Introduction

The Responsorial Psalm in the Liturgy of the Word was one of the innovations of the revised Roman Lectionary; a response sung by all and verses sung by cantor. It was intended to fulfil the place of the Gradual and is integral to Lectionary Cycle of readings on Sundays and Weekdays. The psalm is intended to enable the meditation on the word by the congregation. On Sundays, in particular, it forms a bridge between the first reading and the gospel with the response often articulating the link. Many of the psalms found here are lyrical settings, that is the psalm verses are given melodies rather than just a simple tone — though examples of those will also be found. One of the gifts that composition brings to the psalms is interpretation and it is often interesting to see how different composers approach the same text. The responses are intended to be easily picked up by the congregation. Sometimes the text has been repeated so that the congregation has a melody it can ‘get its teeth into’. In the Lectionary the same psalm can be used on many different occasions often with different responses. Those who prepare the music need to be careful that the right psalm has been chosen. I try to be aware of these differences in these settings. Part of music’s role can be to make connections and so not only is it good to repeat settings – so that people become familiar with them – but at some level to make connections to when the psalm has previously been sung. The Lectionary provides the Common Psalms as a way of introducing the Responsorial Psalm offering both common response and psalms which may be repeated over a season. The Common Psalm Project provides a setting of all these psalm and in addition other settings of the same text.

• Common Psalm Project
• More Common Psalms

Psalms…

• Psalm 1
• Psalm 4
• Psalm 8
• Psalm 14 (15)
• Psalm 15 (16)
• Psalm 16 (17)
• Psalm 17 (18)
• Psalm 18 (19)
• Psalm 21 (22)
• Psalm 22 (23)
• Psalm 23 (24)
• Psalm 24 (25)
• Psalm 26 (27)
• Psalm 28 (29)
• Psalm 29 (30)
• Psalm 30 (31)
• Psalm 31 (32)
• Psalm 32 (33)
• Psalm 33 (34)
• Psalm 39 (40)
• Psalm 40 (41)
• Psalm 41 (42)
• Psalm 44 (45)
• Psalm 45 (46)
• Psalm 46 (47)
• Psalm 49 (50)
• Psalm 50 (51)
• Psalm 53 (54)
• Psalm 61 (62)
• Psalm 62 (63)
• Psalm 65 (66)
• Psalm 66 (67)
• Psalm 68 (69)
• Psalm 70 (71)
• Psalm 71 (72)
• Psalm 77 (78)
• Psalm 79 (80)
• Psalm 80 (81)
• Psalm 83 (84)
• Psalm 84 (85)
• Psalm 88 (89)
• Psalm 89 (90)
• Psalm 90 (91)
• Psalm 91 (92)
• Psalm 92 (93)
• Psalm 94 (95)
• Psalm 95 (96)
• Psalm 96 (97)
• Psalm 97 (98)
• Psalm 99 (100)