man Switzerland, and Holland. Not I' the strictly
Calvinistic communities have a hymn-hook dating back to the Reformation. David's Psalter was the tir>t hymn- book of the Reformed or Genevan Church. The I k
of Psalms became the only hymn-book of the Reformed churches in France. Switzerland. Holland. Italy. Cor- many, and Scotland, "adapted to grave ami solemn music, in metrical translations, whose one aim and -lory were to render into measure which could be sung the very words of the old Hebrew psalms."
England, in some measure a place of refuge, where both forms of the Reformation lived tranquilly side by side, but also a border land where both met and con- tended, was given the treasures of psalmody at the mo- ment of her embracing the new doctrines. Probably in 15:1s;, ami certainly before 15:'.:'. the venerable confessor M\ li a < loverdale, bishop of Exeter, during the reign of king Edward VI, published a metrical version of thir- teen Goostly Psalmes and Spirituall Songes drawn out ,>f th,- Holy Scripture. The first verse of each psalm is accompanied by musical note-, which evidently show- that they were designed to be Bung (Coverdale's Re- mains, p. 583). 'lie- next attempt to versify the Psalms in English was made b] Thomas Sternhold, a native of Hampshire, groom of the robes to king Henry VIII and to king Edward VI, \\h<> published nineteen psalms, most probably in 1549. This translation was at first
discountenanced by many of the dercv, who looked
PSALMODY
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PSALMODY
upon it as done in opposition to the practice of chanting the psalms in the cathedrals. It was increased to thirty- seven in 1551, with seven additional psalms translated by John Hopkins; to eighty-seven, most probably in 1561, by Sternhold and others; and in 1503 was pub- lished the entire book of Psalms, translated by Stern- hold, Hopkins, and others. This version seems to have been authoritatively introduced into the service of the Reformed Church of England, being sanctioned both by the crown and convocation; and it soon became ex- ceedingly popular.
Vocal psalmody was soon after introduced into the church service, the choral mode of singing being still retained in cathedrals and collegiate churches, and the liturgic hymns being retained in the Prayer-book. Public singing of psalms by the whole congregation was begun in the month of September, 1559, at the par- ish church of St. Antholin, in the city of London, whence it spread first into the neighboring churches, and from them into distant towns. Bishop Jewel, in a letter to Peter Martyr, dated March 5, 1560, says: "You may sometimes see at Paul's Cross, after the service, six thousand persons, old and young, of both sexes, all sing- ing together and praising God" (Zurich Letters, p. 71). Although several metrical versions of the Psalms were published with the royal license, by archbishop Parker (1560), Henry Dod (1603), George Wither (1623), King James I (1631), and George Sandys (1631), the "old version" of Sternhold and Hopkins continued to be used in the churches until after the Restoration, not- withstanding the efforts made, during the rebellion, to recommend the introduction and adoption of the metri- cal versions of Barton and Rous. The version of Stern- hold and Hopkins fell into disuse after the publication of A New Version of the Psalms of David, Jilted to th< Tunes in Churches, by Nahum Tate (poet-laureate un- der William III and Anne) and Dr. Nicholas Brady (Lond. 1696 [2d ed. 1698], 8vo). This version, less lit- eral in its renderings than its predecessor, and some- what commonplace as regards poetical character, was introduced to ths public under the sanction of an order in council issued by king William III, of no legal force or authority whatever since his decease, and permitting it to be used "in all such churches and chapels and congregations as think fit to receive the same." In 1703, it being found necessary to have a supplement containing " the usual hymns, Creed, Lord's Prayer, etc., with the Church tunes, Messrs. Tate and Brady obtained a similar order in council for its adoption in such churches, etc., as should think fit to receive the same." Although the "new version," as it is now commonly termed, encountered much animadversion and opposition at its first publication, it is at present used in most churches and chapels in England and Ireland, as well as in the chapels of the Episcopal com- munion in Scotland and in the British colonies. This extensive use of the new version may be ascribed to its intelligibility as a whole, tame as the largest portion of it confessedly is, and to the fact that, almost ever since its first publication, the copyright property has been vested in the Stationers' Company, by whom, until of late years, it has almost exclusively been published. Modern hymns, selected according to the taste and at the will of the incumbent, have to a large extent tak- en in recent times the place of metrical psalms in the Church of England.
Of the psalm tunes which came into use, some have been attributed to Claude Goudimel, Claude Le Jeune, and Guillaume Franc, and a few owe their origin to Lu- ther. The well-known 100th Psalm is an adaptation of Gregorian phrases by Guillaume Franc. The first important collection of psalm tunes for four voices puh lished in England was made by Thomas Ravenscroft, Mus. Bac, and appeared in 1621; it was entitled " The whole Booke of Psalms, etc., composed into four parts by sundry authors, to such several tunes as have been and are usually sung in England, Scotland, Wales, Ger