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In this interview, we discuss the Genevan Psalter.
Dr. Koyzis notes that, “The Genevan Psalter was a project that began in the late 1530s as part of an effort to make available to the newly reformed congregations a way to sing the biblical Psalms, initially in Strasbourg and later in Geneva. How were they to be sung? Up to that point the western church had chanted the psalms in Latin according to the method ascribed to Pope Gregory I the Great (c. 540-604). The chanting of Psalms in course over a specified period of time had developed in the monasteries under the influence of the Rule of St. Benedict, shaping into what is known as the Daily Office or Liturgy of the Hours. Rooted in ancient Jewish usage (see, for example, Psalm 119:164 and Daniel 6:10), the Liturgy of the Hours consists of regular prayer offices said or sung throughout the day at approximately three-hour intervals (cf. Acts 10:9). In the Orthodox Church the Psalter is divided into twenty kathismata, or sittings, during which the entire Psalter is sung in course.”SHOW LESS
