The peculiar beauty of the Genevan Psalter has always been found in its extensive variety of tunes, simple rhythm, fascinating modes, and complex rhyme schemes.
New Genevan Psalter consists of the 150 Psalms set to the Genevan tunes long used by Reformed churches throughout the world. As well it includes four canticles which have always been associated with the Genevan Psalter, the Ten Commandments and the Songs of Mary, Zechariah, and Simeon.
This Psalter is a new and contemporary English version of John Calvin’s French Psalter of 1562. It is not a translation of the original sixteenth-century French version but a new poetic rendering of the entire Book of Psalms and of the four canticles. To read the story of the development of the Genevan Psalter, please see the preface.
Many churches have several songbooks in their pew racks, and the New Genevan Psalter would be a wonderful addition. A congregation that sings the Psalms is rooted in the church of all ages, and a congregation that sings the Psalms set to the Genevan tunes is embedded in the church of the Reformation.
For more information, please email the general editor, Rev. George van Popta, at gvanpopta@gmail.com.
