2 Higgins ⦁ Anglo-American Psalmody between 1560–1800. Psalmody impacted the relationship between the working and the middle class, the way we view congregational singing even now, and contributed to the ongoing wars due to its impact on shifting musical styles and perspectives. Psalmody played an important role in English Protestant circles even before the 1560s. Miles Coverdale first published his Goostly Psalmes in 1535. Coverdale stated his reasoning in his preface, reacting against the prevalence of the “fantasies” of the madrigal and urging his audience to sing songs of a higher, spiritual pedigree.5 Lutheran chorales heavily inspired the creation of this psalter.6 Another psalter was Robert Crowley’s The Psalter of David, published in 1549. Crowley was himself inspired by the psalm versification of Thomas Sternhold and John Hopkins, which would be compiled together as Al such Psalmes of Dauid that same year.7 This collection of psalms used the English ballad meter or common meter, where a four-lined stanza was made up of alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter (8.6.8.6). The Sternhold and Hopkins psalter would become known as the most influential of the pre-Genevan psalters and formed the foundation of what became known as the “Old Version,” a canon of accepted metrical paraphrases of the psalms.8 Based on that work, a definite direction in style grew from English Protestants exiled in Geneva, Switzerland. According to Timothy Duguid, the formation of the “Old Version” truly began here, with the work of reformers and poets such as William Whittingham, William Kethe, and John Pulleyne.9 Two editions of Forme of prayers, a revised version of the Sternhold and Hopkins psalter, were published in 1556 and then in 1558. This work aimed to create a unified and complete edition of the Psalter, as that had yet to have been done. Additions included revisions of the older paraphrases, new texts of previously unversified psalms, and new monophonic tunes10 to accompany them. All in all, sixty-two psalm texts were presented in Forme of prayers, as well as other biblical songs.11 5 Duguid, 1. 6 Macdougall, 3. 7 Duguid, 2–5. 8 Macdougall, 8–9. 9 Duguid, 19. 10 Duguid, 42. 11 Duguid, 34.
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