By Fr. Sean McDermott
If you have ever mastered an art or craft before, you know very well that making something appear simple or sound simple is usually quite difficult. In fact, simplicity is often a sign of mastery rather than the first steps toward mastery. The same holds true for plainchant. As simple as it might sound, it still takes quite a bit of learning to make it sound 'simple.' We have been teaching parishioners at All Saints for the last two weeks about all the little intricacies of plainchant that give it such beauty and power. We has also recorded a Psalm for Morning and Evening Prayer according to the lectionary this week so that you can learn the chants.
Listen to the talk below and slides for the talk can be seen over at Cantica Sacra:
Find the chanted Psalms here. You can listen to Monday's Psalm below as an example.
Fr. Sean McDermott is Curate at All Saints Anglican in Charlottesville, VA and Editor in Chief at Earth & Altar.