THE CATHEDRAL PSALTER: CONTAINING THE PSALMS OF DAVID. TOGETHER WITH THE CANTICLES AND HYMNS OF THE CHURCH, I. THE words, from the commencement of each verse and half-verse up to the accented syllable, are called the Recitation. 2. On reaching the accented syllable, and beginning with it, the music of the chant commences, in strict time (a tempo), the upright strokes corresponding to the bars. The Recitation must therefore be considered as outside the chant, and may be of any length. The note on which the Recitation is made is called the Reciting-note. 3. If there is no syllable after that which is accented, the accented syllable must be held for one whole bar or measure,† e.g.— O come let us síng | un- to the Lord: If other syllables follow the one accented, the first measure or initial bar of the chant will have to be divided into parts of a semibreve. 4. The following general rules will help to explain this, the accented syllable being called the †The melody of the following chant has been used throughout in the examples: Sir JOHN Goss. |