides, and oddly enough, some white and black churches in the Carolinas. The links below give more of the history.
Thanks to Professor Clark, who finds and sends out some of the most interesting links to the student list.
Look here, here (see link at left on line singing) and here for some history and background.
This link has CD's for sale and a few audio samples.
One participant on the list says the CD's are available for download from iTunes for a whole lot less than it would cost to buy them from Scotland.
NOTE: the links above to gaelicpsalmsinging.com are down as I post this. But keep trying; it's worth it!
Labels: Music
According to a friend of mine they do, but I haven't gone looking for it myself.
I'll have to check that out and report back...
Posted by
Martin |
11/3/06, 1:06 PM
Followup:
Go to iTunes and search on "Salm" - the three albums should come up in the first 4-5 items in the search results.
Posted by
Martin |
11/4/06, 9:48 PM