Psalm 90

General Information:

Liturgical Uses:  Responsorial psalm, offertory or communion song, All Souls, end of liturgical year

Refrain:
"In every age, you have been our refuge. You have been our God."          

                             

Verses:                         
1) Your word can turn us to dust, saying: "Return, O children, to earth."
You take them as they sleep,
Then by morning they rise like the grass,
But by evening they wither and fade.

2) Teach us to number Your days, that we may learn Your wisdom.
For a thousand years to You, O Lord, are like the passing of a single day,
Or the passing of one night.

3) Fill us with Your kindness at daybreak,
And we will rejoice all our days.
May your gracious care be ours.

Arrangement:

Vocal:                           
Refrain:  SAT choir
Verses:   Cantor    

Instruments:             
Acoustic guitar, piano, bass with synth      

Availability:

Sheet Music:             
Lead sheets for each of the 3 refrains.
Order from Wood Harbor Music

Recorded Versions:

Video:       New Dawn Concert, May 20, 2011     [link to be added]

CD:            Praise for the New Dawn, Vol. 1   
Order from Wood Harbor Music.
Digital download available at CD Baby.
Listen on YouTube at Spotify!

Composer's Notes:

Psalm 90 is a personal favorite, particularly in the fall, around All Saints/All Souls days.  In the fall, the changing foliage is a brilliant reminder of dying, while in the Liturgy, the readings start to speak of the end times.  I often take a walk through nearby Mt. Auburn Cemetery to spend time with the beauty of the season and remembering the transitory existence that is our life here on earth.

All Souls Day at Mt. Auburn Cemetery,
Cambridge, MA

The psalm speaks to our transience: “teach us to number our days that we may learn your wisdom.”  Yes, our days are numbered but we must embrace this transitory existence and not be afraid of or obsessed with our eventual death.

The Psalm continues “for a thousand years to you……is like the passing of a single day,” contrasting the eternal nature of God to our brief existence, with an understanding that time can be experienced differently, something that would be embraced in Einstein’s special relativity centauries later. Our lives pass in snippets of time, maybe a century at most, yet God spans the centuries (“por los siglos de los siglos,” como se dice in Español).

The intentionally spacey arrangement, begins with a piano improvisation, and employs some odd meters in the verses, particularly a stretch of 5/4 measures in the second verse.  The stretch of time is like our attempts to make the most of the time we have, trying to stretch things out just a bit.
  

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Psalm 137

General Information:

Liturgical Uses:  Responsorial psalm

Refrain:      
“Let my tongue be silenced, if ever I forget you.”  

Verses:                            
1) By the streams of Babylon
We set down and wept,
as we remembered Zion.
By the aspens of that land, we hung up our harps.

2) There our captors asked us the lyrics of our songs,
And they urged us to be joyous!
Sing for us the songs of Zion.

3) How could we sing to the Lord in a foreign land?
If ever I forget you, Jerusalem,
Let my right hand be forgotten.

4) Let my tongue be silenced if ever I forget you,
If ever I remember not Jerusalem is my greatest joy!

Arrangement:

Vocal:                             
Refrain:  SATB
Verses:   One or two cantors    

Instrumental Options:                
1)  "Unplugged":  Acoustic guitar and bass
2)  Keyboard:      Piano with guitar and bass (also adaptable to organ)
3)  Layered synthesizers
4)  Chamber orchestra

Availability:

Sheet Music:                
Lead sheets.
Order from Wood Harbor Music

Recorded Versions:
CD:           Praise for the New Dawn, Vol. 1
Order from Wood Harbor Music
Digital download at CD Baby.
Listen on Spotify!

Unplugged version:

Synth version:

Composer's Notes:

Psalm 137 recalls the Babylonian captivity.  The mood is somber: “How could we sing to the Lord in a foreign land?”  This is a tale best uninterrupted, and so, my arrangement bookends the refrain, leaving the cantor to present a continuous story.  

This recording presents two distinct arrangements of Psalm 137.  First is is this “unplugged version,” where the cantor sings in contemplative tone, accompanied by simple acoustic guitar supported by bass. 

The second version on the CD is is my original arrangement, inspired by Philip Glass’ use of layered arpeggios to create a dream-like texture.  Lacking my own chamber orchestra, I used 13 synth tracks blended with background vocals.  The verse melody in C Dorian mode is set against chord substitutions, such as Ab maj7 substituting for the Cm, resulting in a wonderful  Lydian tonal stretch where the A natural of the C Dorian melody sits perfectly against Ab in the bass.  I love it!

Credit must be given to Jaclyn Snell for suggesting a judicious movement of one note in Verse 4:  a small change that made a big improvement!   

Contrast the two settings:  simple acoustic vs. layered.  I think both work.

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Psalm 131

General Information:

Liturgical Uses:  Responsorial psalm

Refrain:      
"In you, O Lord, I have found my peace." 
               

©2011 R. J. F. Burckardt.  All Rights Reserved.

Verses:     
1) O Lord, my heart is not proud,
Nor my eyes haughty in your sight;
I busy not myself with great things,
Nor with things too sublime for me.

2) Nay rather I have stilled and quieted my soul
Like a weaned child, like a weaned child on its mother's lap.

3) Benediction:
O Israel, hope in the Lord, both now and forever.

Arrangement:

Vocal:                             
Refrain:  SAT Choir
Verses:   Cantor    

Instruments:                
Piano with guitar and bass

Availability:

Sheet Music:                
Lead sheet.
Order from Wood Harbor Music

Recorded Versions:
In the works, but not yet available


Composer's Notes:

My inspiration for the verses is Ralph McTell's poignant yet  melancholy composition From Claire to Here.   Here the verses are a simplification of his descending melody, but reach a different destination.  The refrain remains relatively simple, yet the repeated text is first proclaimed more boldly with the rising melody, and more simply in the second phrase.

In a complicated, over-stimulated world we live in, this psalm keeps it simple and peaceful.  I love the imagery of the second verse, particularly that of the satisfied and quiet child on a mother's lap.   Most recently, I've had the pleasure of babysitting the one-year old daughter of my friend Mary (who is a featured singer on Praise for the New Dawn).  The first few times, she would fall asleep in my lap.  At those times, I completely understood the second verse!

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Psalm 32

General Information:

Liturgical Uses:  Responsorial psalm; themes of forgiveness; Lent

Refrain:      
“Lord, forgive me the wrong I have done.  O Lord, forgive me.”

©2013 Rachel J. Burckardt.  All Rights Reserved.

Verses:                            
1) Blessed is the one whose fault is taken away, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the one to whom the Lord holds not guilty,
In whose spirit there is no deceit.

2) I acknowledge my sin to you; my guilt I have not covered.
I said:  "I confess my faults to the Lord,"
And you take away the guilt of my sin.

3) You are my shelter from distress you preserve me;
With glad cries of deliverance you will surround me.

4)  Be glad in the Lord and rejoice you just;
Exult, all you upright of heart.

Arrangement:

Vocal:                             
Refrain:  Unison
Verses:   Cantor    

Instruments:                
Piano with guitar and bass; optional synth, clarinet, bassoon

Availability:

Sheet Music:                
Lead sheets with piano part, through-composed.   Clarient and bassoon parts separately available.
Order from Wood Harbor Music

Recorded Versions:
CD:  You Are My Inheritance
Video on YouTube


Composer's Notes:
The setting of the psalm is simple and plaintive, with the refrains in a penitent e minor key, while the verses are set a bit more hopeful in the relative major. Having an excellent bassoonist married to the recording engineer, gave me a chance to bring the instruments somber texture into the recorded arrangement. 

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Psalm 31

General Information:

Liturgical Uses:  Responsorial psalm for Good Friday

Refrain:      
“Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit.”

©2012  R. J. F. Burckardt & J. V. Frias.  All rights reserved.

Verses:                            
1) In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
Let me never be put to shame.
Into your hand I commend my spirit;
You will redeem me, O Lord, O faithful God.

2) For all my foes I am an object of reproach,
A laughing stock to my neighbors, and a dread to my friends.
They who see me a broad flee from me.
I am forgotten like the unremembered dead.
I am like a dish, which is broken.

3) But my trust is in you, O Lord;
I say, "You are my God.
into your hands is my destiny;
Rescue me from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors."

4) Let your face shine upon your servant;
Save me in your kindness.
Take courage and be stouthearted,
All you who trust in the Lord.

Arrangement:
Composers:  Rachel J. Burckardt  & Jason Villarreal Frias

Vocal:                             
Refrain:  SATB choir, a capella
Verses:   Bass cantor, a capella or with cello

Instruments:                
A capella or with solo cello

Availability:

Sheet Music:                
Download:  A-capella setting for bass cantor and SATB choir on refrain
Order from Wood Harbor Music

Recorded Versions:
CD:  You Are My Inheritance

Video:


Featuring:
Cello:  Petr Spacek
Cantor:  Jason Villarreal
Schola:  Mary Casiello, Megan Lewis, Rosie Delacruz, Sean Trainer, Josh Daniels, John Paul Casiello, Peter Rozman
Composed by:  Rachel J. Burckardt & Jason Villarreal
Arranged by:  Rachel J. Burckardt
Recorded by:  Evan Landry
Produced by:  Rachel J. Burckardt
©2013 Rachel J. Burckardt & Jason Villarreal.    All Rights Reserved.

Composer's Notes:
My friend, Jason Villarreal Frias, a bass in the choir at St. Cecilia Parish, Boston, MA, approached me about writing a pieces specifically for the lower voices, and Psalm 31 was one suggestion.  I originally wrote this as a pure a capella piece.  On Good Friday, the church is bare and this is the first sung piece, after the suffering servant reading from Isaiah.  The starkness of the piece fits the mood of the service.

When I had the opportunity to record with and incredibly talented cellist, Petr Spacek, who played with us for the last 4 years while attending New England Conservatory, I injected a cello line.  Initially, the cello states the melody before the cantor sings it, followed by the congregation and choir.  Each verse is set up by a short cello introduction.  The cello then enters and leaves, accompanying the bass cantor.

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Psalm 30

General Information:

Liturgical Uses:  Responsorial psalm

Refrain:      
“I will praise you, Lord, for you have rescued me.”    

Verses:                            
1) I will extol you, O Lord, for you drew me clear
And did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O Lord, .you brought me up from below;
You preserved me from those going down.

2) Sing praise to the Lord, you his faithful ones,
And give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger lasts but a moment; a lifetime his good will.
At nightfall weeping enters, but with the dawn, rejoicing.

3) Here, O Lord, and have pity on me;
O Lord, be my helper.
You changed my mourning into dancing;
O Lord, my God, forever will I give you thanks.

Arrangement:

Vocal:                             
Refrain:  Unison
Verses:   Cantor    

Instruments:                
Piano with guitar and bass; optional synth and/or flute, clarinet, oboe, basson

Availability:

Sheet Music:                
Lead sheets.
Order from Wood Harbor Music

Recorded Versions:
Not yet available


Composer's Notes:
To be added.

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Psalm 29

General Information:

Liturgical Uses:  Reflection on God's might
This psalm was not written as a responsorial psalm within the liturgical cycle.  Rather the inspiration of the musical setting came from the source as the psalmist's inspiration.  Watching the approaching storm across the desert, he saw the winds, the lighting and fires, and in the torrents of rain the awe-inspiring mighty power of God.

Refrain:      
"Give glory, give glory and praises to the Lord."                  

Verses:     
1) The voice of the Lord is over the waters.
The glory of God thunders.
A voice of might and majesty,
A voice which shakes the cedars of Lebanon,
And all in God's temple sing:  Glory, glory to the Lord!"

2)  The voice of the Lord is over the waters.
The glory of God thunders.
A voice which strikes the fiery flow,
A voice which shakes the land under the desert,
A voice which twists the mighty oaks,
A voice which shakes the land under the wilderness,
And all in God's temple sing:  Glory, glory to the Lord!"

Synopsis
Praise God, the Creator,
Whose majesty's revealed in torrent and storm.

Benediction
God bless your people with peace.
Mighty ruler grant your people peace.
May the torrent turn tranquil:  peace.
Mighty God, grant your people peace.                    

Arrangement:

Vocal:                             
Refrain:  Unison
Verses:   Cantor   
Snyopis:  2nd Cantor
Benediction:  SSA schola 

Instruments:                
Piano with guitar and bass; optional synth, wood flutes/recorders, rainstick

Availability:

Sheet Music:                
Lead sheet with piano part.
Order from Wood Harbor Music

Recorded Versions:
In progress.  Personnel:

Composer's Notes:
The recording starts with an instrumental depiction of the desert wilderness before the storm.  I included some "not-well-tempered" instruments (e.g., wood flutes) to give the sense of the wildness of nature.  The verses require a near-operatic performance by a strong mezzo to provide the strength and intensity that the pieces requires.

All in all, this is not a setting for a typical responsorial psalm, but rather better suited for a concert or time of reflection where it can be well-rehearsed.

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