The Gift of Genevan psalmody
for today

sprung from its historical context

Calvin Seerveld

speaking about Genevan Psalm 47

as sung by the Pax Christi Chorale

…. And to give a graphic example of how lively and versatile Genevan Psalms found homes, I could show you Psalm 47 printed in Lyon, 1557, with a border including frogs, apes, centaurs, pan pipes, vielle, bare-breasted nymphs lounging in sensuous water.

This was a luxe edition, not used in Genevan churches. But Genevan 47 has a rollicking dance beat what gives the lie to the false stereotype of grim severity often ascribed to Genevan psalms. Let’s hear Genevan 47 sung before I make a critical remark….

(audio sample includes two verses of Psalm 47 sung by the Pax Christi Chorale, under the direction of Stephanie Martin)

No wonder her majesty Queen Elizabeth I found ‘the Genevan jigs,’ as she is said to have called them, to be irreverent! But Louis Bourgeois correctly caught the boisterous, Jewish rough-hewn exuberance of Psalm 47–`Clap your hands, people! Shout!! The ascended Lord rules the bully nations of the world!’ And these seasoned artistic-composer, Genevan-based Reformers were serious….