Anglican Chant

Anglican chant sets psalm texts to four-part harmony — soprano, alto, tenor, bass — but the verses of a psalm don't have a fixed number of syllables, so the form leans on a 'reciting note': a single sustained chord on which the choir delivers most of the line at speaking pace before the harmony moves through a cadence at the end of each half-verse. The effect is alternating stretches of static text-delivery and forward harmonic motion. Tempo is governed by the reading of the text rather than a metronome. A pipe organ usually supports the voices quietly underneath.

When the English Reformation moved Church of England worship from Latin to English in the 16th century, the variable syllable counts of vernacular psalms made it impractical to reuse Gregorian melodies as-is. Composers including Thomas Tallis and William Byrd wrote new English-language polyphony, and the Oxbridge cathedral and college chapel choirs developed the chant-tone-plus-cadence form across the 17th and 18th centuries. Single chants (for one verse) and double chants (covering two verses with a longer harmonic cycle) became standard categories.

Track how the choir packs uneven amounts of text onto the reciting note — sometimes one syllable, sometimes a dozen — before opening into the cadence. The harmonic motion of the cadence is short but does most of the expressive work. Listen for how the organ does not push the singers but holds the chord underneath them.

The Choir of King's College, Cambridge, sing Anglican-chant Magnificat settings as standard cathedral fare; their Evensong recordings show the idiom in its native setting.

BBC Radio has broadcast Choral Evensong live almost continuously since 1926, making it among the longest-running regular programs in British broadcasting history; it still airs weekly on BBC Radio 3.