A Tune for 176 Verses

Plutarch reports that Solon once stirred the Athenians into war by singing an elegy of a hundred verses which he had written himself. That sounds plausible: forcing a crowd to sit through a hundred‑verse song could inflame passions in any age.

Yet another tradition may be even more astonishing. The author of this book owned a Covenanter’s Psalm Book, printed in 1595. In it is the tune for Psalm 119, and to that single melody are fitted all one hundred and seventy‑six verses of the psalm, printed page after page.

A people who could endure such a musical marathon, the author remarks dryly, could probably also burn their neighbors for witchcraft. Modern psalm versions are certainly shorter, but a problem remains. Many people insist on keeping the old idiom, while the tunes are modernized to match new hymn styles. The mismatch produces awkward results.

If one wants the original words, then one should also seek the original musical manner—if such a thing can be said to exist. Otherwise, it is better to recast the language and rhythm to fit the music of the day. Without that care, the combination is more likely to distract and irritate than to lift the mind into a truly devotional mood.