Singing Psalms to be launched in Belfast

Friday November 21st 2008

Peter Thompson and Alison Cadden with Singing Psalms. The Church of Ireland Liturgical Advisory Committee invites clergy, choir members, organists, musicians and anyone else interested to the launch of Singing Psalms.

The book features Responsorial Psalms set to Simple Chant for Year B with music by Alison Cadden and Peter Thompson.

The Belfast event takes place on Saturday November 29 at 11am in St Nicholas’s Parish Church, Lisburn Road, when Singing Psalms will be launched by the Most Revd Alan Harper, OBE, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland.

The new publication has come about as a result of the feeling that the practice of singing psalms has been somewhat lost in parishes where, for whatever reason, Anglican chant was considered too difficult to master, resulting in psalms being said or dropped altogether.

In an attempt to recapture the richness and variety of emotion expressed within the psalms, the Liturgical Advisory Committee of the Church of Ireland asked musicians Alison Cadden and Peter Thompson to devise a way of setting the psalms to music that can be sung by anyone.

The authors feel passionate about ensuring the beauty and richness of the psalms is available to all in church services and so collaborated to produce an easy way for all to sing the psalms. They stated: ‘Whether there is a congregation of ten or a hundred, no choir or a large chorus, “Singing Psalms” will work effectively – all that is needed is the prayer book and a copy of this new publication.’

‘Singing Psalms – Responsorial Psalms set to Simple Chant – Year B’ contains all the psalms needed for the liturgical year beginning on Advent Sunday 2008 set out in a clear and easy to use manner. It is published by The Columba Press, price £9.99 or €12.99, and will be available from the Good Bookshop, Belfast and the Resource Centre, Rathmines, Dublin.