Dictionary of Music - Birding America

Puccini, Giacomo 327use of psalm texts. In Anglican churches the anthem,which replaced the Latin motet, often consisted ofpsalm texts translated into English.During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuriespsalm texts continued to be used, for motets,anthems, and cantatas. Among the outstandingpsalm settings of this period are the Psalmen Davids(“Psalms of David,” 1619) of Heinrich Schütz, writtenfor two, three, or four choruses, in the VenetianPOLYCHORAL style.During the nineteenth century Schubert,Mendelssohn, Liszt, Bruckner, and Brahms wereamong the composers who set psalms to music, usuallyfor chorus but occasionally for solo voice.Notable psalm settings of the twentieth century areReger’s Psalm no. 100, Bloch’s Psalm 22, Honegger’sLe roi David (“King David”), Kodály’sPsalmus Hungaricus (in Hungarian), Stravinsky’sSymphony of Psalms, Britten’s Psalm no. 150, Milhaud’sPsalm no. 129, Schoenberg’s Mima’ amakim(“Out of the Depths,” Psalm no. 130), Ives’s SixtyseventhPsalm, and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.psalm tone A name for any of the eight melodiesused for singing (or intoning) the psalms in Gregorianchant. There is both a simple and a more elaboratepsalm tone for each of the eight CHURCHMODES. Each psalm tone has a basic reciting note,called the tenor, on which most of the words arechanted. Originally it was always a fifth above thefinal in the authentic modes and a third above in theplagal modes, but after the eleventh century itshifted to one tone higher in modes III, IV, and VIII(see the illustration accompanying church modes).In addition, there are special groups of notes for thebeginning (called initium), ending of the first half ofthe psalm (mediatio), and final ending of a psalmverse (termination). The resulting melody is aninflected monotone, that is, performed largely on asingle note (monotone) but with a few pitches up ordown (inflection) from that note at the beginning,middle, and end.psalter (sôl′tər).See under PSALM.psaltery (sôl′tə rē). A stringed instrument of theMiddle Ages, consisting of a flat soundboard andstrings, which were plucked with the fingers or witha plectrum. In this respect the psaltery differed fromthe medieval dulcimer, whose strings were struckwith hammers (see DULCIMER, def. 1). Psalterieswere made in various shapes, either four-sided(trapezoidal, that is, with both short sides slantedinward, as in the accompanying illustration), orthree-sided (half a trapezoid, resulting in a wingshape). The psaltery probably originated in the NearEast about the tenth century; it was being played inEurope by the twelfth century. The strings were usuallyarranged in multiple courses, that is, with two,three, or more strings per note, so that their soundwould be loud enough to be heard. In time, thepsaltery was given a keyboard whereby the stringswere plucked, and eventually it became a HARPSI-CHORD. For folk music, the dulcimer was generallypreferred, and as a result relatively few forms ofpsaltery have survived. Among the most importantthat are still used today are the Arab qānūn, Austrianzither, the Russian gusli, and Finnish kantele.fig. 191 p/u from p. 340Puccini (poo — tchē′nē), Giacomo (jä′cô mô),1858–1924. An Italian composer who is rememberedfor his operas, some of which are among themost popular operas ever written. His La Bohème,Tosca, and Madama Butterfly, performed again andagain all over the world, are noted for their lovelymelodies, skillful orchestration, and highly dramaticplots. Puccini’s first great success was the operaManon Lescaut (1893). It was followed by LaBohème (1896), Tosca (1900), and Madama Butterfly(1904), and then La Fanciulla del West (“The Girlof the Golden West,” 1910), and II Trittico (a trilogyof one-act operas: II Tabarro, or “The Cloak”; SuorAngelica, or “Sister Angelica”; and Gianni Schicchi).Puccini died before completing Turandot,which was finished by Franco Alfano (1876–1954).Musically Puccini was less traditional than he isoften given credit for being; his harmonies are bothfreer and richer. It is his dramatic structure, however,