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Views from the Choir Loft

Responsorial Psalm: The “Gelineau Disease” ?

Aurelio Porfiri · June 18, 2014

355 Responsorial Psalm AN SOMEONE EXPLAIN to me the destiny of the responsorial psalm? Please let me know, because I’m starting to get confused. Now, let us explore together some background.

In the Mass before the liturgical reform — currently called the “EF” (Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite) — we had the Gradual, a very complex composition for very skilled singers. Some masterworks of Gregorian chant are indeed in this musical genre. The Gradual was a lyrical meditation on the psalmodic text and (on a deeper level) the topic of the entire liturgy of the day. So we had there the exaltation of the text, the flourishing of the words.

Now, after the liturgical reform, we have the responsorial psalm, whose rationale was to assure that the people could participate by joining in the refrain. No problem about that. But still we need to remember that this moment is a lyrical, poetical, musical meditation of the psalm.

THESE DAYS, IN THE BEST OF CIRCUMSTANCES, we focus on the refrain only, giving to the psalmodic text some recitative tones, referred by someone as the “Gelineau disease.” I’m sure someone will say: “You, too, are doing this. We’ve seen your settings of the responsorial psalm!”

It is partially true. When I compose responsorial psalms, sometimes I also find refuge in this easy escape (mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!). So I want to say to myself first, and to others as well: let us rethink the role and importance of this liturgical moment in the shining light of a wonderful musical tradition.

If ever there will be a hospital for liturgical musicians, those with the disease mentioned above (the Responsorial Psalm moment) will surely be one of the most crowded…


BOTTEGA • Aurelio Porfiri is where you can discover
many of Mæstro Porfiri’s compositions in PDF format.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Responsorial Psalm Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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Aurelio Porfiri

About Aurelio Porfiri

Renowned as composer, conductor, theorist, author, pedagogue, and organist, Aurelio Porfiri has served the Church on multiple continents at the highest levels. Born and raised in Italy, he currently serves as Director of Choral Activities and Composer in Residence for Santa Rosa de Lima School (Macao, China).

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Here’s an audio excerpt (33 seconds) of a setting for Kyrie VIII which was recorded live last Sunday at our parish in Los Angeles. The setting (“Missa de Angelis”) is by composer Richard Rice, and you can download the free PDF if you click here and scroll to the bottom. I think Richard’s composition is marvelous. I missed a few notes on the organ, but I’ll get them right next time.

—Jeff Ostrowski
5 April 2021 • When Girls Sing

Covid restrictions here in California are still extremely severe—switching “two weeks to flatten the curve” into “two years to flatten the curve.” Since 2020, we’ve had police breaking into our church to check if everyone is wearing a mask…even when only 5-6 people are present! But we were allowed to have a small percentage of our singers back on Easter Sunday, and here is their live recording of the ancient Catholic hymn for Eastertide: Ad Cenam Agni Providi. The girls were so very excited to sing again—you can hear it in their voices!

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