RESPONSORY

Responsory: translation

This category ofchantwas first defined by Isidore of Seville (c. 559–636): "Responsories are so called because a chorus responds in consonance to a soloist" (New Grove, 15: 759). Responsories were sung especially atmatins, where they take on a particularly luxurious form known as the great responsory, but also atvespersand atmassin theAlleluia. The simplest form is in three parts: therespondsung by the choir, thepsalmverse sung by thecantor, and therepetendum, the last segment of the original respond, sung by the choir.

Reponsories are outnumbered in the repertory of Latin chant only byantiphons. The earliest source, the Hartker Antiphoner (c. 1000), contains 600 of them; the Worcester Antiphoner (13th century) almost 1,000. Responsories hold a proud place in the history of earlypolyphony, including settings in theMagnus Liber Organi(c. 1170). Some scholars believe that responsories were originally simple, perhaps sung by thecongregation, in alternation with an entirepsalm. As the trained choir took over the singing, the responds became musically elaborate, and the psalm was reduced to a single verse. In the new Roman Catholic liturgy of 1969, the "responsorialpsalm" approximates the supposed ancient practice.