Tonus Peregrinus

At Sunday Vespers, Psalm 114 is sung using this tone; it's the only time I've ever heard it used in the Divine Office. The name, of course, means "Wandering Tone" (literally, "Pilgrim Tone"), and it's fitting to use it to sing Psalm 114, since it describes Israel's flight from Egypt. (At the Vespers I attend, Psalm 115 - "Non nobis, Domine" - is tacked on to 114.) This is also the only tone in which the intonation is sung at every Psalm verse. The tune is very old, according to this page that seems to have something to do with Boston Camerata:

The synagogue gave to the Early Christian church some of its ancient melodies; the recitation formula of the psalm B'tset Yisrael ("When Israel went forth out of Egypt"), for example, survives in the Gregorian chant repertoire as the tonus peregrinus. It is thanks to a Christian that we have the oldest surviving example of written-down Jewish music, the beautiful Eulogy of Moses.

Here is an mp3 of Psalm 114 sung to the Tonus Peregrinus from the Lutheran Liturgical Prayer Brotherhood Psalmody page. The translation is the King James Version; the mp3 includes an antiphon on either side of the Psalm.

1 When Israel went out of Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of strange language;

2 Judah was his sanctuary,
and Israel his dominion.

3 The sea saw it, and fled:
Jordan was driven back.

4 The mountains skipped like rams,
and the little hills like lambs.

5 What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest?
thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?

6 ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams;
and ye little hills, like lambs?

7 Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob;

8 which turned the rock into a standing water,
the flint into a fountain of waters.

Here's a bit of explication from the blog Dappled Things:

We're used to most of the Psalms expressing praise or repentance or asking for protection -- things like that. A few of the Psalms are historical, though, and recount some event from the life of the Chosen People. Today's Psalm, the 113th (114th), recounts the going-forth of Israel from barbarous Egypt into the Land of Promise, with the Jordan fleeing before them. This Psalm is very special. In the traditional Roman Rite, this Psalm was sung each Sunday night at Vespers, and it has a special tone that is normally reserved for it alone: the tonus peregrinus, or "pilgrim tone," music well suited to this Psalm of the wandering of God's People in their search for the Holy Land.

Tone 8

Here is an mp3 of Psalm 93 sung to Tone 8 by the St. David's Episcopal Church, Austin, Compline Choir. The translation is from the 1979 U.S. Book of Common Prayer; the mp3 includes an antiphon on either side of the Psalm.

1 The LORD is King;
he has put on splendid apparel; *
the LORD has put on his apparel
and girded himself with strength.

2 He has made the whole world so sure *
that it cannot be moved;

3 Ever since the world began, your throne has been established; *
you are from everlasting.

4 The waters have lifted up, O LORD,
the waters have lifted up their voice; *
the waters have lifted up their pounding waves.

5 Mightier than the sound of many waters,
mightier than the breakers of the sea, *
mightier is the LORD who dwells on high.

6 Your testimonies are very sure, *
and holiness adorns your house, O LORD,
for ever and for evermore.

Tone 7

Here is an mp3 of Psalm 8 sung to Tone 7 by the St. David's Episcopal Church, Austin, Compline Choir. The translation is from the 1979 U.S. Book of Common Prayer; the mp3 includes an antiphon on either side of the Psalm.

1 O LORD our Governor, *
how exalted is your Name in all the world!

2 Out of the mouths of infants and children *
your majesty is praised above the heavens.

3 You have set up a stronghold against your adversaries, *
to quell the enemy and the avenger.

4 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, *
the moon and the stars you have set in their courses,

5 What is man that you should be mindful of him? *
the son of man that you should seek him out?

6 You have made him but little lower than the angels; *
you adorn him with glory and honor;

7 You give him mastery over the works of your hands; *
you put all things under his feet:

8 All sheep and oxen, *
even the wild beasts of the field,

9 The birds of the air, the fish of the sea, *
and whatsoever walks in the paths of the sea.

10 O LORD our Governor, *
how exalted is you Name in all the world!

And a couple of links:

• Many topics of interest here, at the Lutheran Liturgical Prayer Brotherhood website: PDFs on "Psalm Tone Distribution Table—Only know one or two Psalm tones? Find the Psalms that use the tones you know by using this index"; "Seasonal Psalm Tones—These tones may be used when the Brotherhood Prayer Book does not specify any tone, such as for responsories and canticles in the Seasonal Propers, Saint’s Day Propers, and Common of Saints."; etc. And there's an interesting page full of "questions and comments" here.



• At Liturgica.com (where on this page you'll hear "The Kontakion of the Annunciation from Cycles of Grace," and of course don't forget to click around to listen to the many chant clips all over the site), a "new content" article titled The Return of Chant: Rediscovering the Church’s Musical Tradition. That one's about the Catholic Church, and the writers have also put up



• Another page titled Sacred Music and Its Time: Articles on Liturgy, Chant, and polyphony. Lots of PDFs and text files there, too, again from the Catholic perspective.