Genevan Psalter - Worldwide Use

Worldwide Use

The Genevan melodies are still widely in use today in churches all over the world. In particular, the melody written by Bourgeois, known as The Old 100th or "Doxology" is found in numerous hymnals everywhere. Most of the other melodies from the Genevan Psalter are still used in Reformed churches in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Scotland, Canada, The United States, South Africa and Australia.

In the Netherlands, Jan Utenhove and Lukas d'Heere had translated psalms using the Genevan melodies. In 1565 Petrus Dathenus published a complete Dutch psalter using the melodies of the Genevan Psalter. Eventually this Psalter became the official hymnbook in all the Reformed churches there. Without the support of a choir or organ (both forbidden) the precentor had to teach and intonate the songs. Soon the quality of the community hymn singing began to deteriorate. The Renaissance melodies were sung with 'whole notes' only, removing the original rhythm from the music. This practice disappeared gradually with exception of some very conservative churches who still sing them this way today. In 1773 a new text version was introduced, and again in 1967. Many of the Reformed churches in North America were founded by the Dutch, who took these Genevan melodies with them. Probably the only Christians in North America who still use the Genevan Psalter in its entirety are the Canadian Reformed Churches. They sing from their own Book of Praise, the Anglo-Genevan Psalter, containing English versifications for all the Genevan tunes. Dutch settlers in South Africa also founded Reformed churches where many of the Genevan Melodies are still used today, especially with the Afrikaans versifications of the 20th-century poet Totius.

In the German Evangelisch Reformierte Kirche a complete collection of the Genevan melodies can be found. Some of these melodies are also found in the general hymnbook for Protestant churches in Germany. Ironically some of these Reformed psalm melodies are even found in some Catholic hymnbooks in use in Germany.