Hyperion

The Psalms of David – The Complete St Paul’s Cathedral Psalter

The Psalms of David – The Complete St Paul’s Cathedral Psalter

St Paul's Cathedral Choir, John Scott (conductor)

CDS44101/12

The Psalms have been sung to the glory of the all holy, transcendent God in temple, synagogue and Christian church for century upon century. Though piously described as The Psalms of David in The Book of Common Prayer, we can doubt personal Davidic authorship without questioning that many Psalms date back to the early years of the Israelite monarchy and in their original form were used in the worship of the First Temple at Jerusalem built by King Solomon just over nine hundred years before the birth of Jesus Christ. From the beginning, most of the Psalms were probably composed for choral use with instrumental accompaniment. The Greek psalmoi means ‘songs accompanied by string instruments’. Vestigial choral and orchestral directions are still to be found in the Psalter as printed in the Bible. The ‘rubrics’ preceding Psalms 75 and 76, for example, are addressed to the choirmaster and tell him which tune to use or that the psalm should be accompanied by strings!

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